Zumtobel Group illuminates Borussia Dortmund's home venue: Germany’s largest football stadium with new LED floodlight solution ready for international tournaments

The Zumtobel Group recently equipped the legendary stadium of Borussia Dortmund (BVB), the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK, with a highly modern LED floodlight system. The new lighting solution from the Group's Thorn brand was recently operated for the first time and fulfils all of the requirements for the German Bundesliga as well as for the upcoming UEFA EURO 2024, for which the stadium in Dortmund has been selected as one of 10 venues. Borussia Dortmund benefited from the Zumtobel Group’s turnkey service – an all-inclusive package ranging from lighting planning and project management during implementation to commissioning.

„With its Thorn brand, the Zumtobel Group offers many years of expertise in the lighting of sports facilities, especially field of play. For the LED floodlight system, which meets the highest international standards, we have contributed our competence as a full-service provider. We are delighted that the legendary Borussia Dortmund stadium is now equipped with state-of-the-art lighting technology and lighting quality for the field of play“, says Alfred Felder, CEO Zumtobel Group.


The new floodlight solution

With a capacity of more than 81,000 spectators, the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK is the largest football stadium in Germany. The new solution includes 252 Thorn ALTIS LED floodlights that ensure flicker-free operation to support HDTV-broadcasting and super-slow-motion with their superior colour rendering. The new lighting design achieves the illuminance level requirements stipulated by the German Bundesliga and the UEFA. All 252 floodlights are connected to a common IP-based system that allows flexible controllability and dynamic lighting effects in real time.


Thorn brand: competent lighting partner for field of play

The Zumtobel Group’s brand Thorn has a long and successful track record as a trusted global supplier of professional as well as recreational sports lighting solutions, both for indoor and outdoor facilities. It has extensive experience in designing tailored illumination systems for special sports applications, including field of play lighting, using solutions that optimally combine aesthetics, optical performance, energy consumption, durability and easy maintenance.


Zumtobel brand: BVB light supplier for shop and circulation areas

The new floodlight system is the latest in a series of lighting projects that the lighting group has already realised for the BVB: The Zumtobel brand already implemented the LED shop concept for the new "BVB FanWorld" in 2014, as well as other fan shops of the club. In 2017, Zumtobel redesigned the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK’s lighting in the main grandstand and the VIP entrance area west as well as the training centre Dortmund-Brackel. As of now, the Zumtobel Group has completely redesigned the entire interior lighting experience of the stadium, also adding the LED floodlight system.

"With the new highly modern floodlight, we have sustainably invested in the basic technical equipment of the stadium. For the implementation, we chose our long-standing partner, the Zumtobel Group," says Dr. Christian Hockenjos, Borussia Dortmund's Director Organisation, and continues: "With 2100 lux in the direction of the cameras, we now clearly exceed the DFL minimum requirements and already meet the UEFA requirements for the EURO 2024.”


Factbox: 

-252 Thorn ALTIS LED floodlights

-Modern IP66 ALTIS LED gearboxes with native DMX control interface, installed remotely

-Single-source turnkey solution, including concept & design, project management, installation and commissioning.