Hungarian stadium goes pro with LED lighting
The Debreceni Vastusas Sports Club is one of Hungary's premier football teams. The club has been the most successful in the league since 2000, winning an impressive seven Hungarian League Championships. With their many victories and wide-spread popularity, the team's home field, Nagyerdei Stadion required an upgrade. In 2013, the former arena, which housed only 12,000 spectators, was demolished to build the new-state-of-the-art stadium with over 20,000 seats.
In May 2014, the team celebrated the new and improved Nagyerdei Stadion with an opening ceremony featuring famous Hungarian performers, Hungary's Prime Minister, and a soccer match between the Debrecen All Star team and the Hungary All Star team. Outside of the festivities within the stadium, the exterior façade glowed with its bright new color changing LED display rallying the audience for game-day excitement. Since opening day, the arena continues to dazzle fans with its flashing light displays each time there's a match or event.
Lighting designer Kocsis Gábor was commissioned by electrical contracting company Szeti-Vill LTD to complete the new stadium with an exciting lighting design. He wanted to highlight the twisting outer curvature of the new façade and provide a brilliant display for stadium goers and city dwellers alike. He chose an LED system for its color changing capabilities to create spectacular light shows that would match the hype going on within the stadium. Gábor used Vaya products because of the high performance and cost-effectiveness.
At both ends of the curved surface of the façade Vaya Flood were placed about 7.5 m (24.6 ft) apart. The placement of the light about 2 m (6.5 ft) from the illuminated surface allowed for a grazed lighting effect along the curved surface, emphasizing the sleek architecture of the new Nagyerdei Stadion.
The new stadium was funded entirely by the Hungarian government, representing the importance that this national symbol is to both the city of Debreceni and the country. Today, the bright LED lights can be seen from miles away as a true symbol of Hungarian pride.
