National Football Stadium, Bratislava, Slovakia

Bratislava, Slovakia

The Greenest Stadium in Europe

While Slovakia may not have triumphed over England in their hard-fought Euro 2024 match, their national stadium, Tehelné Pole, is certainly a winner in the realm of sustainability.

This National Football Stadium is a 22,500-seat testament to the nation’s passion for sport and a great example of modern engineering. Far more than just a place to watch a match, it also serves as a venue for cultural events. At the heart of this venue’s operation is a smart lighting control system designed by Helvar, and implemented in collaboration with our local Partner DNA Slovakia.

The stadium’s sprawling layout presented a multi-faceted lighting challenge – from the grand entrance halls and apartment building to the underground parking garages and administrative high-rise, each area demanded a unique lighting approach. The vast outdoor expanse, requiring dynamic RGBW lighting to add a little bit of a visual spectacle to every event, which emphasises the stadium’s architecture. The arched structure is covered with a white membrane with lighting on three sides and an aluminum structure on the fourth side. Considering each of these aspects resulted in another layer of complexity in this project.

Tehelné Pole’s commitment to energy efficiency is as impressive as its architecture. Almost 50% of its heating and cooling comes from renewables, primarily a water/water heat pump system. This system harnesses excess heat generated during cooling to produce hot water, a clever example of energy recycling while rainwater is collected and used for irrigation and flushing.

With Helvar Imagine DALI-2 solution we were able to further contribute to minimizing the stadium’s carbon footprint. The system optimizes energy usage in several ways:

• – Occupancy Sensors: Lights activate only when spaces are occupied, eliminating unnecessary energy waste.

• – Daylight Harvesting: Sensors adjust lighting levels based on available natural light, maximizing energy savings.

• – Staircase lighting that automatically illuminates the path ahead of users to enhance safety and efficiency.

Helvar’s system rose to this challenge by creating a network of 19 x 910 application controllers in the garage, 30 in the main stadium areas, and another 44 planned for the administrative high-rise, controlling over 3,500 light points throughout the stadium. In various rooms, scenic panels with 13x+230S buttons and “321” multisensors provide localized control, while “ST7-W” touch panels are used in representative rooms. Staircase lighting is predictive, illuminating the path ahead of users to enhance safety and efficiency.

Over 350 motion sensors, 80 panels, and a multitude of repeaters and relay units work in perfect coordination, like a well-drilled football team, to deliver a winning energy strategy for the stadium.

The system’s scalability ensures it can adapt to the stadium’s evolving needs, while its integration with a higher-level internet-based platform allows for remote monitoring and fine-tuning.

As fans cheer on their favorite teams, they can rest assured that the stadium’s commitment to sustainability is creating a more comfortable and environmentally responsible experience for everyone, without sacrificing performance or excitement.

Key facts

Project completed: 2019

Project location: Bratislava, Slovakia

 Local Helvar Partner: DNA Slovakia

Bratislava, Slovakia

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