St Martin's School

3G Pitch LED Floodlighting Upgrade

Project Overview

St Martin’s School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form in Hutton, Brentwood, serving pupils aged 11 to 18. The school’s ethos, “Be The Best You Can Be,” is built around traditional values, learning for the future and outstanding personal achievement. The school places a strong emphasis on personal development and provides a wide range of opportunities beyond the classroom, including a substantial sporting programme.

Sport is an important part of life at St Martin’s, with the school offering sporting teams and activities as part of its wider enrichment programme. The school also provides a range of sports facilities, including a 3G sports pitch, sports fields, gymnasium and netball courts, with facilities available for external hire.

SJB Floodlighting was appointed to upgrade the floodlighting serving the school's 3G football pitch, replacing the existing metal halide system with a modern LED sports lighting installation.

Philips LED Sports Floodlighting

The project involved replacing the existing metal halide floodlights with 12 Philips BVP528 A55-NB 3.5 Gen LED floodlights. The new luminaires were installed onto the existing lighting columns, with any adjustments necessary to accommodate the new LED head load.

The Philips system was selected to provide a significant improvement in both lighting performance and efficiency, while making use of the existing column infrastructure where appropriate.

The lighting design was specified to achieve an average maintained illumination of at least 200 lux with a uniformity of at least 0.6, suitable for football.

Electrical Infrastructure Upgrade

As part of the refurbishment, SJB safely isolated the existing installation before removing the redundant metal halide floodlights and associated operating equipment.

New LED drivers and operating control gear were installed within the column base compartments or attached to the floodlights, depending on the loading requirements of the columns. New flexible cables were also installed between the column bases and the new LED floodlights, and the local switchgear within the column base cabinets was altered to suit the upgraded system.

This provided the 3G pitch with a fully modernised lighting and electrical system while retaining the existing columns.

Minimising Disruption to the School

A key consideration of the project was maintaining the availability of the pitch during the refurbishment.

The works were planned so that the floodlights could be replaced one column at a time, allowing the system to remain usable each evening rather than taking the entire pitch out of operation for the duration of the installation.

This approach was particularly beneficial for a school facility that is used for both school activities and external bookings.

Lighting Performance

The new Philips LED floodlights were aimed in accordance with the lighting design to deliver the required football lighting levels across the 3G pitch.

Moving from traditional metal halide technology to LED also provides the benefits of modern LED operation, including improved efficiency and reduced maintenance requirements compared with older lamp-based systems.

Testing & Commissioning

Following installation, each column was function tested before the completed system was fully tested and commissioned.

An after-dark illumination test was also carried out, with a report provided to the client. Operational instruction was provided to the relevant school staff together with an operating manual.

The project specification also required the electrical installation to be compliant with the current edition of BS7671, with the existing installation safely isolated during the works.

The Result

The completed project transformed the floodlighting of St Martin’s 3G pitch from an ageing metal halide installation into a modern Philips LED sports lighting system.

The upgrade provides the school with a more efficient and modern floodlighting installation designed specifically around the requirements of football, while retaining the existing column infrastructure and minimising disruption during the works.

Project Highlights

Philips LED floodlighting

12 new Philips BVP528 A55-NB 3.5 Gen LED floodlights installed onto the existing columns.

Football lighting performance

Designed to provide an average maintained illumination of 200 lux with a uniformity of 0.6 for football.

New electrical infrastructure

New LED drivers, operating equipment, flexible cabling and alterations to the local column-base switchgear.

Minimal disruption

Floodlights replaced on a column-by-column basis so the pitch could remain usable during the works.

Complete testing and commissioning

Function testing, full-system commissioning and after-dark illumination testing undertaken as part of the project.

SJB Floodlighting

SJB Floodlighting specialises in the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of sports floodlighting systems for schools, clubs, local authorities and sporting facilities across the UK.

The St Martin’s School project demonstrates our ability to modernise existing sports lighting infrastructure while working around the operational requirements of a busy school and community facility.

By combining new Philips LED technology with upgraded electrical infrastructure and specialist sports lighting expertise, SJB delivered a modern floodlighting solution designed specifically for the school's 3G football pitch.