Sportball — Multi-Sport Lighting Design (Kids Activity + Pickleball Court)

Project: Sportball — Multi-Sport Lighting Design (Kids Activity + Pickleball Court)
Location: Sportball — Canadian sports chain, multi-sport facility
Project Type: Commercial Spaces Lighting Design
Scope: Two floors and a double-height pickleball court — kids play areas, reception, corridor, washrooms, kitchen and support rooms
Year: 2026
Design Team: Jainsons Lights Design Studio (Dialux, AutoCAD, aiming view)

The brief

Sportball runs kids sports-activity centres across Canada and overseas markets. This facility was being built as a multi-use sports floor — high-energy kids programming during the day, and a paddle / pickleball court at night. The interior designer's lighting plan worked at a glance, but when we ran it through DIALux it showed sparse coverage on the court and big drops in light between fittings. The court averaged 289 lx and the kids play area 333 lx, against a target of 500 lx.

How we approached it

We threw out the original lighting layout and redesigned each room around even horizontal light across the floor, at a level that stays gentle on a child's eye but is bright enough for play. The pickleball court was re-laid as a dense, even grid of spots for coverage across the full playing surface. The kids play area was re-spaced to reach the 500 lx target with evenness (Uo) of 0.50 or more. The reception, corridor and washrooms were set separately, so moving between zones stays gentle on the eye.

We worked through three to four design rounds: the interior designer's original plan, our DIALux check of it, then a rebuild room by room.

The light we used

Over the court, spots with an elliptical wide-flood beam in 3500 K neutral-warm white (CRI 92), mounted 6.3 m up in the double-height space and set out as an even grid. In the play areas, reception and support rooms, the lights were re-spaced room by room to meet each room's own target.

What the calculation showed

In the redesign, every room meets its average light target. One space, the seating counter that overlooks the court, still has low evenness.

The design was done before fit-out started, while ceiling positions and electrical points could still move at low cost. One ceiling now carries two very different programmes: kids activities by day and pickleball at night.

• Pickleball court: 289 → 511 lx average (target 500 lx); evenness 0.26 → 0.51
• Ground-floor kids play area: 333 → 543 lx (target 500 lx); evenness 0.25 → 0.53
• First-floor play area: 321 → 504 lx (target 500 lx); evenness 0.16 → 0.50
• Reception: 326 → 411 lx (target 400 lx)
• Corridor, washrooms, kitchen and support rooms: each at or above its own target, from 200 lx up

Planning a sports, play or activity space? Talk to our design team. We'll help you with the lighting design: an AutoCAD layout with aiming arrows and the light level for every zone, checked in DIALux before fit-out. Or read more about how we design lighting for projects like this.