The Yas Hotel, a 500-room, 85,000-square-meter complex has recently been completed by Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties PJSC, just in time for the inaugural 2009 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Cooper Lighting, a UK-based lighting company and Swansea-based Enfis Group Plc, a developer and manufacturer of SMART high-power lighting systems, had cooperated to deliver the LED lighting solution to the spectacular project. 

The main feature of the project’s design is a 217-meter expanse of sweeping, curvilinear forms constructed of steel and over 5,300 pivoting diamond-shaped glass panels which are illuminated via a sophisticated LED lighting system from Enfis Group Plc. From the outside, the Enfis LED color changing shroud can be seen for miles around. It visually connects and fuses the entire hotel, racetrack and marina complex while producing optical effects and spectral reflections that play against the surrounding sky, sea and desert landscape.

The desert climate of Abu Dhabi can reach 60°C in the summertime. However, extensive testing carried out by Cooper confirmed that the Enfis array/driver solutions actually exceeded the light output specification necessary to operate at these extreme ambient temperatures. In the end, Cooper used over 5,850 Enfis LED arrays in its lighting design for the exterior environs of the Yas Hotel complex. The products consisted primarily of Enfis 4-channel UNO Plus arrays and control drivers integrated into custom designed IP65 rated stainless steel stanchions. The result is a testament to the “above and beyond” effort of the two companies working together.