Developed in the late 1980’s, Marina Del Rey is an area with over 3,000 residents located on the west end of Toronto’s waterfront. With spectacular views of Lake Ontario and downtown Toronto, Marina Del Rey is part of a thriving waterfront community considered “an oasis in the city” for residents of Toronto. By 2013, what had once been a central meeting place within the housing development that linked Marina Del Rey residents to the City of Toronto’s many walking and cycling paths, had fallen into disrepair.

Toronto's waterfront received new LED outdoor lighting upgrade with Philips' lighting solutions. (All Photos Courtesy of Philips Lighting)

For the Marina Del Rey light revitalization project, roadway and walkway lighting were replaced, in addition to both hard and soft landscaping with a completely redesigned environment that was meant to re-invite social interaction within the community. The intent of the project was to bring back to life, and light, to a community area that used to be the vibrant center of activity.

Mercor Lighting provided a comprehensive lighting solution for the project and helped to fulfill a vision of revitalized gathering area to foster a sense of community, increase public safety, promote environmental sustainability, and increase the value residents place in their neighborhood.

Mercor worked alongside Terraplan Landscape Architects to build and fulfill the objectives of this project. Terraplan was asked to reinvigorate the Marina Del Rey center court space to reflect the current needs of the residents and to incorporate present day technologies and sustainability standards.

The lighting products selected for this project were Philips Lumec outdoor lighting solutions:

• Philips Lumec UrbanScape LED Post-Top luminaires with Lumileds LUXEON T . This optical system is dark sky compliant with 0% uplight and U0 per IESNA TM-15, which was another important factor in reducing light pollution.

• Philips Lumec Sole City LED Bollards for the center court area, the BBQ area, and lighting for the front entrance.

The main objective was to create a distinctive and beautiful design which could be appreciated from both a bird’s eye view, and from within the park. Our design achieves this through a careful manipulation of the ground plane which at once opens up into a large plaza and envelops the user with a robust planting palette and raised topography. Landforms, at the periphery, buffer the center of the plaza from north winds and snow drifts and provide a critical mass of soil depth for tree growth.

The key contributions of the Marina Del Rey lighting revitalization project to the City of Toronto and its citizens have been primarily in three areas:

Increased human and economic value placed in the city’s spaces. The modern and aesthetically pleasing lighting design that complements the revitalized landscaping gives residents and the public a strengthened sense of pride and value in their community. With more residents using the common areas, the project has promoted social ties and community strength. The center park and walkways provide a newly energized sense of public pride, since they were designed to be aesthetically pleasing to those on the ground as well as those looking down on the project areas from their residences. The project creates several economic benefits, including more residents visiting in their neighborhood and bringing foot traffic to the businesses in the area, and an increase in the value of housing in the area.

Reduced light pollution and increased energy efficiency. The reduced amount of light heads, along with energy-efficient LED technology and updated infrastructure, allow for energy savings that are good for the environment and are more cost effective for residents. This was only realized due to the exact performance of the Philips Lumec fixtures in tandem with proper selection of lens selections per unit, according to their location throughout the project. The reduced light pollution from this development helps encourage wildlife in the area to thrive throughout the waterfront. In addition, reduced light pollution minimizes disruption to ecological sites in the area which further enhance enjoyment for all city residents.

The lighting design creates a sense of safety in the neighborhood by ensuring that adequate lighting covers all walkways, and that the center park has an enjoyable evening and night-time ambience. The public is thereby more encouraged to walk through this portion of the waterfront walkway and enjoy the local businesses and wildlife preserves in the area. With proper lighting throughout the area, people of all ages feel more welcomed and safe within the area, and in turn this promotes social activity. Many social activities have resumed as a direct result of the revamped area.