Astir Marina, located on the Athenian Riviera, is a luxurious haven for mega and super yachts, completed in 2024. The marina spans 4,800m² and combines tourism, recreation, and administrative spaces. The lighting design plays a key role in enhancing the marina’s architecture and environment, balancing aesthetics, functionality, and sustainability through energy-efficient technologies.
The client sought a lighting design that harmonized elegance and functionality. They required solutions that minimized light pollution while maintaining the marina’s sophisticated ambiance. The lighting needed to enhance architectural elements and provide an adaptable atmosphere year-round, while also addressing challenges like sea-salt corrosion and ensuring safety, especially near the water. Well-lit pathways and public spaces were essential to ensure safety and easy movement.
The lighting design was based on a concept of connecting various marina functions (from pedestrian, vehicle and boat berthing areas, to high-end restaurant and commercial areas) while maintaining a luxurious and inviting atmosphere The lighting emphasizes the connecting elements of the structures, ensuring architectural coherence while preserving the hierarchy of their volumes. The balance between creating visual unity and highlighting distinctive features demonstrates the originality of the lighting approach. A bespoke lighting solution was designed for the main buildings, emphasizing architectural elements while maintaining sophistication. Secondary buildings were lit in a simpler, yet harmonious way, ensuring a unified architectural language across the marina.
Collaboration between architects, engineers, and designers ensured the seamless integration of the lighting system into the marina’s Building Management System (BMS), enabling energy-efficient lighting control. This allowed preset scenes tailored to specific times or events, contributing to energy savings.
LED technology ensured durability and reduced the need for maintenance. Safety and comfort were also essential to the project. The lighting design ensures that street and pedestrian lighting is low-key, preventing glare on the yachts while ensuring visibility.
The design created a dynamic, evolving atmosphere, using high CRI tuneable white lighting to adjust colour temperatures for different moods. Cooler tones can provide a refreshing ambiance during summer evenings, while warmer hues create a cozy feel in winter, while outdoor spaces were enhanced through feature trees, that were highlighted with a combination of warm uplighting and cool moonlighting effects.
The reflective shopfront canopy ceilings were indirectly lit, avoiding glare while creating an elegant environment through the interplay of light and reflection. Soft lighting ensured safety in pedestrian areas, while yacht docks and parking areas were lit discreetly to maintain privacy and blend into the surroundings.
All in all, the lighting design for Astir Marina successfully blends luxury, practicality, and sustainability. Through custom solutions, advanced control systems, and thoughtful material choices, the design elevates the marina’s architecture while meeting modern demands for energy efficiency and safety. It stands as a leading example of contemporary marina design.
