Pathway and Landscape Lighting
Pathway, security and architectural lighting that improves visibility and curb appeal.
Pathway and landscape lighting is the lighting people walk through: along a park trail, up to an entrance, across a campus, around a building at night. It has to be bright enough to feel safe, low enough not to glare, and tough enough to live outdoors on the ground.
ThreeCo lit the Berkley Riverfront Park Path in Kansas City, Missouri — pathway and landscape lighting for one of the city's most-used public spaces, built to handle the elements, the foot traffic and the river breeze. The same work, at smaller scale, lights office campuses, church grounds and the walk from a parking lot to a front door.
What this covers
- Pathway and walkway lighting — bollards and low fixtures along paths and trails.
- Landscape lighting for planting, trees and grounds.
- Architectural and facade lighting that shows the building at night.
- Security lighting around the edges of a property.
- The underground wiring, controls and timers that run it.
What makes outdoor ground-level lighting different
Everything at ground level gets wet, kicked, mowed around and sometimes driven into. Fixtures need to be rated for wet locations, connections below grade need to stay dry for years, and wiring needs to be buried at the depth code requires for the method used. Public paths add vandal resistance and a lot of people walking past every fixture every day.
The design question is evenness. A path lit by a few bright fixtures has pools of light and dark gaps between them, and the eye adjusts to the bright spots and loses the dark ones. Closer, lower, shielded fixtures light the ground without glare in people's eyes or light spilling into neighbors' windows.
How ThreeCo does it
Our CEO, Bob DeFries, designs the layout — his background is in electrical engineering and architectural design, and outdoor lighting is where those two meet. We walk the grounds, mark where people actually walk and where the light needs to land, and plan the circuits and controls with the fixtures. A crew led by Master Electrician Jason Strange trenches, wires and sets the fixtures, and the timers or photocells are set and tested before we leave.
What affects the cost
The length of the run and the fixture spacing; trenching versus boring under hardscape that cannot be dug up; whether there is a nearby circuit with capacity or a new one has to be run from a panel; the fixture type and how vandal-resistant it needs to be; and controls. Restoring the ground after trenching is part of the job and part of the price.
Permits and inspection
New outdoor circuits are permitted and inspected, and the inspection usually happens before the trench is backfilled so the burial depth and the conduit can be seen. Public projects add the owner's own requirements on top. Before anything is dug, underground utilities are located through the one-call system.
The project that proves it
A project behind this page
FAQ
Questions about pathway and landscape lighting
Do you do public and park lighting?
Yes. ThreeCo lit the Berkley Riverfront Park Path in Kansas City, Missouri. It is on our portfolio with photos.
Can new path lights be added without tearing up concrete?
Often. Wiring can be bored under sidewalks and drives rather than trenched through them. Whether that works depends on the site, and we look at it during the walk-through.
How do the lights turn on and off?
Usually a photocell, a time clock or both: on at dusk, off or dimmed at a set hour. We set it up the way the property is used.
Will landscape lighting shine into neighbors' windows?
It should not. Shielded fixtures aimed at the ground or the feature being lit keep light where it is wanted. That is part of the design.
How do I get a quote?
Start with Watt, the chat button on this page: tell it where the property is and what you want lit — a path, a facade, the grounds. You can also call (816) 730-9100. Estimates are free unless a site visit is needed to scope the job; where one is, there is a trip charge, waived if you move forward with the work.
Planning lighting for a path or a property?
Tell Watt where it is and what you want lit. We will come back with a design and a number.
New customers: start with Watt and get 10% off your first job.