Olympic Bridge

London / England / 2007 (Project)

A 2-Stage solution for the main pedestrian bridge in the London 2012 Olympic village 

Client: Olympic Delivery Authority for London 2010

Net Ara: 1800 m2

Structural Engineer: Buro Happold (UK)

Landscape Architect: BBUK Studio (UK) 

More than any architectural ‘piece’, a bridge has an almost set typological format: it stems from two ends, a connecting platform between two entrance / exit places, a road in the air, mostly across water, employing some structural device to help it span. Bridges tend to enjoy some symmetry and are normally longer than they are wide.

This bridge, for its designated double life, while performing all its duties cannot simply follow the evolved typology of a bridge. Its width is twice its length, for the duration of the games – not a path but rather a field. It is not a linear mark across a linear river but a filler between two pieces of land almost as wide (or as narrow) as the bridge itself. By proposing a single visual and structural device we celebrate the ‘bridgeness’ across rather than along the path. A readable structure that, while stitching the two pieces of land as if with a thread and needle, implies a vast tubular volume. The movement of crowds will be penetrating its virtual skin rather than moving within and along it. The crossing experience is enhanced by changing views and spaces along the journey.