Context

To complete the hard landscaping around the Chelsea Creek luxury apartment development, London developer, Berkeley St George needed a statement footbridge.

Work undertaken

The scheme was originally discussed with CTS Bridges as an architectural concept created by Broadway Malyan, with the intention for CTS to work with the architect and provide a short mock-up section for the client’s acceptance.

CTS was able to modify some details to help buildability, and during fabrication identified further details which would benefit from subsequent refinement when the bridge was constructed to prevent distortion issues while minimising light spillage.

When the time came to develop the bridge as a whole, CTS was appointed to undertake design, manufacture and installation, and offered different structural options to best achieve the architectural intent, resulting in 'hidden' structural supports to minimise beam depth.

CTS worked closely with Elite Landscapes, the Principal Contractor, to ensure all trades were co-ordinated to deliver a successful scheme.

The bridge

The 3m-wide x 24m-long bridge comprises a deceptively simple, elegant concept incorporating acrylic rods into the painted steel frame at close centres which, when lit from their base, provide an illuminated enclosure, while a stripped down secondary internal handrail provides pedestrian restraint.

To achieve the desired simple lines, careful detailing was required to house the lighting rods and conceal their power supply and driver units discreetly. Precision fabrication was needed to realise this ambition. The light boxes were incorporated integrally into the base of the structural beams ready for lighting contractor, Wishbone Exterior Lighting, to illuminate the bridge with a combination of uplights and patterned acrylic tubes, supplied by Anglia Plastics.

Outcome

The final result is a stunning illuminated bridge that provides a stylish focal point over the meandering waterway at the Chelsea Creek development.