This project involved the design of two bridges in the Landschaftspark Mechtenberg, the challenge being to provide a crossing that was both functional and sculptural.

Buro Happold’s highly innovative solution combined simplicity and practicality with style and elegance. The main bridge is 150m in length and has eight separate spans increasing successively in length from 10m to 30m. Although the clear span over the road is only 30m, the full length was required to accommodate a gentle rise from ground level up to the clearance height required over the road.

The second, smaller, bridge spans 30m over a stream and footpath. The same standard dimensions and details have been used in both bridges, which have been constructed using just two elements: 70mm diameter solid steel bars held together by clamps. This simple yet unconventional and eye-catching design has given the bridges a transparency and lightness that is highly sympathetic to the surrounding landscape.

Date: Completed in 2002