Project: Cycle and bridleway bridge proposed to develop sustainable transport links in the area by allowing people to visit this unique part of the region.
Value: £2,000,000
Client: Lancashire County Council
Status: Competition Entry

The River Douglas Bridge proposal has at its roots the medieval tradition of the inhabited bridge. We are interested in the notion of a new habitable space, poised over the river, a place for reflection and a new vantage point for views of the wider landscape. The second significant reference point is the iron bridge of the late 18th Century with heavy girders and trusses which helped to impart an iconic industrial but elegant landmark within its context. 

These two key reference points, when viewed in conjunction, enabled a triangulated solution to emerge in the form of 2 inclined trusses and a base truss; an extruded equilateral triangle whose structural logic is evident within the lattice form of its skin, expressed through a tessellated equilateral triangle shifting in scale, and forming a lattice work of steel struts and ties. 

The resultant form is seen as a local landmark, a destination and event; a unique and identifiable element, re-knitting two adjacent banks of the river and unifying two distinct expanses of landscape.