River Hull Footbridge

location:

Hull

client:

Hull

role:

Architecture

sector:

Infrastructure

status:

Competition

A design which draws inspiration from Hull’s unique condition as ‘a city on the edge’

An opening footbridge over the River Hull, linked to the proposed regeneration of the East Bank. The design draws inspiration from Hull’s unique condition as ‘a city on the edge’ and from the natural drama of the site itself. The development of the form was guided by the metaphor of the bridge as a ‘found-object’, shaped by nature, like a piece of driftwood or a whale-bone deposited by the sea in a foreign context .

The bridge consists of two ‘wings’, one being the deck, the other the counterweight mast. Like the legs of a gymnast on the bar these two wings are always perfectly balanced. As the deck rises the counterweight mast rises with it, ensuring the centre of gravity is always directly above the pier.