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Homebush Bay Bridge

2005

In 2004, a design by civil engineers for a proposed 300 metre pedestrian/cycle bridge across Homebush Bay was languishing within a lukewarm, conflicted stakeholder process. Asked to revisit the design, Lindsay Webb developed a very broad conceptual communication strategy to bring the group to a resolve and the bridge into being.

Working with a small design/planning/development team including Richard Hough from Arup, a new concept was developed that made literal and metaphorical connections to the landscape and the sociocultural implications of the proposed structure. We re-conceived the implied "grandeur" of such a bridge to reflect the actual setting which was open, level and commodious, creating an unfolded bridge design possessing a gentle grandeur in horizontality rather than imposing on the silhouette of its locale. Users could then enjoy (even prolong) a scenic, winding journey rather than surmount an obstacle in their path. This more integrated link between communities was seen as a more desirable mode of connectivity, and the new bridge's particular geometry was used as an analog to inform the detail of its own structural design.

The team scoped out a full feasibility that all within the highly politicised stakeholders group, including multiple government and private bodies, could accept and move ahead with.

The bridge is being developed in 2014 to widen the user group to include public transport.

Links

Original stalled concept: Design report (16.7 mb!)
Current concept: Homebush Bay Bridge