Is it possible to maximise efficiency and adaptability without compromising form?

We collaborated on the design of this footbridge for Network Rail with engineers Arup. Developed in response to an international ideas competition, it sets out a new typology for bridges, with a set of standardised elements that can be used in different configurations to suit the context of each specific station.

'The elegant curve of the bridge is entirely generated by the structural forces at play'

Our design evolved from a series of core principles: it needed to be structurally efficient, the form had to follow the function, and it had to be easy to assemble with as few component parts as possible. Diagonal struts, all of the same length, are placed along the length of the span, their angles varying according to the diagram of shear forces along it. As a consequence, they are more evenly loaded and can be made using the same-sized section with much less wastage of material towards the middle of the span.