Exhibitions will take place in Pimlico and Nine Elms later this month to showcase dozens of rival design ideas for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge across the Thames.
Published on
February 16, 2015
Exhibitions will take place in Pimlico and Nine Elms later this month to showcase dozens of rival design ideas for a new pedestrian and cycle bridge across the Thames.
An international competition is now underway to design a new crossing on this stretch of the river and the events will reveal the first stage submissions from up to 80 different professional teams.
The events will take place on both sides of the river to give local communities the chance to view the early design ideas and to provide feedback.
North Bank Exhibition
Westminster Boating Base,136 Grosvenor Road, London SW1V 3JY
• Monday 23rd February – 11am – 7pm
• Tuesday 24th February – 9am – 7pm
South Bank Exhibition
ROSE Centre, Ascalon Street, London SW8 4DJ
• Friday 27th February – 1-7pm
• Saturday 28th February – 10am – 6pm
Each design will be displayed on an anonymous basis to comply with EU competitive procurement rules. This ensures reputations play no part and that the designs themselves are the sole focus of attention.
The designs will also be published on the competition website so people from across London can explore the ideas and have their say.
Later this year the competition’s jury panel will recommend a shortlist of up to four teams to go through to the next competitive stage. This will see their outline deigns developed into a more detailed proposal.
Jury panel members include Wandsworth Council leader Ravi Govindia, architect Graham Stirk, engineer Henry Bardsley, CABE chair Pam Alexander and Lambeth councillor Joanne Simpson.
Ravi Govindia said: “We have had an exceptional response to the competition and the excitement is building as we get closer to the big reveal.
“We have set the bar very high indeed and posed some extremely complex engineering and architectural challenges. There are up to 80 highly skilled design teams working on this brief and it will be fascinating to see their ideas.”
A TfL transport study confirms the Nine Elms to Pimlico bridge has a strong business case and the forecast daily usage is 18,000 journeys, spilt evenly between those on bike and those on foot.
£26million is already committed to the project through the development of Nine Elms and the new design would be used to lever-in further funding. The scheme has the support of the Mayor of London.
The bridge would plug the large gap between Chelsea and Vauxhall bridges, providing another direct route through central London and supporting the shift towards zero emission, sustainable travel options.
The bridge is part of the infrastructure package needed to support growth in Nine Elms and Vauxhall where tens of thousand of new jobs and homes are now being created alongside billions in growth and tax receipts.
The competition is being run by Colander and follows OJEU public sector procurement processes so the successful design team can be appointed to the project when it becomes live.
Once the winning design is selected, it would need to go through the planning process before work could begin.
Find out more at www.nepbridgecompetition.co.uk