Gagarin Studio and DP Squared have completed the longest single-span pedestrian bridge in Leeds

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Andrew Wall

Leeds Footbridge spans the River Aire, connecting two sides of the city within the Climate Innovation District. Designed by Gagarin Studio and structural engineer DP Squared, the elegant steel structure also carries a new low-carbon heating system and provides access to both green pathways and a traffic-free cycling network. In the future, the bridge will link to a residential development comprising 500 low-carbon dwellings.

Close collaboration between the architect and engineer has resulted a highly refined and efficient design that employs only 16 standard profiles for the balustrade. The profiles are sequenced and repeated to produce a sculptural, concertina form in maintenance-free weathering steel.

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“The challenge for the bridge deck was to meet the requirements for clearance over the river and the proposed landscaping levels on each bank, which were not at the same height”, explains Darren Paine, structures lead at DP Squared. “With a 360-metres radius and a 750mm structural depth, the deck is very slender for a 50-metre span – the longest single-span bridge in Leeds.”

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“From a distance the bridge feels simple, elegant and diaphanous with very little visual impact on the river setting”, says project architect Steve Gittner. “The experience when closer is visually fascinating as its form folds and cranks with a series of slats that create a sense of the form stretching across its span. The resulting concertina-like quality brings sculptural interest and character for people crossing over or below the bridge.”

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