Architects unveil 74 competing designs for Nine Elms bridge

Dozens of designs have been unveiled for the £40 million new pedestrian and cycle bridge, which will connect the rapidly-developing Nine Elms area with the north bank of the River Thames.

Wandsworth council has published the proposals by the 74 teams, which have entered the contest to design the cycle and foot bridge. The bridge will span the Thames between Nine Elms and Pimlico, plugging the gap between the existing Chelsea and Vauxhall bridges.

The proposals are being displayed on an anonymous basis under EU procurement rules, in order to help create a level playing field for all of the practices involved in the competition.

Wandsworth has said the entries include some of the world’s biggest architectural and engineering practices

The competition’s jury, which includes Wandsworth leader Ravi Govindia and Graham Stirk of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, will recommend a shortlist of up to four teams next month to go through to the next stage with a winner due to be unveiled in late June. The submitted designs are currently being subjected to technical assessments.

Govindia said: “To succeed this bridge must be two things at once. It must be a beautiful piece of architecture and a valuable new transport link. This is what our growing city needs and thanks to this competition we now have more than 70 different approaches to consider.”

The bridge will link Pimlico embankment on the northern side of the river with an area close to Kieran Timberlake’s £650 million US Embassy building which is due to complete in 2017.

A public exhibition displaying all 74 proposals is being held today at Westminster Boating Base and at the Rose Centre this Friday and Saturday.

All the designs can be seen here.