Winning bidder named for Leicester bridge competition

Engineer Buro Happold and Explorations Architecture have won the design competition for a new bridge over the River Soar in Leicester.

The duo beat off competition including Allies and Morrison, Knight Architects and McDowell + Benedetti with Arup and Ramboll Whitbybird.

It is the second win in a week for the team, which secured the contract to design the Metro West Liffey Valley Bridge in Ireland last week.

The foot and cycle crossing will connect the proposed Leicester Science Park and National Space Centre with a residential development on Wolsey Island. The scheme, backed by Leicester Regeneration Company and the local council, aims to stimulate regeneration of the Abbey Meadows area of the city.

James Sinclair of Leicester Regeneration said: “The successful design spans the river with a lightness of touch and it has a gently arching deck, counterbalanced by sweeping structural cables which dip below the deck level to give a symmetrical and orderly profile and uninterrupted views of the river”.

Buro Happold bridge engineer Adam Allegri added: “This innovative white concrete self anchored suspension bridge glides over the river Soar providing a motif for the Abbey Meadows regeneration.”