Twisted Bridge

The twisted bridge called the Bridge of Aspirations which connects the Opera House to the Royal Ballet School. Architect - Wilkinson Eyre.

Twisting high above Floral Street in Covent Garden, the Bridge of Aspiration provides the dancers of the Royal Ballet School with a direct link to the Grade I listed Royal Opera House. The award-winning design addresses a series of complex contextual issues, and is legible both as a fully integrated component of the buildings it links, and as an independent architectural element. The skewed alignment and different levels of the landing points dictate the form of the crossing, which is geometrically and structurally simple. A concertina of 23 square portals with glazed intervals are supported from an aluminium spine beam. These rotate in sequence for the skew in alignment, performing a quarter-turn overall along the length of the bridge. The result is an elegant intervention high above the street, which evokes the fluidity and grace of dance.

The bridge is constructed of 23 aluminium frames which twist in a series of 3.91 degree steps, rotating through 90 degrees from end to end to create a concertina effect.

The 57 custom-designed L-shaped luminaires – two square-section, mitred acrylic pieces, each 450mm long – are integrated into the corners of the inner face of the aluminium extruded frames. When switched off, they are invisible. The LEDs – two 1.2W white LED units – evenly illuminate the acrylic using the total internal reflection principle.

Very nice original work, Kombizz!

With best regards,

Ruud.

Kombizz, 

Amazing!  I would love to see a picture inside of it with someone walking ahead of you.  The outside impression is that a walker would turn on his side and fall down.  If you decide to take and post one, do email me and let me know so I don't miss it.

Jerry

Very well done and very well composed: compliments!