Project Overview
The competition-winning design for an opening footbridge at Paddington Basin spans 20m across the Grand Union Canal at the heart of the new Merchant Square development.
The design concept is both simple and spectacular: a 3m wide cantilevering deck is hinged at its north end and is raised using hydraulic jacks with an action similar to that of a traditional Japanese hand fan.
The design concept is both simple and spectacular: a 3m wide cantilevering deck is hinged at its north end and is raised using hydraulic jacks with an action similar to that of a traditional Japanese hand fan and attractive to the canal-side environment, providing a useful footpath on a well-used ‘desire line’. In motion it is an eye-catching kinetic sculpture whose silhouette is both legible and exciting and which is well suited to the position on Sunset Terrace.
The five steel beams forming the deck open in sequence and shaped counterweights assist the hydraulic mechanism and reduce the energy required to move the structure.
