Longest Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge, Flanders Structure, Belgium, Belgian Architecture
Longest Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge in Flanders
14 Dec 2022
Design: ZJA
Location: Flanders, Belgium
Renders: Architectural studio ZJA
Flanders Longest Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge, Belgium
The first symbolic meter of the Longest Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge in Flanders, Belgium has been laid. As part of the MoVeR0 consultancy consortium, and commissioned by De Werkvennootschap, architectural studio ZJA produced the architectonic design for the cycle bridge over the A201 Leopold III-Laan in Brussels. With a total length of 710 meters – including a 510 meter-long deck, and 200 meters of sloping approaches – the bridge is a striking feature in the urban landscape. Construction starts in December, and the bridge will be open for use in 2024.
Imposing bridge with V-shaped columns
Ralph Kieft, architect and partner at ZJA, says, “To make this imposing bridge fit its surroundings, we gave it as light and transparent a silhouette as possible. To achieve this, the white bridge is made of steel and rests on V-shaped grey steel columns with cut-away corners. With its gradual gradient in a continuous upward curve, and its perfectly straight trajectory, the cycle bridge makes a long, fluid gesture that marks the boundary between Flanders and the Brussels-Capital Region.”
Comfortable bicycle and pedestrian bridge
Pedestrians, as well as cyclists, will be able to use the bridge. It has a cycle path and a footpath, distinguished from each other by their coloured surfaces. The cycle path is a brownish yellow or light ochre, and the footpath is anthracite in colour. This distinction ensures a safe and easily legible layout on the bridge. At its highest point, over the highway where cars and trams pass, the deck is almost eight meters above street level. The steps that give access to the bridge at the tram stop match the design and appear transparent. They are also elongated and shallow enough to ensure a comfortable climb to the bridge deck.
Because the bridge is so long and straight, its details, which repeat many times along the length of the bridge, create a fascinating visual effect. The corbelled ribs under the deck, supporting the pedestrian footways, have a fixed rhythm and flow into the balustrades. The resulting impression is of a regular rhythm that conforms to the fluid line of the bridge deck as it rises, making the bridge seem lighter, floating above the highway and pointing towards the horizon.
Important link in the cycle network around Brussels
The A201K bicycle and pedestrian bridge designed by ZJA not only creates a safe crossing of the Leopold III-Laan, it forms a previously missing link in the cycle network in and around Brussels. The new bridge will improve accessibility and quality of life for the surrounding area, and in particular the traffic safety and mobility of cyclists and pedestrians.
Work on the Ring
The A201K bicycle and pedestrian bridge forms part of the ‘Work on the Ring’ program, with which De Werkvennootschap intends to create better mobility on and around the ring road that encircles Brussels, and to improve the quality of life for those who live there. To achieve this, investment will be made in the coming years in better public transport, the redevelopment of the Ring, and safe, rapid connections for cyclists.
Longest Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge in Flanders, Belgium – Building Information
Architectural studio: ZJA – https://www.zja.nl/
Architectural design: architectural studio ZJA as part of the MoVeR0 consortium, which is made up of Sweco, Arcadis, ZJA, Frank van Hulle, Cluster and Mint
Commissioned by: De Werkvennootschap
About ZJA
ZJA designs with the objective to improve the quality of the environment, both from an ecological and a human perspective. ZJA is optimistic about the opportunities to do so, knowing what it takes to learn, to see, and to discover the things that make that possible: working together and continually researching new methods and materials. The better the design, the more it enriches society, and the more sophisticated and carefully it intertwines new functions with the environment.
Images: Architectural studio ZJA
Flanders Longest Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge images / information received 141222
Location: Flanders, Belgium, western Europe
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