Dodder Footbridge
A pedestrian crossing in Dublin that gives a place to pause as well as a way over the river, designed with seating, structure and route in one continuous form.
The River Dodder threads through south Dublin between banks of mature trees, and the regeneration of the surrounding area called for a pedestrian network that would draw people to the water. The competition brief asked for a crossing. Nex designed a public space that happens to cross a river.
The river channel's flood clearance set the governing constraint, so the structure could not hang below the deck on one side. This necessary structural depth rises above the walking surface, where it becomes an extended run of integrated seating along the crossing. People sit within the structure that carries them.
The blue finish makes the bridge visible through the riverside trees and marks the meeting of the surrounding routes. Thin steel railing cables keep the sightlines open, so the crossing reads as a slender line over the water and the views up and down the river remain open.
The result gives the neighbourhood a place to stop, to sit above the water among the trees, and to watch the river pass beneath.
- First prize in international competition
