Winners 2022

The winners of the 2020 Footbridge Awards were revealed during the postponed triennial international footbridge conference that took place in September 2022 in Madrid.

A digital version of the awards brochure containing details of all the winners and highly-commended entries is available by clicking here.

This is a technically excellent design, bringing together conceptual rigour and imagination with the exemplary use of the latest fabrication technologies. The concept is for a form-found, thin-shell structure, familiar from numerous examples of spectacular 20th century roof structures. Applying this approach to bridge construction is a real challenge that has been met head-on.

The most remarkable feature of the bridge is the transparency of its shapes, which make the crossing an elegant and well-integrated structure.

Its ultra-slender design minimises both visual and physical impact on the site.

Worthy of mention is the extradosed underslung cable, which plays an important role in the structure but which is almost hidden within the environment.

This is a bridge of breathtaking delicacy. The jury recognised that it requires exceptional effort to make something appear so effortless, and the judges were impressed by the design in context as well as the detail that contributes to its slender demeanour.

Whilst the much-vaunted centre gap is, like Arthurian legend, more narrative than clear fact, it adds grit to the tourist experience that one imagines is not entirely necessary given the thrill of being held high above the ravine so nonchalantly.

We were united in our assessment of the winning bridge as a high-quality example of footbridge design which manages to convey an impression of its sinuous and delicate form despite its unusually large size.

The ability of the deck to move comes as a delightful surprise, since the opening mechanism is successfully integrated into the curved form. The structure looks good both open and closed, and when open it creates lovely ship-like structures in the middle of the waterway.

The jury were smitten by the originality of this project, which was initially entered only into the long-span category.

The jury was impressed with its detail, slenderness and choice of structural system. The judges were struck by the ingenuity displayed in creating a great space for users that did not detract from the existing historic structure.