Passerelle du Musée

Building of the Year 2007, Hamburg |

The geometry of the footbridge continues two strong directions on each riverside – the throughway of the former storage building “Kaispeicher B” recently transformed into a ship museum, connecting access road and harbour, and the main pedestrian axes of an urban park area generated by the transversal water basin in the north.
The walking surface widens up towards the middle offering a comfortable area to have a rest and overlook the harbour. The bridge is not only a link but also a public space opening new perspectives on the urban landscape.
 
The transversal section of the bridge is variable with its biggest section in the middle of the bridge. The bridge seems to stem itself against the two walls of the river banks.
The structure of the bridge is conceived as a beam fixed on the river bank in the north and allowing horizontal movements due to temperature on the opposite side. It forms a box composed by flat steel plates. The box is accessible for maintenance. Visually it reminds a hulk referring to the nearby ship museum.

An important concrete foundation integrated in the north river bank responds to the torsion being induced by the bend in the centre. The dissimulation of this effort gives the bridge its magic.