The spectacular pedestrian bridge, designed by Gatermann + Schossig Architects, recently connected the "Float" office building with the Capricorn House. The unusual shape of the bridge is created by the polygonal arrangement of around 60 trapezoidal and triangular insulating glass units.
The special feature of the bridge is its structural concept: for this purpose, seele and osd / Wilhelm & Partner developed a bridge body made of a closed, tube-like lattice shell. Eight steel polygons, longitudinal ribs and diagonals form the steel structure for the precisely fitting insulating glass units.
Complex bridge construction
The loads of the bridge are carried exclusively by the steel structure in the central column, which is also loaded. The two cantilevered bridge arms to the left and right of the support have different lengths and angles, so planning of the steel supporting structure was correspondingly complex.
The bridge 'tube' was glazed with about 60 individual glass elements in sizes of up to 8.1 by three meters. In the pedestrian area of the walkway, some panes are printed with a white dot pattern that is transparent towards the top and serves as a reflective surface for the lighting.
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A special challenge in this project was the demanding installation between the two office buildings. Thanks to a perfectly coordinated logistics and assembly concept, the two cantilevers weighing 26 and 12 tons were lifted and fixed in just one weekend. This was followed by the fitting of the glass elements, some of which are very pointed.