Shortlisted in the TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE category

Following the restoration and reopening of Coal Drops Yard in 2018, The Espérance Bridge represents the final step of reinstating the heritage of this part of King's Cross. The new footbridge spans 25m over the canal, from the Goods Way pavement to an elevated corner of Granary Square. Clearance requirements dictated an ‘above deck’ structure and the desire for openness favoured a truss form. In the spirit of industrial bridges built in this area in the past, design iterations focused on efficiency, honesty, and functionality with an emphasis on craft and the expression of structural forces. Components express their alternately compressive and tensile load requirements. Nodal connections are carefully sculpted transitions between elements. The repetitive modular form created a seemingly complex assembly out of a series of repetitive cells. In this way, a typically humble truss was elevated far beyond expectations into a sculptural object which is still true to its function.