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The KurilpaBridge project was an opportunity to not only make a new pedestrian and cycleconnection across Brisbane’s river, it was an opportunity to form a new publicspace. The result is a symbol of a city, which is forging an identity at theforefront of art, science and technology.
Theconceptualisation was based upon Buckminster Fuller’s principles of tensegrity.Its priority was to simultaneously resolve unusual physical challenges, such asnavigational constraints and motorway spanning and embrace the spirit of a citywhich is relaxed, subtropical and seeking to prioritise walking, cycling andhealthy lifestyle.
Equally, the design of the structure and its spacesis conceived to celebrate and engage with the river both viewed from itsvantage points and viewed out from its primary and ancillary spaces. Lastly, onan international perspective, it is designed to embody and convey Brisbane’semergence as a contemporary design city.
Kurilpa Bridge winner of the World Architecture Festival "Building of the year for Transport Category" in Barcelona Nov 2011
SPECIFIER MAGAZINE-March 2012
The Kurilpa Bridge is undeniably one of Brisbane’s most unique landmarks, and breaks many of the conventions that
we typically associate with bridges. Its uniqueness is so notable, in fact, that it is the subject of a book. Kurilpa
Bridge by Haig Beck and Jackie Cooper explores the genesis of this remarkable bridge. In doing so, they also provide
a lot of background information on general principles of bridge design, and is bolstered with enough specialised
information on structural engineering to engage even the most technically proficient bridge-enthusiasts. They take
particular care to explain the concept of tensegrity, the structural principle that informs Kurilpa’s striking design. Also
worth reading is the humourously titled “abridged history of bridges”, which reviews the evolution of the bridge in a
short and highly readable format.
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