Liverpool Anglican Cathedral Bridge, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Sketch Stage
At a glance
Short listed Bridge Design for an International design competition for Liverpool Anglican Cathedral to connect the Cathedral south face to Nearby Cultural Quarter Hope Street.
Collaboration with ARUP Engineers resulted in a dramatic procession across the cavernous St James’ cemetery gardens at high level with a landmark mast illuminating the ground plane thus adding to the rich cultural axis of Hope Street.
Location Map
About
In January 2004, at the start of Liverpool’s Year of Faith, a competition was launched to design a “glass bridge”.
The site was the city’s Anglican Cathedral, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s great edifice towering above the edge of St James’ Cemetery, a former quarry which had been converted to a burial ground in 1829, and then into a public garden in 1972. In its present form, this artificial canyon acts as a 50-foot deep barrier, preventing access to the Cathedral’s south face from nearby Hope Street.
The design connects through an overall lighting strategy along Hope Street to the delicately poised expressed structure of the bridge of light. The glass and steel component of a cable stayed mast design would provide a unique contrast to the monolithic Cathedral Structure.
Crossing the bridge amongst the cemetery mature trees would elevate the user whilst a performance space below in the garden can use the bridge structure to illuminate outdoor theatre.
