2019 Auckland Architecture Awards Winner
Tirohanga Whānui Bridge
The English translation of the name of this bridge is “panoramic view”: a grand, fitting name for a project originally conceived as no more than a means to carry a water pipe over the motorway. The bridge, by Wells Architects, connects pedestrians and cyclists on the Albany and Pinehills sides of the northern motorway, thus providing a means for potentially thousands of people to rethink the way they commute to work, go shopping and head into the Albany town centre for entertainment and recreation. And for everyone, locals using it to cross and all who pass beneath, the seductively variable rhythm of the trusses and the slyly twisted pylons create an invigorating, smile-inducing moment on the journey. Glamorous by day in its bright red colour, it’s even lovelier by night with the lights on. Bridges change lives, and this one will come fully into its own as the built environment grows on either side. Bridges also have the potential to be beautiful, but few realise it as well as Tirohanga Whānui.
- Practice
- Wells Architects Planners Limited
- Category
- Public Architecture
- Location
- Auckland
