A curved 230-square-metre pedestrian bridge in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area has been fabricated and installed in approximately 80 days on a hybrid glulam and steel structure, with a glazed timber crossing arching above the residential estate’s sunken garden. That is according to GREEN ARCHITECTS and gad, the joint design team behind the Yitaiyipin Garden bridge, which sits at the second-floor level inside the residential estate and faces an urban green space.
The architects said the lower structure became “a key design consideration in this project” because the sunken courtyard beneath the cantilever was intended to accommodate frequent pedestrian traffic between the urban green corridor and the garden’s central axis. The semi-circular plan responds to opposing conditions of “closure” facing the inner garden and “opening” facing the city.
The arched lower structure rests on two Y-shaped steel columns, with an inclined single-curved steel pipe forming the bottom chord and spindle-shaped timber rods serving as the web members, locked together by crossed steel cables to form a three-dimensional spatial truss. The truss profile is lowered at both ends and elevated at the centre, presenting a curved silhouette readable from every angle around the semi-circular plan and delivering what GREEN ARCHITECTS and gad described as “a light, open appearance with visual impact.”
The enclosed upper level sits on a “7”-shaped glulam structure supplemented by slender steel columns, with the timber columns positioned along the inner curve backing onto the sunken courtyard, whilst the glazed facade extends outwards towards the urban lawn. The arrangement creates a material contrast between robust glulam columns on the inside and the transparent glass envelope on the outside.
Construction was carried out using factory-fabricated components assembled on site, with the full programme from off-site fabrication through to final installation completed in approximately 80 days. The architects said the prefabricated approach “fully demonstrated the efficiency advantage of prefabricated timber structures.”
The project comes as Wood Central reported on LUO Studio’s arched Gulou Bridge Waterfront in Jiangmen, the 166-metre PEFC-shortlisted timber crossing carrying fishing boats and tourists across the OCT Alliance’s eco-cultural resort, and on the 9-metre glulam Onetai Bridge in New Zealand’s Coromandel, the country’s first state highway timber bridge in five decades. The Yitaiyipin span sits in the same prefab logic — engineered timber and steel cooperating across structural roles rather than competing for them.
