Suspended Glazed Bridge (Lugner Bridge) in Vienna, Austria by Aneta Bulant – Kamenova and Klaus Wailzer (designed using AutoCAD)

Article source: Aneta Bulant – Kamenova and Klaus Wailzer

Project description: The presented object is may be the world–wide first fully glazed suspended bridge. The bridge takes the pedestrians, coming from the historical Otto Wagner metro station up along an escalator to a horizontal platform 8,5 meters over the most frequented boulevard in Vienna, the `Gürtel`. From there one can reach the cinema and shopping center “Lugner City”. Through series of interconnected buildings this multifunctional complex forms a strong pedestrian axis which reaches up to the nearby City Sport Hall and represents a much frequented urban connection. Being the first entering element of this axis the bridge plays the role of a landmark for that big complex. We decided to make it dynamic, light and attractive, like a funny flying object, which hovers over the pulsing city.

Lugner Bridge

• Architects: Aneta Bulant – Kamenova and Klaus Wailzer
• Name of Project: Suspended Glazed Bridge (Lugner Bridge)
• Location: Vienna, Austria
• Structural Engineer: Vasko + Partner Ingenieure, Lothar Heinrich
• Client: Ing. Richard Lugner
• Software used: AutoCAD

The bridge is without pillars and hangs on the new building with two cables. The escalator is not parallel to the street and in this way dynamically shows the direction of the pedestrian flow to the horizontal trapezium – like platform, where is left place for a café with panorama view along the boulevard up to the hills, surrounding Vienna.

Night View

A peculiarity of the bridge is its refined relation between construction, solid geometry and skin. The regular subdivided surface is folded over the non parallel sides of the solid. So arise in interior an individual impression of the space with changed perspective. The contrapuntal lodgment of the layer of the geometrical systems has a special attraction, which the visitor feels even than, when he did not consciously perceive it.

Lugner Bridge

The blue night-lighting system of the bridge brings attraction into a previously dead part of the “Gürtel” boulevard. Now the glass wrap of the bridge is interacting with the city, mirroring the lights of the passing cars and shining with its own lights over the urban environment.

Lugner Bridge

Site characteristics: The Boulevard “Gürtel” is one of the main streets and most frequented traffic streams in Vienna. The increase of the motorization has made this, former from architect Otto Wagner beautiful shaped green Boulevard, impossible to be used safely by the people. The Viennese Government, with the support of the European Commission has worked out special program for revitalizing this central urban zone, to reduce the traffic with its bad pollutions and to create more comfort for the pedestrians. It will be a step to creating more sustainable city. The presented project for the glazed pedestrian bridge is part of this policy. This bridge supports both the pedestrian and the public traffic system and at the same time will give more architectural identity and liveliness to the boulevard.

Night View

Type of client: Not only the municipality of Vienna, but also private persons are involved in the investment for the area of the `Guertel´-Boulevard. One of them is the contractor of the project for this pedestrian bridge, the private businessman Richard Lugner. He got the support and the permission of the city administration to build this object in the area of the public space of the city of Vienna. The bridge is not only a representative and comfortable entry and an identification sign for the new Lugner´s Cinema-and Shopping Centre, but also an attraction for the citizens. Many Viennese and tourists are coming to sit in the café–terrace for to admire the large city panorama.

Night View

Construction: We gave the bridge a transparent skin of insulating laminated glass as an expression of pure protective function and integration with the city outside.

The main construction is in steel girders, which are in big dimensions to avoid problems of vibrations. The sub – construction, supported the glazing is from massive steel beams with rectangular cross section. For the glass envelope we used the simple principle of folding a regularly grated surface. The surface is divided in right-angled 2 x 5 m elements and then, like Japanese Origami, folded so that it coats all sides of the bridge. The lines of the raster represent the supporting construction for the glazing. Since most of the sides are not parallel, the partitioning of all fronts gets a different direction. Thus an unforeseeably alive geometry of the surfaces of the entire envelope is achieved.

Lugner Bridge

In such way the optical impression of stability is decreased and the bridge gets largeness, ease and aliveness. Thus the object developed more than planned, it represents our view for `Design as Process´. The glass panels are connected to the supporting steel grid with hidden mechanical fixing, integrated in the spacer. This fixing system, cold “Vario” is a special patented system of the executing glass firm Eckelt – Glas and allows typical appearance of a complete glass facade.

Lugner Bridge

Making the walls and the roof of insulating laminated glass (triple–glazing) and the under side of the bridge of two sheets laminated glass, we ensured safety against injury for the users and for those, who are passing under the bridge, security against crime and vandalism, noise control for the interior and also UV protection. All this lends this glass enclosure its comfort ability and converts it into a qualitative livable space.

Plan 01

Through the use of colorless interlayer and trough the low iron “extra white” glass of the main front we reached great transparency and clearness. The light transparent skin dissolves and appears again. Happenings, like rain and snow or mirror-images of the traffic lights, seems like magic events.

Plan 02

Beside the architectural also many technical tasks had to be solved, such as the 3-dimensional folded junctions of the sub-construction of the glass skin and the mechanical safety devices of the glass surface from isolated laminated glass, hidden in the silicone joints.

Plan 04

For us it was an exciting experience to solve these details in cooperation with engineers and prominent Austrian companies, such as the steel-structure company Waagner-Biro and the glass company Eckelt, who have already implemented many complicated objects for example the Reichstag-Cupola in Berlin, or the Swiss Re Skyscraper in London.

Plan 05

Plan 06

Tags: Austria, Vienna

Categories: Autocad, Bridge

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