Thomas Heatherwick designs Green Bridge for London
Heatherwick Studio and actress and campaigner Joanna Lumley have developed an idea for a new pedestrian ‘garden bridge’ across the Thames in London; a scheme to connect South Bank and Temple with a garden.
It follows Transport for London's tender for proposals to improve pedestrian links across the river. This new piece of landscape aims to add to the city's rich and diverse horticultural heritage of heathlands, parks, squares, allotments and community gardens and support many indigenous river-edge plant species, says the Heatherwick Studio.
With a structure that widens and narrows across its span, the elevated garden will would only be a safe and easy way for commuters and visitors to cross the river, it would also make places along its length for pedestrians to stop and better enjoy the remarkable river setting and views of the city. The addition of careful planting with variety in scale, openness and intimacy would create a new kind of city public space.
Heatherwick Studio is currently working closely with TfL and engineering consultant Arup to develop the scheme.
In November The Garden Bridge Trust, a new body dedicated to driving forward the creation of the bridge, was launched. A public consultation, led by The Garden Bridge Trust and supported by TfL, ends on 20 December.
