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> Symbio Bridge

Keywords

 

Bridge design, Infrastructure design.

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Project duration

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2014-2016

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Initiated by

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Groenservice Zuid-Holland, Joris Smits

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Research Team

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R. Gkaidatzis, J. Smits 

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Collaborators

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Rafail Gkaidatzis - Design

Joris Smits - Supervision

Kevin Colwell - Project leader

Ton Boeters - Structural advice

Henk Meinderts -  Cost calculations

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About

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On 17 November 2016 the Province of Zuid-Holland, the Midden-Delfland recreational amenities board and the City of Delft officially opened a new cycle route and a remarkable new bridge: the Symbiobrug. The Symbio bridge, designed by Rafail Gkaidatzis, is the winning design that came out of an architectural competition held among students of TU Delft in 2014, organised by Recreatieschap Midden Delfland, the Municipality of Delft and TU Delft. The name Symbiobrug is a reflection of the interaction between nature and technology. Besides designing the bridge, Gkaidatzis was also given the commission to build it. 


The new cycle route was created between the Technopolis Science Park (Thijssenweg) and the Ackerdijkse Bos recreational area in the countryside of Midden-Delfland. The bridge crosses the 35-metre wide Karitaatmolensloot canal on the southern fringe of Delft. The cycle route project linking Ackerdijkse Bos and TU Delft including the bridge was funded by the Province of Zuid-Holland, the City of Delft and the Midden-Delfland recreational amenities board, while the entire project took almost eight months to complete. The striking colour and shape of the Symbiobrug make it a distinctive feature in the rural landscape. 


Located on the edge of the transition between urban and rural landscape, the Symbio bridge translates and incorporates the Genius Loci of each side into one structure. From the south, the polders of Midden Delfland is reflected by a steel truss structure in bright red. The shell shaped truss with smooth corners mimics an organic forms found in nature, such as a bone, a leaf or a cell. From the north, the Science Park Technopolis reflects innovation and knowledge. These aspects have been translated through the deck of the bridge that is made out of Fibre Reinforced Plastics. The deck has a fluent shape that changes while crossing the bridge, reflecting the rapid changes in technological evolution. Sitting and resting spaces are part of the deck and its continuous parapets. The marriage between nature and innovation conveys a message; our technological advance finds its origin in nature itself. That is why the name Symbio bridge is derived from the Greek words συν, meaning ‘together', and βιωσις ‘living', reflecting the interaction between nature and technology, two elements that have found a symbiotic coexistence in the Symbio Bridge.

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Publications 

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Awards

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1st prize in the architectural competition held among students of TU Delft in 2014.

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Contact

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J.E.P.Smits@tudelft.nl
 

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