11/06/11
KURILPA BRIDGE "WORLD'S BEST"
Kurilpa pedstrian bridge at South Brisbane wins top award at World Architecture Festival in Barcelona
Minister for Building Industry Simon Finn said he was absolutely delighted Brisbane’s most coveted piece of infrastructure – the Kurilpa Bridge – had catapulted Brisbane onto the international stage earlier this week at the prestigious World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.
Mr Finn said the bridge took out the 2011 World Transport Building of the Year award – the ultimate accolade for infrastructure projects of its kind.
“To win this award is a shining example of the high level of design and engineering talent in Queensland,” Mr Finn said.
“Kurilpa Bridge has enjoyed an extraordinary award-winning run and to be globally recognised as the world’s best is a magnificent achievement.
“The World Architecture Festival is the world's largest global architectural awards program attracting hundreds of entries and visitors from all over the world – in fact, more than 700 entries from 59 countries.
“The Kurilpa Bridge stood out as the best against a field which included some impressive competitors from China, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.”
Mr Finn said since its official opening in October 2009, the iconic bridge had stood out as a striking piece of infrastructure and had been a wonderful addition to the Brisbane landscape.
“It is the first major pedestrian bridge in the world to be constructed using tensegrity engineering, which balances tension and compression components,” he said.
Mr Finn said the win for Kurilpa Bridge at the festival was an absolutely marvelous achievement for everyone involved in the project, and commended everyone who played a role from concept through to completion.
Mr Finn said the other finalists included:
Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Zaha Hadid Architects, UAE
Guangzhou South Railway Station, TFP Farrells Ltd, China
Malmö Central Station, Metro Arkitekter, Sweden
Rotterdam Traffic Control Centre, Broekbakema, Netherlands
Multi-Storey Car Park, Hypostyle Architects, United Kingdom
The jury at the World Architecture Awards said of the Kurilpa Bridge:
“The bridge appears to ‘float’ over the river. The structural elements seem to be abstractly suspended in the air making the bridge very different, functional, unique and sculptural.”
Mr Finn said Kurilpa Bridge was used by thousands of walkers, joggers and cyclists to walk to work, visit Brisbane’s cultural precinct or to enjoy views of the Brisbane River.
The bridge’s originality has impressed industry experts and it has won a long list of awards including:
- National Institute of Buildings Award 2011 - Professional Infrastructure Award for Civil Infrastructure
- Engineers Australia (National) 2010 Australian Engineering Excellence Award
- Australian Institute of Architects Award 2010: Karl Langer Medal for Urban Design
- Consult Australia 2010 Awards for Excellence: Gold Award of Merit in Transport & Civil and Award of special merit – Project of the Year
- Australian Steel Institute – 2010 Queensland Steel Awards: Winner Structural Engineering, High Commendation Engineering Projects Infrastructure and Mining.
The design and construction contractors Baulderstone Pty Ltd constructed the Kurilpa Bridge, designers were Cox Rayner Architects and Arup engineers with the procurement and delivery process managed by the Department of Public Works.
Mr Finn said the bridge took out the 2011 World Transport Building of the Year award – the ultimate accolade for infrastructure projects of its kind.
“To win this award is a shining example of the high level of design and engineering talent in Queensland,” Mr Finn said.
“Kurilpa Bridge has enjoyed an extraordinary award-winning run and to be globally recognised as the world’s best is a magnificent achievement.
“The World Architecture Festival is the world's largest global architectural awards program attracting hundreds of entries and visitors from all over the world – in fact, more than 700 entries from 59 countries.
“The Kurilpa Bridge stood out as the best against a field which included some impressive competitors from China, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates.”
Mr Finn said since its official opening in October 2009, the iconic bridge had stood out as a striking piece of infrastructure and had been a wonderful addition to the Brisbane landscape.
“It is the first major pedestrian bridge in the world to be constructed using tensegrity engineering, which balances tension and compression components,” he said.
Mr Finn said the win for Kurilpa Bridge at the festival was an absolutely marvelous achievement for everyone involved in the project, and commended everyone who played a role from concept through to completion.
Mr Finn said the other finalists included:
Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Zaha Hadid Architects, UAE
Guangzhou South Railway Station, TFP Farrells Ltd, China
Malmö Central Station, Metro Arkitekter, Sweden
Rotterdam Traffic Control Centre, Broekbakema, Netherlands
Multi-Storey Car Park, Hypostyle Architects, United Kingdom
The jury at the World Architecture Awards said of the Kurilpa Bridge:
“The bridge appears to ‘float’ over the river. The structural elements seem to be abstractly suspended in the air making the bridge very different, functional, unique and sculptural.”
Mr Finn said Kurilpa Bridge was used by thousands of walkers, joggers and cyclists to walk to work, visit Brisbane’s cultural precinct or to enjoy views of the Brisbane River.
The bridge’s originality has impressed industry experts and it has won a long list of awards including:
- National Institute of Buildings Award 2011 - Professional Infrastructure Award for Civil Infrastructure
- Engineers Australia (National) 2010 Australian Engineering Excellence Award
- Australian Institute of Architects Award 2010: Karl Langer Medal for Urban Design
- Consult Australia 2010 Awards for Excellence: Gold Award of Merit in Transport & Civil and Award of special merit – Project of the Year
- Australian Steel Institute – 2010 Queensland Steel Awards: Winner Structural Engineering, High Commendation Engineering Projects Infrastructure and Mining.
The design and construction contractors Baulderstone Pty Ltd constructed the Kurilpa Bridge, designers were Cox Rayner Architects and Arup engineers with the procurement and delivery process managed by the Department of Public Works.
advertisement
advertisement