Onda Atlántica footbridge, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Onda Arquitectura Checa Arquitectura

Type Infraestructure Bridge / footbridge
Date 2021
City Las Palmas of Gran Canaria
Country Spain
Photographer Iwan Baan

With a total length of 283 meters, the footbridge designed by Onda Arquitectura and Checa Arquitectura presents three 63-meter stretches between supports, and the effect is an unexpected impression of lightness. The wavy form, initially a response to the limitations of the site, dodges the preexisting trees while improving the structure’s performance by allowing a design without expansion joints. With a width of 3 meters and a maximum slope of 6%, the bridge reaches a maximum altitude of 7.6 meters above street level, so is a new lookout for viewing the city.

The V-shaped profile resulted from the need to mitigate the acoustic impact of the road below, giving rise to an innovative structural system; a highly efficient triangular profile, uncommon in the world of bridge engineering, that can connect curved spans. The programmatic requirements for pedestrians, cyclists, and accessible crossings are all met with a single infrastructure.