Atterbury bridges, South Africa the way to a better shopping experience

Home » Projects » Atterbury bridges, South Africa the way to a better shopping experience

Atterbury Property Holdings has developed a R6.2 million landmark pedestrian bridge between Lynnwood Bridge Retail and Office Park with Glenfair Boulevard in Pretoria. The eye-catching bridge spans Daventry Road and links these two prime properties.

Zahn Hulme of Atterbury explains the bridge, which is complete and open for use, has been designed to make moving between the two centres safe and easy for visitors. “The new Daventry Road Bridge adds to the convenience, diversity and appeal of a visit to both of these popular destinations.”

Lynnwood Bridge is a popular shopping, leisure and business landmark in the Capital City. It is ideally situated in a highly visible location adjacent to the N1 highway at the upgraded Lynnwood off-ramp. It provides a combination of office space, a lifestyle retail centre, hotel and a theatre. Its offices are occupied by Adams and Adams Attorneys, Aurecon and City Lodge Hotel. Retail and entertainment attractions include Woolworths, Planet Fitness, the Atterbury Theatre, the Pro Shop and a number of specialty restaurants and shops.

Glenfair Boulevard is a community shopping centre which has offered well supported convenience shopping for the past 40 years. Recently refurbished, it provides fresh retail experience with Spar and Checkers as its anchor tenants.

Both centres are owned and managed by JSE-listed property capital growth fund Attacq, and complement each other perfectly to create a well-rounded quality retail and recreational experience.

The iconic design of the bridge was done by Studio 3 Architects International. The brief to the architects for the bridge’s design included visually matching it with the stand-out design of Lynnwood Bridge, incorporating the ability to house billboards on either side, as well as a pylon with space for illuminated sign boxes on the bridge. In addition, they were challenged with designing the stairs to be as comfortable as possible for pedestrians as the bridge is almost two storeys high.

Conrad Dinkelmann, Senior Design Architect at Studio 3 explains the asymmetry  of the bridge allows it to be more than just a structure that houses a billboard, creating a bold shape to be experienced in its own right, both from a distance and when walking over the bridge.

Dinkelmann says: “Daventry Bridge’s shape echoes the form of the Lynnwood Bridge logo which is fashioned as an asymmetrical bridge.”  Unfolding from bio-mimicry, where architecture takes its form from shapes in nature such as shells, leaves and organisms, the bridge design was also inspired by the modern bridges and structures of the Spanish neofuturistic architect-engineer Santiago Calatrava.

“The curved shapes of both the Lynnwood Bridge and Glenfair Boulevards were the starting point for the design,” notes Dinkelmann. “Plus, the concept links with the many round feature pipes of these buildings. The many tubes also conceal the potentially overbearing experience of the billboard from the walkway areas.”

The colours of the bridge furthermore complement the buildings, while its pylon includes composite panel cladding which matches that of the Atterbury Theatre.

Hulme comments: “Atterbury is proud to unveil the new Daventry Bridge. Besides being an asset for both properties and everyone that visits them, this striking bridge also adds another unique and appealing design attraction to this beautiful city.”