Castleford Riverside Masterplan by McDowell + Benedetti, United Kingdom

September 04, 2009 Category: Bridges, Urban Design

The Castleford Riverside Masterplan has been designed by architects McDowell and Benedetti is located in Castleford, United Kingdom. McDowell + Benedetti have been chosen in 2003 by representatives of local communities as a contest winner invited to design a bridge and historic blueprint for the regeneration of Castleford Waterfront Bay. Close consultation with the advocates of community project “continued throughout. The regeneration was promoted in the UK by Channel 4 with the design process filmed for a documentary TV series “Kevin McCloud’s Big Town Plan” which was released in August 2008.

Simple temporary paths at each bank connect to Aire Street and Mill Lane pending future phases of the regeneration masterplan, including the realignment of Aire St. to increase riverside public realm whilst improving safe pedestrian access, and south bank public square and pavilion buildings. A walk south shore (partly built, ready for expansion in the future) provides a new connection between Riverside public bridges old and new and new releases of regeneration sites. The scheme indludes also a new landscaped park north shore of lookouts and ‘beach’, a chain cohesive strategy lighting civic pearls “around the bay, and a new fish pass in the historical deck Weir.

The new 130m long bridge off 4m forms a sinuous curve more elegant Castleford Bay, bringing together disparate communities in North and South of the river and creating a pedestrian route safer and more pleasant than the close 200 years old Victorian road bridge downstream. The “curved deck S-shaped ‘response to the context of the location of the plant, the dam and the old wrecked barge, giving users the greatest experience of these markers and flow of living water white Weir on the tarmac. Anchored by only three V-shaped supports, the untreated simplified Cumaru hardwood bridge structure seems to hover above the river area with a “magic carpet” to enjoy the picturesque surroundings.

Designed as a public space and not just as a road, the innovative structure rises from the wooden bridge customized to create four 20m long curved benches to sit and enjoy panoramic views. The popularity of the bridge once again drew attention to Castleford Riverside “acting as a catalyst for future phases of our master plan for the regeneration of the waterfront. McDowell + Benedetti have been appointed sole by WMDC to design and manage the bridge project, with sub-consultants: engineers Alan Baxter & Associates and Arup, lighting consultants Sutton Vane Associates, QS Philip Pank Partnership.

Castleford Riverside Masterplan by McDowell and Benedetti in United Kingdom