Lilla Lidingöbron

The island of Lidingö is part of the Stockholm inner archipelago and is connected to the main urban areas by a high level highway bridge and low level bridge, which carries pedestrians, cyclists and a tram line. A 700m SEK (£60m GBP) replacement crossing for the latter is required and Knight Architects was appointed at the pre-tender stage to develop a set of design guidelines which would shape the content of the contractor’s submissions for this design and build project.

These guidelines have been structured according to how strictly they must be adhered to by the contractor. Guidelines that are set as highly flexible allow the contractor to use their knowledge to find the best value solution for the client. Low flexibility items ensure that areas of the design and architecture which are critical to the success of the project are maintained throughout the tender process.

In the development of these guidelines, an illustrative design was developed to demonstrate the ‘preferred’ solution to many design challenges. The two driving requirements for this design are to form a harmonious visual relationship to the nearby highway bridge and to mitigate the potentially monotonous 750m length of the crossing to pedestrians.