Background
Bridges influence the way we move, the way we live. They influence how cities develop and communities connect.
Infrastructure schemes are increasingly required to incorporate active mobility into their plans, demonstrating the widest range of benefits to the planet and the people they affect. How can project owners and asset managers realise considered, data-driven, and purposeful solutions that will serve communities for generations to come?
Encouraging Modal Shifts
Providing access to mobility without a heavy carbon cost means behavioural change away from private car use to public transport and active travel modes.
By enabling new local journeys on foot and wheels, wider modal shift can be achieved as new habits are formed, with more regular and longer journeys undertaken. To achieve this, decision-makers will need to take a more holistic, integrated and long-term view when planning infrastructure improvements.
This demands sympathetic design thinking, reliable interconnectivity between modes – including public transport – and effective communication to stakeholders.
Connectivity & Equity
Active travel journeys are longer than a single piece of infrastructure, so require a integrated network linking multiple elements along routes which are unique to every user.
Valuable choices can be created by unlocking specific key links, enabling people walking, cycling and wheeling to negotiate a barrier or obstruction to a longer route.
Connected infrastructure solutions must embrace an inclusive design approach, planning out potential problems caused by cost, location or access. This ensures that the benefits of new infrastructure schemes are distributed equitably and address existing disparities.
Placemaking
Infrastructure that encourages active travel can often stimulate healthy placemaking in its own right.
Public space that embraces multimodal transportation and is informed by placemaking principles can catalyse economic growth and (re)connect residents to their surroundings, engendering a sense of pride.
As highly visible forms that can have a significant impact on their location, pedestrian and cycle crossings need sensitive design thinking that considers context, commercial and community needs as well as form and function.
Adding Value From The Outset
Design thinking should start at the beginning of a project and continue until the end. It is a creative response that is influenced by everything that comes before it.
Knight Architects’ innovative design leadership asks the right questions from the outset, helping to shape the direction of the project and leading sensitive and efficient solutions.