Is the bridge simply a crossing? For the Netherlands based Next office, this work of engineering is not just a structural demonstration. It also implies an unexpected user experience.

When the team learned that it was at last to build its first bridge in China, where Next has been established since 2004, it saw an opportunity “to combine the Dutch team’s structural and water management experience with the Beijing team’s knowledge of the local context and client requirements. In the beginning, the Dutch proposals were too modest, while the Chinese team’s ideas were excessive. We had to find a happy medium between the two”, stresses Michel Scheinemachers, one of Next founders and head of the Amsterdam office. The resulting Lucky Knot Bridge is made of 24-metre high vivid red steel waves crossing and intersecting each other over a length of 185 metres.

An article by Laurie Picout