OMA wins bid to design pont jean-jacques bosc in bordeaux

OMA wins bid to design pont jean-jacques bosc in bordeaux
image courtesy of OMA

OMA has been in the headlines of architecture news this week, having won terra group’s coconut grove waterfront development, and being announced as one of the final three firms up for realizing axel springer’s media campus in berlin. now the international firm has won the bid to design the ‘pont jean-jacques bosc’ in bordeaux, france.

the bridge will stand as a 44m x 545m expanse connecting the municipalities of bèlges and floriac
image courtesy of OMA

positioned at the center of the euratlantique project, OMA’s bordeaux bridge will be the sixth to be built across the river garonne, and will stand as a connection between the city’s neighbouring municipalities of bèlges and floriac. the generous 44m x 545 expanse will provide ample public space, and function as a pedestrian promenade — the structure’s largest allowance is devoted to foot traffic — while also accommodating cars, public transport and bicycles.

aerial view of the bridge in context
image courtesy of OMA

vincent feltesse, president of the urban community of bordeaux: ‘it is an extraordinary architectural gesture. more than a bridge, it is an urban planning intervention in the heart of the euratlantique project.’

pedestrian promenade
image courtesy of OMA

clément blanchet, director of OMA france: ‘the bridge itself is not the ‘event’ in the city, but a platform that can accommodate events of the city. we wanted to provide the simplest expression – the least technical, least lyrical, but the most concise and effective structural solution.‘

model indicating the allocation of space to the various modes of traffic
image courtesy of OMA

‘pont jean-jacques’ was developed in collaboration with engineers WSP, the landscape architect michel desvigne, the consultant EGIS, and the light design agency lumières studio, and is set for completion in 2018. see designboom’s previous coverage of OMA’s ‘pont jean jacques bosc’ proposal here.

scale model of the bridge in its bordeaux context
image courtesy of OMA