Martin Knight from Knight Architects explains how Stratford Town Centre Link– winner of the Infrastructure & Public Realm Award at the Test of Time Awards 2025– was created as a connection and catalyst for an emerging neighbourhood but has actually given that developed into an enduring and pleasurable civic space.
Completed in 2011 and rephotographed for the Test of Time Awards by Timothy Soar Completed in time for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Stratford Town Centre Link is a 130-metre pedestrian bridge spanning among London’s busiest train corridors. The fixed completion due date tied to the Olympic Games and the complexity of working over 11 amazed rail lines demanded precise preparation. To prevent interruption to rail services and station activity, the bridge was launched into position incrementally, with the last completed above a live station concourse– a UK first.
The bridge, composed of a six-metre- high Vierendeel truss with a 12-metre-wide deck and fully glazed sides, curves gently in strategy and differs in height to frame expansive views. With a 120-year design life, the detailing and product choice prioritise durability, integrating high-quality glass and stone surfaces with weathering steel. This gives the structure a robust yet fine-tuned appearance, while likewise simplifying long-term maintenance.
Created to accommodate high volumes of foot traffic between Stratford Regional Station, Westfield Stratford City, and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park– with peak crowds of up to 16,000 individuals– the bridge continues to serve as a well-used linear civic space, accommodating commuters, consumers, football crowds, and periodic pop-up occasions.
The bridge’s 12-metre clear width was embeded in response to projected peak-event pedestrian volumes at nearby Stratford Regional Station. Martin Knight At the time when the job was developed, this part of east London was optimistically awaiting redevelopment. The site, a huge post- industrial area bordered by loads of railway lines and the rivers of the Lee Valley, was distinguished from the neighbouring city, and nearly difficult to gain access to. It’s challenging to picture, now that the area is occupied with all the legacy utilizes: retail, business, sports, education, culture, and housing. But everything started with facilities. The Town Centre link was critical in terms of supplying a pedestrian connection to the regional station and throughout the train tracks. It worked as a lifeline to the Westfield Shopping Center during the period leading up to the Olympic Games, and was the driver for the wide variety of uses that came afterwards.
The bridge crosses one of the busiest areas of railway line in London. There were 11 rail lines and a local roadway to be cleared. Chief amongst numerous actually complicated challenges was the concern of how to set up the structure economically and securely– all while preserving rail motion and station activity beneath it. This resulted in the structural kind for the bridge, which was developed with Buro Happold and attended to the significant obstacle of covering 65 metres to a single main support. This was built using an innovative cluster of micro piles in the footprint of a redundant signal box, and it was the only location we could access in the middle of the bridge.
Gently curved in strategy, the 130-metre-long structure spans among London’s busiest railway passages.
A Vierendeel truss was selected ahead of other alternatives, particularly to prevent the inclined or angled members of a typical truss, and to permit us to celebrate the raised position and provide views to the Olympic Park and the surrounding city. The highly constrained assembly website was only around one-third the length of the bridge itself, so a phased installation sequence was used with the very first part of the truss structure erected on a trestle. A short-lived launch nose was added to extend the period to a momentary assistance on the railway boundary. All of this was then introduced across the first train period to reach the centre support. The second section of bridge was added and the launch repeated, and after that the last section of bridge was included, and the 3rd launch took the bridge throughout the entire span to its final position. This last launch took place over live rail lines and live platforms, which was a UK initially and a significant accomplishment for the professional team.
The choice to fully glaze the structure to a height of 6 metres at mid-span and end-to-end offers shelter from the aspects and protection to and from the railway. It also extends the architectural language of the retail destination beyond. We were aware that, even when glazed, the length of the bridge– 130 metres– combined with these very tall sides, could have made the crossing feel oppressive to pedestrians. The unique qualities of the two inner sides of the bridge– one vertical and the other curving and twisting; one in light and the other in shadow– appear to both reveal and motivate motion. The bridge has no designated lanes with just the stone surging for the ground surface laid to follow the curve of the strategy and to motivate circulation.
The clearness of the style and materials scheme matches, rather than competes with, nearby structures.
The benign interior of the bridge accomplishes a sense of calm clarity, while the exterior is sufficiently effective not to be controlled by the diverse architecture of the new Westfield Shopping Centre. For the super structure we chose weathering steel, which weathers naturally, at first to a golden red patina before darkening with time. This avoids the requirement to repaint the structure above the amazed train lines, so it actually streamlines upkeep, examination and ownership. Although weathering steel and glass were selected to minimise upkeep, Network Rail took some persuasion. They were likewise eager that the specification for the glass had the ability to stand up to a ballistic test and hurricane force winds.
The look can be seen as either brave and advanced or extremely industrial– and more than when, we wondered what we ‘d set in motion. On the inside of the bridge the steel is secured by the glazing, as a visual counterpoint between the brutality of the weathering steel and the great architectural surfaces of glass, stainless-steel and stone. These combine to great result supplying the bridge’s users with a smooth, top quality interior– a plain contrast to the heavily modelled texture of the muscular outside, which is friendly or beastly, depending on your viewpoint.
premium products give the bridge a hard yet refined visual, while minimising upkeep requirements.
The clearness of the Vierendeel truss structural type, which is very square set, dark and heavy, works well versus the cacophony of the multiple gantries of the train line listed below. The bridge’s 12-metre clear width was figured out by the anticipated size of the crowds utilizing Stratford Regional Station at peak events– specifically the opening and closing events and the last weekend sports– with the glazed sides offering generous views of the Olympic Park. This was a significant consider protecting preparation consent. The glazing provides terrific views to the south and east in specific, enabling orientation and navigation. Nevertheless, it was quite a surprise when Westfield protected a sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola that completely covered the glass on both sides of the bridge, leading to bottom and end to end for the duration of the London Olympic Games.
Lighting was a crucial feature of the bridge, created in from the start, with the truss structure real estate a series of vertical lights with programmable accent lighting that moderates in between the bright lights of the Westfield Shopping Centre and the activity at the station end of the building. The nighttime environment overall is safe, calm, and understated. Legibility, natural wayfinding and ease of access were central to the design. Main routes are highlighted and the Westfield identity is brought over the tracks onto the lift tower of Stratford Central Station.
< img width="1700"height=" 2267 "src="https://atlive-wp.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/251220-AT-KA-STCL-1279.jpg"alt= ""/ > A Vierendeel truss service was favoured to get rid of likely members and protect clear views from the bridge to the Olympic Park and surrounding city.
Actions– which became referred to as Meridian Steps– mediate the nine-metre difference between ground level, the brand-new mezzanine entrance to the regional station, and the bridge itself. The actions work well as a social area and for blood circulation. They’re a place where people linger and fulfill. The train environment is visually hectic and disorderly, but the bridge cruises above this with a clearness and a function. It doesn’t feel heavy in spite of its scale, materiality and colour. In long views, the structure practically attains a lightness or a slenderness, with pedestrians appearing as tiny compared to the vast scale of the 130-metre-long bridge.
In typical with practically all of our projects, the bridge has been in long-term and continuous public use 24 hours a day because its opening. By linking straight to Stratford Regional Station, the bridge supplies hassle-free low-carbon access for countless individuals to Westfield, Stratford City, the Queen Elizabeth II Park, and its facilities, consisting of the London Arena, London Aquatic Centre, UCL East, Sadlers Wells East, and various other destinations. It’s often curated, not just by Coca-Cola, but for seasonal commercial activities and community events.
The bridge now is as popular and well used as ever, with the only apparent adaptation being secondary lighting added to the structure. Thinking of it, if only 10 percent of the designed-for capacity of 160,000 people per day have actually utilized the bridge, that’s nearly 82 million crossings over 14 years, or 10.6 million pedestrian kilometres. Most importantly, it’s not so much a bridge as a street. It’s a safe and enjoyable piece of public realm that accomplishes the accomplishment of bringing Stratford and Stratford City together naturally, quickly, and without excessive song and dance.
It’s deliberately not renowned. This was in deference to the wishes of Viv Ramsey and the Olympic Shipment Authority Planning Committee, who appropriately feared a cacophony of a lot of strong voiced architectural declarations. The desire for something normal developed into this curiously ugly/beautiful visual. There were times when we were distressed that the bridge was too bold; and others when we worried it was too downplayed. But reviewing it, it feels perfect. This is testament to a really strong team: the customer, the style team, and the specialist group who, together, provided something that has truly stood the test of time.