The project for the improvement of the pedestrian bridge and public spaces in Kuršėnai is finally complete. The public space important for the city was arranged and the designed bridge will allow people to move freely between the central part of the city and the territory of the Kuršėnai Manor Estate.
Building Information Modelling (BIM) was used to design the bridge. This modelling allows optimising the design process and achieving more creative and high-quality results.
An exclusive pedestrian/bicycle bridge was designed to offer solutions that include the possibilities of improving communication, as well as creating an object that will fascinate with its architectural solutions, intelligence and innovation. It has a built-in smart lighting which illuminates the trajectory of moving objects more intensively, while the lighting in places with no movement remain dimmed. The project also includes spaces for the installation of a green energy station using solar energy, offering the possibilities to use wireless internet, charge a mobile phone, listen to music or pump up a bicycle tire.
The protected areas of Cultural Heritage are situated at both ends of the bridge: L. Ivinskis monument and square in the northern side, and the Kuršėnai Manor Estate complex in the southern side. The bridge is designed in such a way as to allow its users to enjoy a variety of diverse perspectives and views: the view moving away from the Kuršėnai Manor Estate offers a sight of the St. John the Baptist’s Church of Kuršėnai; on both sides of the bridge one can gaze over the perspective of the Venta River valley and its old beds; while moving towards the Kuršėnai Manor Estate, one can enjoy the view of an array of trees on the slope of the river.
Walking over the designed bridge is a dynamic experience with changing images and focus on the local dominant elements. The aim is to diversify the movement over the bridge by creating open spaces alternating with tree crowns, which visually divide a rather long trajectory (more than 250 m) of the bridge.
The designed bridge is presented in the plan as a broken curve. The form was chosen to allow for the most dynamic possibilities of the landscape. In the northern side of the Venta River, the bridge widens to form a platform: a place to stop, look around and take a break. The aim is to slow down the movement over the bridge, paying more attention to the environment and creating an infrastructure that encourages to pause and admire the scenic view. This bridge is both, an engineering structure, and a recreational object. The architecture of the bridge is an openwork composition of metal structures, harmoniously blending into the context of natural environment, but at the same time creating a dynamic and modern aesthetic impression. The colours and shapes of the bridge frame made of natural weathering metal Cor-ten are vertical, replicating the verticality of tree trunks. The height of the bridge is variable, thus creating the effect of waving that represents the flow of the river.
The architectural shell of this bridge is extremely dynamic, and its design is simplified by 3D spatial systems modelling using BIM technologies.
The aim of the design was to provide not only a functional, but also an innovative modern object of attraction.