In 2007, Sheffield City Council calls for an international competition to design a pedestrian bridge over a major motorway linking its city centre to Rotherham nearby.

The purpose of this bridge is to allow pedestrians, cyclists and horses to cross the motorway and to continue along the existing footpaths, from the golf course on one side to the future residential neighbourhood on the other. Moreover the City wishes that the bridge becomes a major symbolic gateway.

The Waverley bridge, designed in collaboration with Dion Young architect, responds to the client’s wishes, functionally and symbolically.

The undulating shape of the bridge is a continuation of the surrounding landscape and the pedestrian routes. The bridge emerges on both sides from some soil-made mounds, as if the bridge is coming from earth.

The bridge structure and skin take its inspiration from a number of sources. The dynamic structural form alludes to monocoque structures associated with aeronautical engineering - one of the new emerging industries of Sheffield. 

More abstractly, the silver work lines and forms of the structural members suggest the kind of ornamentation which appears in historic silver-work of Sheffield.

As for the lighting scheme, sodium vapour lamps provide a dramatic play of golden-orange light against the pewter finish of the steelwork.The animated interplay between light and shadow reminds us of the vibrant sparks and colours present in the steel production.