2020 National Architecture Awards: National Commendation for Urban Design

Jury citation

Denton Corker Marshall’s Bridge of Remembrance has seamlessly reconnected two of Hobart’s most significant public spaces: the Cenotaph and the Soldiers Memorial Avenue on the Queens Domain. An elegant, twisting plane, the 200-metre-long bridge spans a broad highway at a key threshold to the city, providing a distinctive entry portal. While a dramatic gesture from various vantage points, the design is also nuanced, respecting the cultural heritage and environmental values of the site. This approach enables people to engage with this highly considered and restrained work in multiple ways.

The experience of pedestrians crossing the bridge is carefully curated; a pair of folding aluminium planes flanks the axis, deliberately opening up and obscuring views along the journey. The high west wings dramatically frame the vista to the Cenotaph then fold back mid-span, revealing broader views of the Domain while screening the traffic below. The drama of these enfolding silver planes is heightened at night, when the bridge is illuminated. Denton Corker Marshall is to be commended on this sophisticated and uplifting resolution of a complex urban condition.

Bridge of Remembrance will be reviewed by Alysia Bennett in a future issue of Architecture Australia.

Project credits

Architect Denton Corker Marshall; Builder Fulton Hogan; Builder (steel fabrication) Haywards; Project manager Matrix Management Group; Structural, civil and lighting engineer Arup; Landscape consultant and stakeholder engagement Inspiring Place; Local architecture liaison BPSM Architects; Cost consultant WT Partnership

Bridge of Remembrance is located in Hobart, Tasmania, on the land of the muwinina people, part of the palawa people.