This unique design by NEXT architects and Rudy Uytenhaal Architects + Partners i.c.w. Bureau B+B Urbanism and Landscape Architecture amd Arup integrates a bicycle and pedestrian bridge with a school and a park into one cohesive whole. The Dafne Schippers bridge and elementary school Oog in Al serve a variety of interests. Cyclists, neighbourhood residents, a local primary school, the municipality, and the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment were all involved in this project.
The bridge, which crosses the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal in Utrecht, is the main link in the express cycling route that connects the historical city centre with the new neighbourhood of Leidsche Rijn. Cyclists travelling from the city centre to Leidsche Rijn will cycle to a height of nine metres as they veer around Victor Hugo park in a wide bend, taking them across the roof of the school and over the canal. In addition, by integrating functions and making the bridge an integral part of the public space in the neighbourhood, it is an important meeting point for local residents and schoolchildren. The double land use with maximum space for greenery makes the Dafne Schippers bridge unique, not only as a bridge but also as a place in its own right.
The Dafne Schippers bridge received an honourable mention for the Dutch Concrete Prize 2017 and was nominated for the Roof of the Year Awards 2016.
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