A railway bridge, lit like a landmark

The Ordsall Chord is a new rail link that connects Manchester’s Piccadilly and Victoria stations for the first time¹. It sits in one of the most significant places in the history of the railways, the site of the world’s first passenger railway, and BDP’s response was another first: an asymmetric network arch bridge over the River Irwell¹.

The new bridge stands alongside George Stephenson’s renovated 1830 bridge, and landscape and lighting tie the scheme into the streets around it¹.

Mock-ups first

BDP’s lighting does three jobs at once: feature lighting for the new structure, heritage lighting for the historic elements, and functional light for the public and for rail staff¹. The design was developed through a series of mock-ups and extensive 3D modelling¹.

Where does architecture begin and end? What can architectural thinking bring to super-scale infrastructure?

Award jury, quoted on BDP’s project page

The result at night is the photograph at the top of this story: one warm line and its reflection, and very little else.

From the project

The jury BDP quotes also praised the bridge for bringing ‘local delight’ and a strong identity through its materials and consistent detailing¹.

The daytime photographs by Paul Karalius show the other half of the project: new public space along the river, with paths and planting under the arch, which is what the night lighting makes safe to use.