Coastal mall pedestrian bridge with beach glass

Images of sea and surf wrap a pedestrian bridge at Bayside Shopping Centre, south of Melbourne.

When Hassell Architects of Melbourne were commissioned to design an extension to the existing Bayside Shopping Centre in Frankston, an outlying coastal suburb south of Melbourne, a pedestrian bridge was required to link the two sections of the extended centre over Beach Street. To emphasize the coastal location the architects selected a photo of sea and surf, and wrapped the fully-glazed bridge with a digitally-enhanced version of this photo to comprise a ‘ribbon of light’ using back-lit laminated glass with DuPont™ SentryGlas® Expressions™ technology. This enabled designers to encase striking photography within the laminated safety glass needed for this overhead bridge application. Digiglass supplied the laminated glass.

Certain sections of the ‘light box ribbon’ cantilever as far as 8 metres (over 20 ft) giving it a striking appearance, particularly when it is illuminated at night. Hassell associate Tim Walpole-Walsh, said: “At night, you see the illuminated ribbon wrapping the bridge in an image that evokes the coast, whilst at the same time it remains an integral part of the structure. The bridge has become an icon for the area and has contributed to the rejuvenation of the centre of Frankston.”

Austen Diggle, development manager with Colonial First State Property Management, owners of the shopping centre agreed: “Everyone really likes this bridge which, thanks to the decorative glass design, reminds us all that we’re living and shopping in close proximity to the sea. It is now a distinctive new feature of the town and, as such, focuses attention on the Bayside Shopping Centre, both during the day and also at night!”