Passerelle on the Areuse
Boudry, Switzerland
GD Architectes

GD Architectes creates a sinuous link in section and plan to span a small river

© Thomas Jantscher

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By Sarah Amelar

This heavily wooded site in western Switzerland lies so far from paved roads that architects Laurent Geninasca and Bernard Delefortrie had to prefabricate the main components of their footbridge and fly them in by helicopter. Yet the gorge’s wild and remote character was exactly what their firm, GD Architectes of Neuchâtel, sought to maintain.

Having won an invited competition for the commission, GD Architectes had to reconcile two very different banks along the Areuse River in Boudry: one formed by steep, craggy rocks, and the other by a low, open field. The hikers’ footbridge needed to span about 90 feet and arc high enough to accommodate rising water.

Working with engineer Laurent Chablais of Chablais et Poffet, the architects created a sinuous span that narrows in width, from 11.5 to 3.8 feet, and constricts sectionally as it approaches the more vertical bank. The structure, a gentle S-curve in plan and elevation, appears to emerge organically from the forest. Finely slatted with blades of dark-stained fir, the bridge’s sides and top transparently screen views, rather than obstruct them. The parallel boards filter the sun’s rays, much as the branches of trees cast dappled light.

The act of assembling it—a logistical challenge in itself—required precise choreography. As the engineer recalls, the process started with moving two electrical lines out of the way, followed by a Tamov Russian helicopter delivering the structure’s three major components on provisional scaffolding. Then, miraculously, the prefabricated footbridge was assembled in a single day.

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Formal name of Project:
Passerelle on the Areuse

Location:
Boudry, Switzerland

Measurements:
Lenth: 90 feet
Width: 3.7 feet – 11.5 feet

Total construction cost:
$117,972

Owner:
Le Département de la gestion du territoire
du canton de Neuchâtel

Architect:
GD Architectes
Rue de la place d’armes 3
CH-2001 Neuchâtel
tél. +41(0)32 729 99 60
fax + 41(0)32 729 99 69
www.gd-archi.ch
gd@gd-archi.ch