UNStudio team wins Budapest's New Danube Bridge Competition

The international architectural competition for a new Danube bridge in Budapest has selected the joint design proposal by UNStudio with Buro Happold Engineering as the winning entry. 

Plans for a new bridge over the Danube in this southern area of Budapest have existed for decades, but lack of funding kept the initiative from moving forward. An international design competition was finally launched in 2017 and attracted entries from high-profile architecture firms including Zaha Hadid Architects, WilkinsonEyre, and the ultimately victorious UNStudio.

The new bridge is expected to further development in this formerly industrial area of Budapest and alleviate traffic congestion by providing road, tram, pedestrian, and cycle lanes.

The Jury had this to say about the winning entry: "From an urban design point of view, this is the most well thought out entry. The bridge would be both an architectural and cityscape symbol but is simultaneously a traditional and functional bridge structure that does not impinge on its environment. The coherent design and lighting of the gates and piers make for an elegant evening view, worthy of a Budapest bridge. With its deck structure […], this bridge is statically one of the best designed proposals [...] No overpass structures are used for the off-ramp, enabling it to connect to the ground-level road network at Budafoki street. This makes the area around the Budafoki interchange much more human, usable and urban-friendly […] This is exactly the sort of solution needed for supporting the development of the city sub-center, and for extending the core of Budapest Southwards."

Project Details:

Client: KKBK Kiemelt Kormányzati Beruházások Központja Nonprofit Zrt. (KKBK Centre of Key Government Investments Nonprofit Plc.)
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Program: Traffic Bridge, with 4 car lanes, 2 tram lanes, 2 pedestrian and 2 bicycle lanes
Length: total bridge length ~500m, main span 220m
Status: competition entry

Architect: UNStudio (Ben van Berkel with Kristoph Nowak and Leon Hansmann, Jay Tsai)
Engineering: Buro Happold (Davood Liaghat, Edmund Matters, Anthony Holder, Laura Phillips)
Visualisations (CGI): VA Render