Heneghan Peng bags Olympic footbridge comp

Heneghan Peng Architects (HPA) has won the competition to design the London 2012 Olympic Park's Carpenter's Lock footbridge

Heneghan Peng Architects (HPA) has won the competition to design the London 2012 Olympic Park's Carpenter's Lock footbridge.

The victory is another coup for the Dublin firm, which has won several major competitions in recent years, including the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo (AJ 28.06.07) and the (now shelved) Giant's Causeway visitor centre scheme in Northern Ireland (AJ 13.09.07)

The practice teamed up with engineer Adams Kara Taylor to beat five shortlisted entries for the bridge, which will cross the River Lea in East London and link the Olympic Stadium to the Aquatic Centre and Basketball Arena.

The bridge will have two 6.5m-wide spans 41m apart which, during the Games, will be infilled with 'material made up of ground-up, recycled trainers'.

An Olympic Delivery Authority spokesman said HPA's concept design was singled out for 'making the bridge a spectacle in Games mode by using the landscape for colour and activity'.

'In legacy mode, the jury was impressed by Heneghan Peng's plan to open up the Carpenter's Lock area, creating links between the bridge concourse and riverside levels,' the spokesman added.

HPA directors Roisin Heneghan and Shih-Fu Peng issued a statement saying they were 'thrilled' at the prestigious win.

The footbridge is one of more than 30 bridges that will criss-cross the Olympic Park. But, controversially, it is the only one to have been put out to competition – the others will all be based on a template by Arup (AJ 07.06.07).

The runners up were:

McDowell + Benedetti with Jane Wernick Associates, Craft Pegg and Sutton Vane Associates;

Future Systems with Adams Kara TaylorTonkin Liu with Atelier One, Grant Associates and BDP SustainabilitySoftroom with Eckersley O'CallaghanRon Arad Associates with Buro Happold and BBUK Studio