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BRIDGE, ROYAL OPERA

HOUSE, LONDON

ARCHITECT

WILKINSON EYRE

DANCING BRIDGEAn ingenious intervention into London’s ballet complexadds unexpected richness to a humdrum street.

Floral Street is a tall narrowthoroughfare in London’sCovent Garden in which themassive white neo-renaissancebulk of the Royal Opera Housesuddenly obtrudes into a small-scale streetscape of pubs andlittle shops. Most people do notlook up as they hurry down thestreet or loaf along windowshopping. But the few who do,glimpse a magical phenomenon: acrystal that twists and shimmersacross the street against the sky.

This is the new bridgebetween the Royal Ballet Schooland the Opera House, createdso that dancers can go from thepractice rooms in the school tothe Opera House without havingto rush across the road in therain. The twisted geometry isnecessary because the schoollevel from which the structuresets out is higher than theopening in the huge blind wall of

the Opera House, and it is asmall distance to the east. TheOpera House is a Grade I-listedhistoric building which thearchitects were bound to changeas little as possible, so one ofE.M.Barry’s blank attic windowsbecame the point of entry. Theballet school to the north is amuch less distinguished building,recently constructed under oneof the new forms of governmentprocurement that more or lessguarantees mediocrity, butinternal planning necessitatedonly one location for the springpoint of the bridge on that side.

The spring points meant thebridge had to be gently rampedand skewed away from theorthogonal. A simple long glassbox would not do, so Jim Eyreevolved a proposal that involvedcreating a tube out of squareportal frames that are rotated,ensuring that at each end the

bridge is level and square to thefaçade it addresses. Each frame isrotated by three degrees inrelation to its neighbour and isslightly different in height.Glazing is held between eachpair of frames. As a result ofpursuing these simple rules, awonderfully complex object hasbeen created. Both from insideand out, the object alters withevery movement you make.

Structurally, the essentialproposition is simple: a weldedand bolted aluminium box beamspans simply from one buildingto the other; its section changesaccording to stresses and thegeometry of the frames. At theOpera House end, the beam hasa sliding bearing to allow forthermal movement and, as aresult, loads at that end alwaysbear vertically down on Barry’swall. The aluminium portals aresupported on the primary beam

1The bridge constantly changes inappearance as you move past it.2Hovering over its narrow street,the surprising bridge will not benoticed by many passers-by.3The bridge twists towards theOpera House.

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BRIDGE, ROYAL OPERA

HOUSE, LONDON

ARCHITECT

WILKINSON EYRE

64 | 7

and have oak slats on each sideof their webs so that the glazingcan be fixed with the necessarydegree of stiffness. As muchprefabrication as possible wasused to minimise disruption tothe street, and to reduceworking at high level. The beamwith the portals erected and the central part glazed wasrapidly set in place by crane,after which the final glazingpanels were fitted and theabutments finished.

Glazing is both transparentand translucent. Translucency isused to prevent overlooking theterrace of the neighbouringhouse to the west, and to givepeople on the bridge a degree ofprivacy as they go over the road.Contrast between transparentand translucent adds to thevisual complexity of the object,Internally from some angles, thewalls appear almost opaque, asthe frames crowd together inperspective and seem mostly to

be made of oak. Move a few feetfurther and the wall suddenlybecomes full of light, ortransparent (with the aluminiumframes exposed full on), offeringdramatic views up and downFloral Street. Externally, thebridge alters in a similar wayfrom semi-opaque totransparent as your angle of viewchanges. In the last century,most of the incidental additionsto London’s streets have beencoarse and clumsy: here at last isan addition that shows howcontemporary technology andarchitectural invention can rivalthe elegance and dignity ofanything the Victorians did – andbe much lighter too. P.D.

ArchitectWilkinson EyreDesign team Jim Eyre, Annette von Hagen, Martin KnightStructural engineerFlint & Neill PartnershipPhotographsAll by Nick Wood except 4, which is byEdmund Sumner. Copyright Wilkinson Eyre

perspective: school on left and Opera House, right

long section

plan (scale approx 1:250)

principles of rotating section

4Oak slats secretly bolted to websof aluminium portal framemembers hold the glass in place.5The bridge dances from opacitythrough translucency totransparency. 65 | 7

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a Opera Houseb bridgec ballet school

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