Part of a series of posts by Neil Cownie on The Future of Swanbourne Village

The Koombana Bay Footbridge over The Plug in the Leschenault Inlet in Bunbury is an example of a ‘design’ led solution and the value that such an approach brings to the community.

The bridge has become a destination in itself, while it connects the Dolphin Discovery Centre along with Koombana Bay to the CBD of Bunbury.

Unlike some other Western Australian bridges, this bridge was built in Bunbury by local businesses, providing advantages to the local community along with engaging the local population with the bridge.

With any ‘design’ led solution comes early research to not only unearth all of the necessary technical and community related parameters, but to go further to find historic references and reasons for the designed solution. In this case the designers ‘gave a nod’ to the shipwrecks in the Bunbury region, with the new bridge taking the form of a ship’s hull.

Adding to the complexity of the design was the adaptive reuse of the existing old railway bridge sub-structure in this location. By night the bridge lights up to dramatic effect making for safe passage for pedestrians and cyclists.

Congratulations to the design team led by Gresley Abas Architects along with congratulations also to the client group, the City of Bunbury, for showing the foresight to engage an appropriate design team for this excellent solution.

Images from Gresley Abas Architects website.

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