Bourke Street Bridge

The Bourke Street Bridge is a major infrastructure element for Melbourne CBD, acting as the gateway and bridge that extends Bourke Street on-axis to connect the city and Docklands.

This commission involves providing the urban infrastructure for the new development of 220 hectares of land around the river and Docklands. This includes vehicular, tram and pedestrian links from the existing western edge of the city, urban design features, road networks and public open space.

The first section is the extension of Bourke Street over operating railway lines with a 200-metre-long bridge that also connects to country and local stations. The bridge, for pedestrians, is located by two red glass towers with large staircases from the pavement and a crushed wall of stainless steel through which a ramp connects disabled access from street level to the bridge.

Lining the bridge are red steel antlers that provide lighting and primary support to a stainless-steel weather canopy. The western end of the bridge unfolds into a huge part ellipse that spans a new highway and pivots the pedestrian route off-axis and towards the Docklands Stadium. The separation of form is accentuated with a pattern taken from Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio.

The Charles Grimes Bridge, Collins Street extension and the Latrobe Street Bridge were also undertaken as part of this project.