Architect Thomas Randall-Page has revealed visuals of a rolling bridge for Cody Dock in east London that can be manually rotated to allow boats to pass beneath it.
The playful steel bridge will form the heart of PUP Architects' masterplan to revive the Victorian dock on the River Lea, which will see the dock re-flooded for moorings and the surrounding land transformed into a creative community space.
Described by Randall-Page as "an architectural first", the round-edged square structure will span the neck of the dock and rotate using a hand-operated mechanism and counterweights informed by Victorian engineering.
Animation is by Tim Allen
"Rolling parallel to the channel it crosses, this design owes much to its Victorian forbears. They knew that moving large heavy structures efficiently requires that they are a balanced system and my design works on this same principle," explained Randall-Page. "Finished in painted steel the bridge design aims to be understated in its rest position but celebratory and playful in its movement creating a memorable event for spectators when operated."

The design takes the form of a rounded square frame that sits on undulating rails supported by brick abutments.
Both the frame and railings are lined with teeth that slot into each other like cogs, so with the turn of a handle the structure transforms seamlessly from a pedestrian bridge into an arch with plenty of room to let barges through.
Counterweights within the...