Architecture studio Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes has built a curving wood and steel bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over railway tracks in Angers, France.
Angular porticos of laminated Douglas fir arch over a deck made of French oak, sheltered down one side by a cross-laminated-timber (CLT) roof.

Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes designed the 150-metre-long and eight-metre-wide bridge for Angers Saint-Laud railway station, replacing a badly damaged concrete bridge.
Steel brackets support the bridge, which connects the station with a hotel and a park on the other side.

Both the park and the hotel are currently under construction as part of the same regeneration programme for the area around the high-speed railway.
The bridge gently curves as it spans the 70-metre-wide channel of train tracks below.
There are steps for pedestrians and a ramp for cyclists, as well as three lifts to make the bridge accessible.
The timber porticoes are spaced unevenly, so they are closer together in the middle and further apart at either end of the bridge.

"They punctuate the journey," said Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes.
"By their different distances, their slightly variable sections and the arched layout of the bridge, they open up constantly new perspectives on the tracks, the arriving and departing trains," added the studio.

"They condense towards the middle of the bridge, creating a sheltered atmosphere that invites to pause, while the larger distances at...