Elegant connection set to be created across the river Saône

Tenderstream member OMA has won the competition for a new bridge across the Saône in Lyon as part of the TEOL (Tram Express de l’Ouest Lyonnais) project led by SYTRAL Mobilités. Connecting the Confluence district – a former industrial port transformed into a mixed-use urban quarter – with the city’s western bank, the bridge addresses a longstanding gap in Lyon’s public transport network. 

The design was led by OMA Partner Reinier de Graaf, with associate Gilles Guyot and project architect Anton Anikeev. OMA has also designed the Simone Veil Bridge in Bordeaux, completed in 2024 and recipient of the Équerre d’Argent in the Infrastructure and Civil Engineering Works category the same year. In the Lyon metropolitan area, the office has been responsible for the Vallée de la Chimie masterplan, revitalising one of Europe's largest chemical and petrochemical parks.

OMA’s winning entry for the new bridge combines two distinct modes of transit – a tramway and a passage for pedestrians and cyclists – into a single structure that is both efficient and experiential. Reinier de Graaf stated: “Most contemporary bridges strive to be unadulterated landmarks. Not this one. OMA’s bridge doesn’t dominate the landscape but completes it, offering an elegant connection between the urban waterfront and the river’s natural edge. The design draws from its surroundings, blending in with the steep, green slopes of La Balme to the west while manifesting subtly on the Confluence side to the east.”

The project was developed in collaboration with partners WSP, Devaux & Devaux architects, and Marco Rossi Paysagiste.

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

This tender was first published by Tenderstream on 21.11.2024 here

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