Burnaby Lake Pedestrian Bridge

DMD Team members, working as VIA a Perkins Eastman Studio, were engaged by The City of Burnaby to design a pedestrian and cycle overpass across Highway 1 to connect City Hall with a series of new and existing recreation facilities. This overpass has become a key link in the city’s Active Transportation System and serves as a dramatic gateway into the City.

The overpass directly provides pedestrians and cyclists with safer and more convenient connections to all area of the city as well as the local transit system. The Burnaby Lake Pedestrian Bridge spans Highway 1, the westernmost portion of the Trans-Canada Highway. This pedestrian and bicycle bridge marks the connection to Burnaby Lake, a critical linkage for a community to an important natural amenity.

In the design concept, a pair of arches interlock like rings to form a naturally braced arch. These rings form a symbolic link and mark the entry point to the City of Burnaby. A mass timber roof hovers in the upper interlock of the diamond-shaped arch members, creating a memorable warm ceiling and recalling the form of a canoe being portaged from one body of water to the next. Along the pedestrian axis, the bridge has been aligned to allow the A-shaped frame of the arch bases to frame Mount Seymour in the distant range.

Client – City of Burnaby
Location – Burnaby, British Columbia
Timeline – 2019-2022
Bridge Engineer – Fast + Epp, McElhanney