BYTR architects: 5 Bridges in Den Bosch, NL

Bridges are consummate connectors. This is as true for “major projects” as it is for smaller areas, such as Den Bosch, in The Netherlands, where BYTR architecture studio designed five “slow traffic” bridges.



BYTR Architecten is an architecture and urban design studio based in Rotterdam; it was established in 2007 by Richèl Lubbers and Tjerk van de Wetering. It stands out for a design approach that includes environmental and infrastructure themes, which is clear in Den Bosch, where the studio - working with Damsteegt Waterworks - designed and built five bridges.





These bridges are located in the green suburbs of Den Bosch (aka 's-Hertogenbosch - literally the duke's forest in English) in North Brabant and famous for its gothic St. John's cathedral as well as the museum dedicated to one of the town's most famous residents - the painter Hieronymus Bosch. This sets the scene for the infrastructures developed by BYTR for “slow traffic”, namely pedestrians and cyclists, connecting both the banks on either side of the canals and an old tradition with a contemporary formal language.



These new bridges are replacing the old wooden ones but they don't contradict the past, given that the predominant material is still wood; the difference is that now it has been combined with steel, so they span the canals without the need for intermediate supports, giving them a sleek, streamlined appearance. And all built as quick as a flash.

The wooden louvres have been placed so they look “open” or “closed”, depending on your vantage point: so crossing these bridges also turns into a visual experience emphasising how much these bridges by BYTR engage with nature.

Christiane Bürklein

Project: BYTR Architecten
Location: Den Bosch, NL
Year: 2012
Photography: BYTR Architecten