Images: Heatherwick Studio
Unlike most bridge projects that employ a landscaping consultant, the planting that is being designed will be an integral feature and planted on the bridge itself.
The new Garden Bridge will span the River Thames from Temple to the South Bank. Plans are being developed by Heatherwick Studio and Arup with Transport for London (TfL).
The idea of a Garden Bridge has long been championed by actor and campaigner, Joanna Lumley, who said: "This garden will be sensational in every way: a place with no noise or traffic where the only sounds will be birdsong and bees buzzing and the wind in the trees, and below the steady rush of water. It will be the slowest way to cross the river, as people will dawdle and lean on parapets and stare at the great cityscapes all around; but it will also be a safe and swift way for the weary commuter to make his way back over the Thames. I believe it will bring to Londoners and visitors alike peace and beauty and magic."
Dan Pearson said: 'We are honoured and delighted to have been selected to provide landscape design services for this exciting project. Our studio is close to this part of the river and the Garden Bridge will provide another, more human, means of crossing the Thames to the cultural hub of the South Bank. We are very much looking forward to developing our ideas for planting alongside Thomas and his team and helping to bring this visionary project to fruition."
