Skip to content

Zaha Hadid Architects

Your Starred Items

Archive Search
Studio
Your Starred Items

News

Striatus Bridge is a finalist in the Architizer A+ Awards

Striatus Bridge is a finalist in the Architizer A+ Awards 2022 in the ‘Architecture +Concrete’ category. Now in their 10th year, the A+ Awards celebrate the world’s best architecture.

Public voting for Striatus Bridge is now open via Architecture +Concrete

Striatus is an arched masonry footbridge composed of 3D-printed concrete blocks assembled without mortar or reinforcement. The 16 x 12 metre footbridge is the first of its kind, combining traditional techniques of master builders with advanced computational design, engineering and robotic manufacturing technologies.

Striatus has been developed by the Block Research Group (BRG) at ETH Zurich and Zaha Hadid Architects Computation & Design Research Group (ZHA CODE), in collaboration with Incremental 3D (in3D) and made possible by Holcim.

Proposing a new language for concrete that is structurally informed, fabrication aware, ecologically responsible and precisely placed to build more with less, Striatus optimises the properties of masonry structures, 3D concrete printing (3DCP) and contemporary design; presenting an alternative to traditional concrete construction.

The name “Striatus” reflects its structural logic and fabrication process. Concrete is precisely printed in layers orthogonal to the main structural forces to create a “striated” compression-only structure that requires no mortar or reinforcement.

Using a special concrete ink developed by Holcim, this method of 3D concrete printing combines the principles of traditional vaulted construction with digital concrete fabrication to use material only where it is structurally necessary and eliminate waste.

As the construction does not need mortar, the blocks can be dismantled, and the bridge reassembled at different location. If the construction is no longer needed, the materials can simply be separated and recycled.

Striatus Bridge was presented at the ‘Time Space Existence’ exhibition by the European Cultural Centre Italy during the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Photo by Studio Naaro