Squamish pedestrian bridge designed to make people stop and look

New pedestrian drawbridge spans the Mamquam Blind Channel, connecting downtown Squamish with SEAandSKY. Photo by Nic Lehoux

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Spanning the Mamquam Blind Channel, a newly opened $20-million crossing connects downtown Squamish with SEAandSKY, the 53-acre waterfront community being developed by Bosa Properties and Kingswood Properties.

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Aspect Structural Engineers led the engineering on this project. They brought Rafael Santa Ana Architecture Workshop (RSAAW) on to help transform a complex piece of infrastructure into something more than a route from one side of the channel to the other.

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“We wanted the bridge to be a destination rather than a utilitarian instrument of circulation for the urban landscape that will be Squamish and the SEAandSKY community,” says Rafael Santa Ana, principal of RSAAW.

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The result is an operable double-leaf drawbridge, believed to be the first operable pedestrian drawbridge in British Columbia. Its engineering allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross the channel while preserving marine access to the active marina below. Its architecture gives people a reason to stop once they get there.

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Santa Ana says bridge design is normally “110 per cent engineering”, and this one was no exception. The structural and mechanical requirements largely determined what the bridge had to do. RSAAW’s role was to shape how it would look, feel and be experienced.

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Weathering steel references Squamish’s railway history and the vertical rhythm of the surrounding forest. Photo by Nic Lehoux

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The bridge changes elevation and geometry to create viewing platforms oriented toward Squamish’s dramatic mountain landscape. Benches invite people to pause rather than simply pass through, while the weathering steel structure references both the railway history of the region and the vertical rhythm of the surrounding forest.

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“We knew that we had the opportunity to create platforms to see the Chief and the landscape of Squamish,” says Santa Ana.

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The bridge’s mechanical requirements became part of its architectural expression rather than something to disguise. Pistons lift the central sections, while gates temporarily stop pedestrians as the bridge opens for vessels. 

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“It’s a bit like waiting for the train to go by, and you’ll just be able to sit on the edge of the benches or really take in the views,” says Santa Ana.

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Lighting was also designed around the natural setting. Santa Ana says the intention was “to keep the light off the water at all times” to avoid disorienting marine life.

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Public art by Squamish Nation artist Calvin Charlie-Dawson is integrated into the concrete pile caps, reflecting Coast Salish design traditions and the cultural history of the Mamquam Blind Channel.

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Six years in the making

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For RSAAW, the bridge has been a long project.

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“It’s been a project that has been around our office for six years or more,” says Santa Ana. Design work began in 2019, before the pandemic. 

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COVID complicated co-ordination between architects, engineers, municipal authorities and provincial and federal agencies. Marine construction brought another layer of difficulty, with Fisheries and Oceans Canada imposing restricted activity windows to protect species and habitat.