Zunda bridge

The Zunda Bridge is destined to hold a special place and role in Riga’s urban environment and in the lives of its citizens, fulfilling several missions. The bridge is a long-awaited connection between university campuses, opening up new alternatives to the technically closed pedestrian bridge at Maza Udens St. To revitalize the Zunda surroundings and the currently practically inaccessible canal banks, new solutions are possible. The bridge between Durbes and Paula Valdena Streets will become a “student bridge” connecting the RTU and RISEBA campuses. For the residents of the two complexes planned on Nameja coast and for Pardaugava visitors of the Kipsala Exhibition Centre, it is a route to Kipsala, as well as an attraction point for pedestrians and cyclists in the vicinity of the Olimpija shopping centre.

The realization of the identified potential creates a bridge for social, cultural, and economic interaction between the diverse communities on both banks. Therefore, the bridge concept holds a special place for the symbolic revitalization of the urban water space. It is the basis for an urban design objective of high-quality blue-green infrastructure on the Zunda coast with a significant social function. This project will exemplify good practice in how a technical structure can regenerate a water space, transforming the bridge into a living public open space.

To achieve the stated objective and fully exploit the potential of the bridge site and its intensive use, the bridge structure, along with the square connections to the Nameja and Zunda embankments, provides a unified public open space structure.

Authors and team partners: MARK Arhitekti,  Kurbada tilti, ALPS, IE.LA.