Surf Avenue Pedestrian Bridge

Weisz + Yoes' recent work for the New York City Department of Design and Construction on a new pedestrian bridge spanning Surf Avenue at West 8th Street gave the designers a chance to familiarize themselves with the newly imagined future of Coney Island and with the ambitious plans for the Aquarium.

The bridge design, which has received committee-level preliminary approval from the Art Commission, is based on the idea that the Aquarium is the critical anchor for one end of the world-famous Coney Island entertainment district. Therefore, a new parabolic bridge will launch itself across Surf Avenue connecting the new West 8/Aquarium BMT station to the Aquarium.  It will also provide a formal and iconic marker for the presence of the Aquarium and one end of Coney Island.

DDC is currently overseeing the design of twenty-two pedestrian bridges located in all five boroughs. This proposed bridge, linking the West 8^th Street/New York Aquarium station of the BMT subway line and a causeway leading to the Coney Island Boardwalk, is formed by three arches. The bridge’s concrete deck forms a subtly curving arch and is partially enclosed by the gentle arch of a security screen. The Department of Transportation requires an 8’-tall fence on all pedestrian bridges. In contrast to a standard fence lining a bridge, the security screen, incorporating a reveal, is an aesthetically integral element. The deck and screen are in turn supported by the soaring parabolic arch of the steel structure, which, along with the bridge’s steel hanger cables, completes the composition as it echoes the forms of Coney Island’s famous rollercoaster, located nearby and highly visible from the bridge. The architects have proposed that the bridge be painted a pearly gray against which the intricate and shifting shadows created by light hitting the bridge will be clearly discernible.