DOHA BRIDGE

CLIENT

Rulers of Qatar

ARCHITECT

FXCollaborative

YEAR

2010

LOCATION

Doha

VISUALS

AWA

This competition entry was short-listed as one of two finalists for this prestigious project. Located in Doha, Qatar, Doha Bay Crossing is a set of 3 interconnected bridges spanning almost 10 kilometers. The bridge will connect the citys cultural district in the north, the Hamad International Airport, and the central business district in West Bay. The bridges, which were designed to accommodate as many as 2,000 vehicles an hour per lane, are also flanked by a series of sub-sea tunnels to manage and direct the flow of traffic across the bay.

Given the history of Doha as a major world player in the generation of natural and exotic pearls, our lighting concept was inspired by the opalescence of a natural pearl and its calming yet exciting effect on the viewer. We wanted to achieve the lighting effect of a pearl seen under a full moon. The lighting pattern consists of a series of sparkling points or pearls, while the structural lighting focuses on illumination of the interior of the bridge structure; we utilized an inside-out strategy to play up the size of the bridge, while sculpting the structural members with light.

Doha Bridge

Doha Bridge