Shimen Bridge | DnA_Design and Architecture

The two villages on both banks of Songyin River, Shimen village and Shimen-yu village, were once one village. The name of Shimen-yu means farm land of Shimen. In ancient time, villagers of Shimen had to cross Songyin River to farm land and eventually they built houses on the other side and separated into a new Shimen-yu village.

With Wuyang Dam between two villages as the most ancient water dam in Songyang, this area became an important section for development of Songyin River Scenic District. An abandoned 260 meters long Shimen bridge right next to the Dam was again under discussion whether to be demolished: it was replaced by a new bridge in 2010 due to rapid increase of vehicle transportation and has been closed since then.

We proposed to convert the old Shimen bridge into a viewing platform for Songyi River and Wuyang Dam. A covered wooden structure with a pitched roof representing local buildings is introduced with openings to echo the structure rhythm of the existing bridge arch. This could serve as resting lounge for visitors as well as pedestrian connection for two villages. The wooden structure stops at the center to respond to the enlarged bridge platform with tree rows as a floating island on the river.

The new lounge bridge will also become a common public space uniting two villages once again. It could also be used in many different ways such as a weekend bridge market or for a holiday parade. Together with Wangjing Memorial and Wang village, this area will become an important culture and tourism node along Songyin River.

Project Name: Shimen Bridge
Location: Shimen Village, Songyang, Lishui, Zhejiang Province
Program: Leisure/Culture/Landscape
Client: Songyang Public Road Administration
Architecture Design: DnA_ Design and Architecture
Principle Architect: Xu Tiantian
Design Team: Xu Tiantian, Zhang Longxiao, Zhou Yang
Design Period: 2016.10
Construction Period: 2017.09-2017.12
Completion Time: 2017.12
Photographer: Wang Ziling