by Gregory K. Hunt, FAIA

Approval to construct the new Cheung Kong Center at the corner of Garden Road and Queen's Road Central came with the stipulation that Cheung Kong Holdings, Ltd., would reconnect the two ends of a public footpath that once crossed the site.

Located along the southeast side of the Cheung Kong Center, the new pedestrian path by Leo A. Daly takes the form of an elevated footbridge, linking Battery Path at the upper level of Cheung Kong Gardens with Citibank Plaza across Garden Road to the east and Chater Garden across Queen's Road Central to the north.

As part of the urban infrastructure, the gracefully curved walkway has been built to form a continuous, public pedestrian-only zone connecting these major downtown open spaces.

The client required that the 443-foot-long (135-meter) Cheung Kong Center Footbridge not only incorporate specific pedestrian circulation paths but also be aesthetically compatible with the architecture of the Cheung Kong Center.

The walkway design also had to accommodate the 20-foot (6.1-meter) grade change from Queen's Road Central up to the elevation of Battery Path. Finally, given it spans over public rights-of-way, the footbridge had to be constructed without disrupting pedestrian and vehicular traffic beneath it, and no vertical structural supports could be placed on adjacent sidewalks and roadways.

Tripartite Organization

Designed by Leo A. Daly with Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Ltd., who served as structural and geotechnical engineers for the project, the footbridge is built on two levels in three distinct sections.   >>>

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