UPD 2016-23-03: The winners of the competition are Belgian architects Ney & Partners in cooperation with the British bureau William Matthews Associates.
Tintagel is located in a picturesque environment - on the so-called Island, connected to the coast by a narrow isthmus, now badly destroyed by ocean waves and wind. The castle, or rather its ruins, are taken care of by the English Heritage Agency. Thanks to the legendary fame of Tintagel, it is visited by 200,000 tourists a year: it is one of the most popular EH sites. You can get to the monument by a wooden bridge, to which from the side both the coast and the Islands are steep stairs that frighten off potential visitors, and its small width creates "traffic jams" on especially busy days.
At the same time, the popularity of Tintagel is only growing: unlike the Abbey of Glastonbury, where the grave of Arthur and Guinevere, known for many centuries, was exposed this fall as much more
late - XI-XII centuries - forgery, here in 1998 they found a 6th century slab with the name of the ruler, reminiscent of "Arthur", which corresponds to the supposed time of the reign of this legendary hero, that is, practically "evidence of authenticity" for lovers of antiquity. This place has a romantic aura since the Middle Ages: according to different versions of the legend, Tintagel is the place of conception or birth of Arthur, and is also closely connected with the story of Tristan and Isolde. Therefore, in the XIII century, the Earl of Cornwall, Richard, the younger brother of the English king Henry III, built a castle here: it is its ruins that have survived to this day. Tintagel became a tourist attraction in the 17th century, but the real "boom" began in the 19th century, in the era of romanticism, when the legends about Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table became incredibly popular.
The legends about Tintagel are based on facts, more precisely, vague memories of it as an important trading center of the early Middle Ages, possibly the residence of local rulers: more ceramics of the 5th-6th centuries were found there, brought from North Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, from the west of Asia Minor, than the rest of the British Isles combined, and so far only 5-10% of the archaeological zone of Tintagel has been excavated.
The task of the competition was the project of a single-span bridge 72 m long and 2.4 m wide, placed 28 m higher than the existing one. It must follow the trajectory along which in the past the isthmus between the Island and the land, now strongly narrowed due to the pressure of the elements, was located. The participants of the competition had to take into account the historical and natural context requiring special respect (this is a state-protected "zone of outstanding beauty"), the harsh climatic conditions - strong winds and storms, the convenience and safety of visitors. The new bridge will also help English Heritage create a new sightseeing route in Tintagel (some of the castle fortifications are located on the coast, and the bridge will successfully connect them to the "island" part) and will open up new scenic views of the ruins, landscape and the Atlantic Ocean.
137 applications were submitted for participation in the competition, from this number the jury selected 6 teams, which were invited to develop the project of the bridge. The winner will be announced in early February 2016.
Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes (France - Austria)
with Terrell
"Between land and sea"
The 65 m long steel bridge "pulls down" thin steel panels anchored in the slopes of the gorge, which is the opposite of a conventional bridge structure. They are complemented by paired pylons from the side of the Island. Dietmar Feichtinger is no stranger to working with valuable monuments of architecture and nature: his
the bridge leading to the island of Mont Saint-Michel has already received recognition from the public and colleagues.
Marks Barfield Architects (UK)
jointly with Flint & Neill, J&L Gibbons LLP and Mola
"Bronze sword"
The London Eye was inspired by Excalibur, King Arthur's sword (which could have been bronze), the bronze guardrail of the Tintagel walkways and its tin deposit. Their bridge is the simplest and oldest type - girder, but the architects plan to bring it to a "new level of breathtaking subtlety" with the help of modern technology. In addition to the patinated bronze, attention should be drawn to two steel pylons with a polymer coating that protects them from moisture. They will resemble the columnar sea cliffs and chimneys of the mines characteristic of the Cornwall coastline, and the layering of the coating will resemble the heterogeneity of the rocks in the surrounding rocks.
Ney & Partners (Belgium)
with William Matthews Associates
The architects propose to build the bridge in the form of two independent cantilevers, almost connecting above the center of the gorge, where the bridge reaches a maximum thickness of 170 mm - to emphasize the gap in the middle. This gap should reflect the transition of visitors from shore to island, from present to past, from reality to legend, etc.
Niall Mclaughlin Architects (UK)
together with Price & Myers
The bridge is an arch made of Cornish granite, built of block-segments. This "masonry" should remind both of the walls of the castle and of the layers of rock that make up the rocks around. A bronze balustrade complements the look. The project, according to its authors, is both obvious and amazing.
RFR and Jean-François Blassel Architecte (France)
together with engineersHRW and WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff
The bridge narrowing from the coast to the Island reminds of the name of the castle: Tintagel, Dintagel is translated from Cornish as “a fortress in a narrow place”. The choice of granite as the main material fits the new building into the local cultural layers, the architects say.
WilkinsonEyre (UK)
together with Atelier One
The lightweight bridge made of stainless steel and oak wood does not try to compete with historical monuments, the authors of the project say. It can be assembled from small components that can be easily brought to the site in a regular wheelbarrow. The central part of the bridge is one-piece, and there are perforated stripes on the sides, which is intended to emphasize the linearity of the structure.
