urbanSTL

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Sep 07, 2017

I am not as anti sky bridge as others but I don't get why they don't put them higher. If the idea is to make it easier to get between buildings then put it 15 floors up (or in the case near the top of the shorter building.) If you pretty much have to go all the way down to the ground level anyways then what is the point?

symphonicpoet wrote: ↑

Sep 07, 2017

At any height above the pavement you don't have to wait for the light and you don't risk getting hit by angry residents from the Crescent still sore over the view.

September 5, 2017
CENTENE URBAN CAMPUS, SD1 HANLEY PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE ARB SUBMITTAL
EXHIBIT 1: DESIGN NARRATIVE
The pedestrian bridge linking the new Centene Subdistrict 1 office tower and with the existing Centene
Plaza office tower is a creative response to an important functional and safety-enhancing element.
To enhance the connectivity of the Centene campus and provide an option for safe crossing over Hanley
Road for building occupants, the bridge provides a weatherproof enclosure connecting level 2 of each
building. An adjacent internal monumental stair in the SD1 tower allows the cross-campus link to the
Centene Plaza café and conference spaces with SD1 tower café and conference spaces.
This connection will benefit building occupants moving between buildings, and enhance safety, by reducing
pedestrian traffic at the Hanley/Forsyth intersection known for its high level of vehicle traffic and
potentially risky sloping grades. Pedestrians using this bridge will ultimately exit each tower to the Forsyth
or Carondelet sidewalks as they move further east and west, activating the urban realm.
The bridge architecture is complementary to both adjacent office towers, using the same base glass
substrate and silver metallic painted aluminum detailing. The K-shaped plan of the bridge recognizes its
transition between the taller new SD1 office tower and the smaller existing Centene Plaza tower by
increasing its width and volume on the larger SD1 side while decreasing it slightly at the smaller Centene
Plaza side. The “pinch” near the center is offset to respect the smaller and larger office tower volumes and
provide a spatially dynamic path of travel for bridge users, opening wider toward each office tower as they
arrive at their destination.
An interior screen element reduces visual connection to fast moving vehicle traffic underneath and
potential feelings of vertigo for users while allowing daylighting and views outward and upward.
The exterior glazing takes a cue from the vibrantly colored glass canopy at Centene Plaza and employs a
permanent colored PVB inner layer laminated between the bridge’s safety glass layers. The deep to light
blue gradated coloring is visually interesting and calming while not being distracting to drivers on Hanley
Road below.

symphonicpoet wrote: ↑

Sep 07, 2017

jshank83 wrote: ↑

Sep 07, 2017

I would guess the higher you make them the more of an engineering challenge it becomes, as the expansion and contraction and wind sway and so forth of two otherwise independent buildings will change that space more higher up.

Yes. Here's how it works on the Petronas Towers' bridge on the 42nd floor:

"The towers feature a double decker skybridge connecting the two towers on the 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest 2-story bridge in the world. It is not attached to the main structure, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking, as the towers sway several feet in towards and away from each other during high winds."