KGPdesign studio

KGP, as Design Architect, teamed with AECOM Engineering to provide concept through CD phase services for the District Department of Transportation's 31st Street Bridge. Located on the C&O Canal in the heart of Georgetown, the project represents a bold approach to insert a decidedly contemporary bridge with equally vivid references to the historic neighboring bridges and their predecessors. Acknowledging the dynamic evolution of bridge designs along the canal, it evokes the graceful wooden and steel structures of the 19th century without directly imitating their form. Responding to the 21st-century demands of pedestrian culture and a heightened awareness of the unique context, it will provide generous areas for pedestrian seating and viewing the canal. Wood planks and the rhythm of the steel tension-plate screen will provide a tactile interlude from the street, with low-level lighting beneath the seating platform to illuminate the bridge.