Lower Thames Crossing Footbridge

Upminster, England

2025

Client National Highways

Infrastructure · Foot & Cycle

With an average A1-A5 carbon intensity of just 107kg per square metre this award winning design had the lowest embodied carbon of all finalists in a 2025 international competition held by National Highways. The design serves as a scalable model for sustainable infrastructure balancing the core principles of low carbon, elegance, simplicity in erection and maintenance alongside the opportunity to repeat and adapt.

A side elevation of a bridge with a curved deck supported by a central V-shaped abutment, with trees in the background, architecture by MOXON Architects.

The design is an elegant half-through timber structure, balanced on a slender V support with well-crafted parapets and adjoining earthwork approaches. The form is a single cross section swept along a simple alignment. The benefits of this are significant: efficient to design, easy to construct (beams are either straight or uniformly curved and all other elements are standardised), and is entirely repeatable and adaptable.

Elevated viewing platform with safety fencing, supported by angled structural beams, featuring people observing views; architecture by MOXON Architects.

A highway with cars driving past, green trees and grassy areas on both sides, an overpass in the background, and streetlights along the road, architecture by MOXON Architects.

A modern pedestrian bridge with wooden side panels and white metal railings, set against a lush green landscape with a clear sky, architecture by MOXON Architects.

Bridge structure viewed from below over a highway with a blurred car passing, green trees in the background, architecture by MOXON Architects.

The design emphasises durability and ease of construction by protecting timber through traditional water-management techniques, such as roof-inspired beam capping and a removable rainscreen lining. A hierarchy of timber elements and carefully crafted stainless steel components - serving structural, protective, and safety functions - ensures longevity, inspectability, and resilience against the elements. Bank-seat abutments and reclaimed earth embankments are supported by gabion retaining walls, which are filled with locally sourced granite. The result is a visually 'grounded' substructure, which works to eliminate the embodied carbon of conventional earthwork strategies such as in-situ concrete, backfilling or piling.

An isometric architectural diagram showing a detailed section of a building structure with wood, metal, and concrete elements, architecture by MOXON Architects.

Close-up of wooden architectural structure with perforated metal details, showcasing the design by MOXON Architects.

A modern footbridge with a sleek black canopy, wooden slats underneath, and a glass railing, supported by a stone wall, architecture by MOXON Architects.

Close-up of wooden slats with a metal bracket attached, secured by screws, embodying modern architectural design by MOXON Architects.

Close-up of an intricate wooden structure with drilled holes, showcasing overlapping beams and metal elements, architecture by MOXON Architects.

Underneath view of a modern wooden bridge structure with metal supports, clear blue sky background, architecture by MOXON Architects.

A modern balcony with glass and metal railing, featuring architectural design elements by MOXON Architects, overlooking greenery under a clear blue sky.

A road and bridge with modern design, surrounded by greenery, under a partly cloudy sky, architecture by MOXON Architects.

A highway scene with cars, greenery on both sides, a bridge in the background, and streetlights, architecture by MOXON Architects.

‘...appealing with good proportions, simple lines, refined detailing and an elegant mix of material. The overall safety of pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders is well considered in the design’

Jury Citation