Marks Barfield Architects

This project is actually two projects in one: the bridge itself spanning the railway line and providing a new pedestrian link to Wembley Central and Wembley Stadium Stations; and a new public square - one of the Mayor’s 100 new public realm projects intended to set a new standard for public realm design for London. Together they form a gateway to Wembley; emphasising the area as a destination and district of opportunity for major investment and regeneration and spreading regeneration benefits towards the town centre.

The design for both the bridge and the public space flowed from a thorough understanding of people flow studies. On event days up to 12,000 people per hour need to accommodated with a minimum of disruption, congestion and disturbance.

The White Horse Bridge structure consists of two tied twin arches which rise to a height of 11 m and span 30m. Steel cables attached to the arches support the composite steel and concrete deck. The arches divide the bridge into three areas, the area at the west designated part of the “paid area” of the future station, the central area forming the main pedestrian thoroughfare and the east area allowing event day visitors to access the platforms of Wembley Stadium station via composite steel/ concrete staircases. Full height stainless steel mesh cladding is provided along the edges of the bridge to meet stringent Network Rail requirements.

The square is located to the south of a major development by Quintain Developments and links seamlessly into their public realm masterplan. The space has been designed to accommodate huge crowds on event days, however it also works a focus of local and community activities on non-event days. The space is segregated into three zones. There is an optional queuing zone on the west side of the marshalling area, the central zone provides direct access across the bridge to Wembley High Road, and the final zone provides a queuing area for train station platforms. The zones are separated by using linear highlights in the hard landscape to define and modulate the space; with lighting, seating and rest areas integrated into curved areas between the movement zones.