South Park Pedestrian Bridge.
Sofia, Bulgaria
- Year
- 2023
- Site
- South Park
- Program
- Pedestrian bridge
The client & the
question they asked.
The Municipality of Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital and largest city, initiated an invited competition to strengthen the continuity of South Park—one of the city’s most significant public landscapes linking the Vitosha Mountains to the historic urban center.
As a primary civic corridor supporting culture, recreation, and daily life, South Park plays a critical role in Sofia’s public realm and ecological network.
The municipality sought a design solution that would restore the park’s continuity, improve pedestrian safety and accessibility, and reinforce its role as a connected civic landscape while enhancing environmental performance and urban experience.
The brief, in
specifics.
The project addressed a major disruption in South Park’s continuous landscape where Byala Cherkva Street divides the park into separate zones, forcing pedestrians onto narrow sidewalks and fragmented crossings.
The design challenge was to reconnect South Park Part II and Part III while preserving the park’s ecological integrity and enhancing the visitor experience.
The brief called for a pedestrian bridge that would integrate seamlessly into the park’s existing circulation, minimize environmental impact, support universal accessibility, and demonstrate sustainable construction practices. The intervention was envisioned not as an isolated object, but as landscape infrastructure that strengthens movement, ecology, and public life.
- Year
- 2023
- Site
- South Park
- Program
- Pedestrian bridge
- Status
- Competition
- Size
- ~340 ft span
- Role and disciplines
- Design ConsultancyArchitectureLandscape ArchitectureUrban Design
Infrastructure becomes experience—where movement, ecology, and public life converge.
The outcomes —
what we designed.
The proposal introduces a pedestrian bridge conceived as an extension of the park’s landscape—woven into its existing fabric to restore continuity and enhance the experience of movement.
A slender structural form threads carefully between existing trees, minimizing impact on root systems while expanding the park’s ecological diversity through the introduction of native plant species.
Elevated pathways move through the tree canopy, offering new perspectives of the landscape and transforming the act of crossing into a moment of discovery. Long, gently sloped ramps provide universal access and are embraced as part of the journey, extending the park experience while fostering a deeper connection between people and nature.
Constructed using advanced timber technologies, the bridge demonstrates sustainable design through a lightweight structure with a reduced carbon footprint and efficient construction process. Together, these strategies transform a point of separation into a moment of connection—reinforcing South Park as a continuous civic landscape at the heart of Sofia.
The team that
made it.
Work completed while Andy Lantz served as Co-CEO, Partner, and Global Creative Director at RIOS. Atlas Lantz Studio acknowledges the collaboration, leadership, and shared authorship of the RIOS teams who developed the design with him.
Andy Lantz · Paul Westwood · Josh Jenje · Hayden Hood · Liang He · Christine Chang · James Chung · Bob Frederick