How good design can create infrastructure that over delivers

When floods hit Cumbria in 2015, the village of Pooley Bridge was badly hit, losing its historic stone arch bridge across the River Eamont, after it was washed away in the flood.

The bridge had stood for 250 years and provided the village with a vital connection, but its loss meant much more to the village than physical severance alone, which was relatively quickly resolved with the installation of a temporary Bailey bridge. What mattered more to the community was the sense of identity that was tied up with the historic structure and how the structure contributed to Pooley Bridge’s sense of place.

This points to something that is often overlooked when it comes to infrastructure: the role it can play in enriching communities by building a sense of belonging and identity. The people of Pooley Bridge had lost not just a bridge that physically connected them but a much-loved historic structure that helped give them a sense of place, something the temporary Bailey bridge could not replicate.

When Knight Architects won the commission to design a new permanent replacement for the 18th-century bridge, it was vital, therefore, that the new design resonated with local people’s aspirations and enhanced the community’s sense of identity – in other words, its function was not only to connect but to contribute to placemaking.

The importance of shaping a sense of place has become part of the common language of property development and regeneration, but when it comes to infrastructure, it remains a relatively fringe concern, with the key role that good design can play in delivering infrastructure too often overlooked.

At Knight Architects, this is something we are working to change. We strongly believe that when designed well, infrastructure can transcend its function. By improving connectivity and accessibility, promoting sustainable transport alternatives and designing structures that respect and enhance their environment, well designed infrastructure projects can bring people together, improve wellbeing, foster economic activity, enrich communities and enhance a sense of place.

Part of the problem is that for too long, we have asked too little of infrastructure in this country, seeing it only in terms of its economic benefits rather than its wider social and environmental impact. This can lead to a narrow focus on function alone, often at the expense of good design and ingenuity. It can also lead to a focus on standardisation and repetition of what has already been done – independent of the unique context of each site – with the aim of de-risking processes and reducing costs.

But often, this is a false economy. In fact, good design not only generates wider benefits but can cut costs, and the earlier that quality design thinking takes place, the better. Take HS2. A recent report by the Institution of Civil Engineers into the much-maligned mega-project concludes that one of the key failings was a lack of conceptual and detailed design work at the early stages, which could have prevented costs from spiralling at a later stage.

As bridge designers, we have seen this time and time again. Yet good design thinking at the earliest stages can not only save money but help generate much broader benefits – social, environmental and economic.

We are now seeing some signs that the infrastructure industry is beginning to tune in to these debates. The importance of place, cultural heritage and visual impact are increasingly a critical part of the planning process, for instance in Environmental Impact Assessments, while the National Infrastructure Commission has chosen ‘place’ as one of its key design principles, alongside climate, people and value.

When the Elizabeth Line won last year’s Stirling Prize, it amplified the debate around the value of design in infrastructure. While the project was not without problems, it instantly became an indispensable and much-loved addition to the capital, partly as a result of the quality of its design.

Ultimately, we all need to aspire to delivering infrastructure that is functional and welcomed by the public. This was the challenge we faced in Pooley Bridge. We recognised very early on that the role of the bridge in the village’s identity had to inform our entire approach. This meant engaging with the community from the outset to understand what they had lost when their bridge had been washed away and what had not been replaced by the temporary bridge. Their response was all about belonging, locale and what would make the new bridge their bridge.

Informed by this understanding, we were able to design a new, unique bridge (pictured) that resonated with the community’s vision. As one local resident observed, the new bridge “provides much-needed connectivity” but is also “absolutely beautiful and different, so it will bring people to visit it and look at it in its own right”.

That is the true value of good design and why, when it comes to infrastructure, it must no longer be overlooked.