Hammer Museum John V Tunney Pedestrian Bridge

Designed in collaboration with Michael Maltzan Architecture, the new bridge spans 36ft across the open courtyard at the second floor, connecting museum gallery access. Fourteen circular glass lights cut into the bridge’s deck illuminate the courtyard below. The bridge’s width spans a maximum of 29ft 6in where the bridge connects with the building’s preexisting structural bays and narrows to a minimum width of 10ft at its center.

The bridge is composed of a structural concrete slab on a composite metal deck spanning between exposed steel beams with a seamless 3/16in perforated steel guardrail. The pattern of the bridge structural framing is aligned with the building columns and the curve of the bridge plan to form a horizontal truss. Two new header beams bearing on the existing building columns support the bridge ends, and spandrel beams on sliding and fixed points control the distribution of seismic forces and vibrations. Pedestrian induced vibrations are also limited by the perforated steel handrail acting as a slender upturned beam and contributing stiffness.