Award-winning bridge designer and architect
Stephen James is a leading figure in bridge design with more than 30 years’ experience in transport infrastructure and public realm design.
As Architectural Lead for Ramboll’s UK Bridges Team, over a ten year period he led a multi-disciplinary team in the creation of numerous award-winning, iconic bridges across the UK and Scandinavia.
Prior to this, Stephen held senior roles at Alsop Architects in London, where he led the design of North Greenwich Station. He also worked with Foster and Partners in Hong Kong on projects including the Airport Express Railway and MTR Stations, and spent a brief period with Santiago Calatrava in Zurich.
In early 2022, Stephen established Stephen James architects in Stepney, East London.
Portfolio
Bridges are more than just links between places—they act as pathways, gateways, and social spaces. They can stand out as landmarks and iconic features in our surroundings. Equally, they might simply perform a task beautifully, blending form and function effortlessly to offer unique opportunities for people to connect with each other and their environment.
We’ve earned our reputation by looking beyond standard practices and searching for innovative solutions that might lead to more practical, elegant, and cost-effective bridges designs. Our drive to innovate ensures our project solutions are appropriate, visually appealing, efficient, and easier to construct.
Above all, we focus on achieving the Client’s goals for value, performance, and schedule. These priorities guide our work from the very beginning. By consistently questioning and listening, we ensure we truly understand the needs of both the client and the entire design team, keeping everyone aligned throughout each project.
01
Varvsbron
Client: The City of Helsingborg
Location: Helsingborg, Sweden
Team: Ramboll, Leonhardt, Andrä und Partner
Design Stages: Concept to Completion
Timescale: 2015 – 2022
‘Varvsbron’, a 220m long, active-travel bridge at the heart of Helsingborg, Sweden, is a key part of the City’s ambitious plans to revitalise their former docklands area,
The innovative design is conceived as a gently inclined curvilinear S-form. Suspension cables swoop between two inclined, 25m high, pylons to cradle the bridge deck at mid-span.
The team utilised advanced parametric modelling software, derived from the aircraft and automotive industries, which ultimately made this distinctive bridge both structurally efficient and cost effective.
02
Jarrold
Client: Jarrold St James Ltd
Location: Norwich, East Anglia
Team: Ramboll UK
Design Stages: Concept To Completion
Timescale: 2009 – 2012
Jarrold Bridge is the latest in Norwich’s long tradition of bridges. The bridge traces a smooth arc over the River Wensum. The structure responds to its immediate riverside environment, where the banks have a softer edge and the surrounding paths and open space a modest human scale.
Fixed by concrete abutments at each end and propped by two slender pin-jointed stainless-steel columns, the bridge acts as two mutually stabilising propped cantilevers. The final design is a dynamic and unique bridge form that appears to float over the site with little visible means of support.
03
Ecospan
Client: National Highways
Location: Lower Thames Crossing
Team: Davis Maguire, IB Miebach
Design Stages: Competition
Timescale: 2024 – 2025
Our design, a finalist in the recent major design competition, takes emerging technological innovations, particularly in advanced timber construction and pre-stressed stone, and combines this with a creativity and sensitivity toward the site, materials, and the end users to provide an exemplary, long-lasting, and sustainable structure for the future.
The design prioritises both efficiency and sustainability. Providing adequate protection through ingenuity of detailing, we are proposing a new, modern approach to timber bridge construction that is both cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
04
Hale Wharf
Client: Muse Developments
Location: Tottenham Hale
Team: Ramboll UK
Design Stages: Concept to Completion
Timescale: 2017 – 2021
Hale Wharf features three active-travel bridges and associated lift and stair structures designed to unlock future development and improve connectivity in the area and the waterways of the Lea Valley.
This family of structures, linked by their proximity to one another, a common aesthetic of bold complementary forms, and a limited palette of robust materials, are envisaged as simple, utilitarian trussed structures. Their horizontal emphasis resonates with the expansive quality of the floodplain.
From a distance, the bridges’ simple, common geometry and bold forms are readily legible.
05
Cathedral Green
Client: Derby City Council
Location: Derby
Team: Ramboll UK
Design Stages: Competition to Completion
Timescale: 2007 – 2009
Cathedral Green Footbridge is the centrepiece of a masterplan which has improved access routes around the Silk Mill Museum and Derwent River and reinvigorated Derby’s historic city centre,
Our cable stayed swing bridge spans the Derwent, which once powered the nearby textile mill, a World Heritage site.
The bridge incorporates a kinked back span across the Mill Race which perfectly balances the main span allowing the bridge to rotate using minimal energy. Folding back into the waterfront the bridge allows access to the riverside walkway at all times.
06
Tintagel
Client: Jarrold St James Ltd
Location: tintagel, Cornwall
Team: Ramboll UK
Design Stages: feasibility
Timescale: 2013
In Spring 2013, English Heritage appointed my team at Ramboll to undertake a feasibility study to reinstate a historic route between Tintagel Island and the adjoining mainland via a new high-level bridge. Our preliminary designs for this landmark crossing aimed to provide an exhilarating visitor experience and overcome the considerable constraints afforded by its fragile setting and stark exposure.
Our final report demonstrated the feasibility of a potential crossing, and laid the foundations for the spectacular completed bridge, opened in 2019.
07
Hepworth
Client: Wakefield City Council
Location: Wakefield, Yorkshire
Team: Ramboll UK, Chipperfield Architects
Design Stages: Concept To completion
Timescale: 2010 – 2012
Serving to deliver an influx of visitors to the Hepworth Gallery’s entrance, two 50m span footbridges provide a dramatic route over the fast-moving waters of the River Calder as the primary access to the landmark new art gallery in Wakefield.
Working closely with David Chipperfield Architects to ensure a consistency of design approach, the structure provides a restrained form complementary to the sculptural quality of the gallery itself.
08
Kaponjärbron
Client: Göteborg Municipality
Location: Göteborg, Sweden
Team: Ramboll Sweden, Sjögren Arkitekter AB
Design Stages: Concept – Tender
Timescale: 2013 – 2015
Taking inspiration from the Göteborg’s rich automotive and ship-building heritage; our proposal for an ultra-lightweight Fibre-Reinforced-Polymer (FRP) bridge, was the first of its kind in Sweden. At less than a quarter the weight of an equivalent steel structure, the FRP bridge spans the historic canal that encircles the old town imposes minimal loading on the fragile walls and greatly eases buildability.
Its sweeping curvilinear form is a direct expression of the unique site conditions, the material choice, and the structural forces at play.
09
King’s Gate
Client: CADW
Location: Caernarfon Castle, Wales
Team: Ramboll UK
Design Stages: Concept to completion
Timescale: 2008
Caernarfon Castle is the most culturally significant national monument in Wales, and its most popular, with over 200,000 visitors a year. King’s Gate Footbridge opened up a new, step-free route into the magnificent castle for the very first time.
Our sinuous weathering steel pedestrian bridge flows gracefully across the castle ditch: bold enough to assert its contemporaneity, subtle enough to chime well with its historic surroundings.
This non-invasive structure imposed no extra loading to the existing masonry and was lifted into place in a single day: a major achievement in buildability.
10
Hercules
Client: Leaside Regeneration Ltd
Location: Leamouth, East London
Team: Ramboll UK, Jenny Coe
Design Stages: Concept to Tender
Timescale: 2005 – present
The areas bounded by the River Lea and the River Thames in East London, though attractive, are blighted by a lack of connectivity. Hercules Bridge, a 60m span, cable-stayed, active travel bridge with a unique twist-and-tilt opening mechanism aims to address this isolation.
Our elegant cable-stayed structure opens with a unique tilt-and-pivot motion. When in normal use its needle-like mast provides a marker within a complex interplay of roads and pedestrian routes. When fully open to river traffic, the mast rests alongside the approach ramp allowing simple maintenance access.
11
2012 Olympics
Client: Olympic Delivery Authority
Location: Eton Dorney Rowing Lake
Team: Ramboll UK
Design Stages: Concept to Completion
Timescale: 2009 – 2011
A family of seven all-user bridges provide vital connectivity along the 2km rowing lake facilitating movement for participants, spectators, and event organisers alike. The bridges feature economical, yet visually appealing, curvilinear forms that echo the shapes and craftsmanship of traditional rowing boats, reinforcing the site’s sporting heritage.
At the finish line, an arched steel and concrete composite bridge spans 55 metres across the return lake, providing a robust and visually harmonious focus. The bridges’ vibrant colour provides prominent marker points for rowers as they traverse the course.
12
Inderhavnsbroen
Client: City of Copenhagen
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Team: Ramboll UK, 3XN Architects
Design Stages: Competition
Timescale: 2013
Designed in collaboration with 3XN Architects this major opening pedestrian bridge across Copenhagen Harbour, provides the missing link between Nyhavn and Christianshavns, regenerating the surrounding district, providing access to the city’s new Royal Playhouse.
The 200m long sinuous form incorporates a single-leaf opening bascule in its central 50m span to allow passage of tall sailboats. The meandering route of the bridge creates both the shortest distance for wheelchairs whilst encouraging all users to linger and enjoy the dramatic views of the city’s harbour.
13
Lusail Harbour
Client: Lusail Real Estate Development Company
Location: Doha, Qatar
Team: Ramboll
Design Stages: Competition
Timescale: 2009
Our competition entry designs proposed a synthesis of two structural types: freeform shell canopies and stress ribbon decks.
Inspired by indigenous natural forms — shifting sands, undulating waves, tent sheets billowing in the wind — our designs achieved a lightness of touch not usually associated with infrastructure of this scale. Firmly rooted in the traditions and forms of the region, our design proposals developed as a unique modern response to these varied influences.
14
Norrtälje
Client: City Of Norrtälje
Location: Norrtälje, Sweden
Team: Ramboll Sweden, STING
Design Stages: Competition
Timescale: 2016
This competition design for an opening active-travel bridge for Norrtälje’s harbour basin is a striking, variant on a traditional drawbridge, inspired by the wingspan of a sea-bird.
The bridge features a fanned array of a dozen white masts, which mark the entrance to the harbour and stand out against the backdrop of the public park, with its dynamic silhouette easily recognisable from afar.
As the bridge deck opens, the masts fold together creating an engaging daily spectacle.
Services
We provide the creative design expertise required to deliver bridges that:
Span rivers, roads and railways
Connect internal and/or external spaces
Form part of urban development plans
Create new routes, places and landmarks
Contribute to progressive transport initiatives
Add sculptural forms to urban and rural settings
Feasibility
We are experienced in carrying out feasibility studies for bridge and infrastructure projects across the globe. We understand how to improve connectivity between locations, support sustainable transport initiatives, and design bridges that are sensitive to their surroundings.
Early involvement allows us to identify key technical, planning, and stakeholder issues during feasibility and concept phases. Our proactive approach streamlines progress and helps avoid future issues.
Consultation
We are well-versed in working with planning authorities, statutory bodies, and local interest groups. Through close collaboration and open communication, we help ensure bridge projects not only secure approvals but also run smoothly and efficiently from start to finish.
Providing sound advice during the critical early stages of bridge projects is essential. By doing so, we effectively reduce risks related to cost, programme, and performance, ensuring smoother project progression and successful outcomes.
Design
Our holistic approach to bridge design, simultaneously addresses architectural, engineering, and transport planning issues leads to technically sound solutions that fit seamlessly into their environment.
Central to all our work is an unwavering dedication to the quality of design with a meticulous attention to detail, ensuring that every element of the project is considered and executed to the highest standards.
Awards
Varvsbron
European Steel Award, for Integrated Design, 2023
Swedish Steel Construction Award 2023
European Cycling Infrastructure Award 2023
International Bridge Conference, Iconic Bridge Award 2022
Jarrold
Bridge Design & Engineering, Footbridge Award, 2014
IStructE Structural Awards, Pedestrian Bridge, 2013
ICE Regional Award, Exceptional Merit, 2013
Civic Trust Award, 2013
Hepworth
RIBA Stirling Prize Short-list, 2012
2012 Olympics
ICE Excellence Award, 2010
Cathedral Green
Structural Steel Design Awards, 2010
BCIA Award, 2009
Finalist, Prime Minister’s Better Buildings Award, 2009
Testimonials
Recent endorsements from Clients, Stakeholders, and Awards Juries
Varvsbron
“The fact that Varvsbron has received so many awards shows a multifaceted design that offers both sustainability and function. This makes it more than a bridge that connects the city centre with Oceanhamnen, but also a beautiful and sustainable landmark for the city”
Alexander Svensson , chairman of the city planning committee in Helsingborg
Jarrold
“This bridge is an outstanding example of innovation, structural efficiency, and aesthetic simplicity. The minimalist internal supports and bold abutments result in a structure that appears to defy structural principles and is extremely eye-catching. It greatly enhances its environment.”
IStructE judging panel
Hale Wharf
“This bridge is an exciting feature to the local area which will enable and promote wider use of the green and open space we are so fortunate to have here in Tottenham and across our borough of Haringey.”
Councillor Adam Jogee, Mayor of Haringey
Contact
Reach us via our social media accounts above, or at the locations below