The basic idea behind the design of the access bridges to the new Mall that El Corte Inglés has built in Sanchinarro, was to enhance the appeal of the new facilities with a high architectural essence structures, in a great example of what is being called "structural art" or "structural architecture", with special attention in details.
Taking into account that the investment in this Mall was very high and the bridges had to save spans among 40.00 or 45.00 m, which are common spans, our approach, which seems quite logical for economic and commercial motives, was to design three access structures, two bridges and a footbridge.
The needing for these structures is caused by the fact that the building and parking structure is surrounded by a trench, like a medieval castle, which is used to sort circulations of delivery vehicles of consumer goods that can be purchased at the Mall.
The first of these structures is a metallic arch bridge with 46.50 m of span, which can be positioned into the bowstring bridges typology.
In its arrival to the mall, the arch is divided in two elements which rest on the supports, with a final transversal distance of 40.00 m. In that way the bridge enters into a new three-dimensional category, with a “Y” plan view.
This approach to the geometry of the bridge is far away to be arbitrary, as it is the natural answer to the surrounding conditionings, which a single arch could not ever had fulfilled.
