Re-Imagined Bridge Pillars

A landscape architecture project that preserves community murals by giving relocated bridge columns a new purpose.

City

Calgary

Status

Completed in 2025

Preserving public art in Northeast Calgary

This project marks our first landscape architecture commission completed in Calgary, created to preserve mural artwork from a former pedestrian bridge that was removed after being deemed structurally unsafe. To protect the murals, the columns were relocated to 16th Ave. and 19th St. NE, and custom-designed structural caps were added to both shield and celebrate the artwork they support. Bird-shaped cutouts in the caps cast dynamic shadows that echo motifs from the original murals.

Created for the Crossroads Community Association, the caps were designed to symbolize each of the three neighbourhoods represented by the association through a distinct local bird species, giving each column a unique identity rooted in community meaning. This project reflects a thoughtful approach to re-purposing, re-imagining, and respectfully preserving a piece of Calgary’s urban cultural fabric.