Chattanooga Bridge

VW Assembly Plant Chattanooga, USA, Bridge and Arrival Building

A new VW Automobile Factory is to be built in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Due to the topography of the site and the location of the new planned entry drive at the Southeast side of the factory, a 250 meter long Bridge and Arrival Building will be required in order to connect the factory to the parking area, which is planned for approximately 1200 workers. CARSTEN ROTH ARCHITECT designed and planned the bridge and the arrivals building, which were implemented at a later date and adapted.

The dynamic steel form of the Bridge fulfills not only the structural requirements of the pedestrian walkway, but also functions as a beacon and symbol for the new VW site in the U.S. The combination of the two formal languages, the dynamic Slope and the logical, direct path of the Tube creates a "Bridge" between the form and symbolism of a functional factory. The design is composed of three main elements: 1) the Check-ln area, which consists of a security building with an observation and registration area as well as a break- and restroom for the security personal, and a large roofed entry area which Ieads past the guardhouse through turnstiles to the Bridge. 2) the Bridge, which consists of the Tube, a direct, wind and rain-protected walkway over the conservation easement, and the Slope, the structural support for the tube as well as the curvilinear and more experientially eventful path toward the Factory. 3) the Arrival Building, which sits at the termination of the Bridge and contains three interior Ievels as weil an outdoor garden and patio.