New Foot and Cycle Bridge at Boulter's Lock 2019

2019: Foot and Cycle Bridge from Taplow to Ray Mead Island, Boulter's Lock.
The Boulter's Restaurant can be seen to the left of the bridge in the photo.

Knight Architects has completed a 35m long pedestrian and cycle bridge linking a residential scheme at Taplow in Buckinghamshire with Maidenhead on the other side of the River Thames. The shallow arch is intended to resemble Brunel’s nearby Maidenhead Bridge. The client was Berkeley, the firm behind the Taplow Riverside housing project.


New Foot and Cycle Bridge arriving at Boulters Lock by barge 2018

2019: The Bridge did not yet have a name

Following on from the launch of a Taplow-wide competition earlier in the year, where members of the community were invited to submit suggestions to name the new bridge at Taplow Riverside, the selection process has now reached its final stage.

Berkeley Homes received over 100 submissions from members of the local community and the three most popular options were: Taplow Bridge, Knights Bridge, and Boutlers Footbridge. Now, the top picks are being re-released for a final vote, as the public have the ultimate say as to what the name will be for this iconic landmark.

Unveiled by local MP Theresa May in November 2018, the bridge forms part of the design for Berkeley Homes' Taplow Riverside development, and offers a pedestrian ingress to the Thames Path for the first time, connecting the development to nearby Maidenhead.

The bridge, which won Chilterns Buildings Design Awards 2019, was designed by specialist designer Martin Knight of Knights Architecture in association with structural engineer COWI. The bridge's shallow arch design in steel is a modern companion to the double-archway shape of the nearby Maidenhead Railway Bridge by Brunel, which boasts the widest and flattest arches in the world.

Benjamin Ivey, Sales and Marketing Director at Berkeley Homes (Oxford & Chiltern), said: "We're very proud that appreciation for Taplow's iconic new bridge has been reflected in the number of name submissions we received, and we look forward to revealing the new name to the local community in September. The bridge benefits the wider community and provides a great connection to neighbouring Maidenhead. We are delighted to have been able to provide a much-needed bridge, which now allows local residents to fully enjoy Thameside walks and walking access into Maidenhead for the first time."

Berkeley's Taplow Riverside also includes large areas of open space with meadows, picnic areas, a country park with ponds and walking trails, riverside walks dotted with viewing platforms and the Roux at Skindles restaurant. The Boat Yard, an all-day bar and café, is also set to open in 2021.

I think it is now definitely "Taplow Bridge"