First Garden Bridge in The Netherlands at €14 million

A park on legs is how some describe it. The exceptional new pedestrian and cycle bridge in ʼs-Hertogenbosch that connects the historic city centre to the Paleiskwartier (Palace Quarter). This is a former warehouse district that now houses the court building, a number of universities of applied science and agriculture and a lot of new homes and offices. It is a garden bridge that was inspired by the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and the High Line in New York City. Initially the bridge would be called “Ponte Pallazzo” to indicate its Italian roots, but that was considered too fancy and over the top for a Dutch bridge. So a name giving contest was held and the winning name was… simply the Dutch translation: Paleisbrug (Palace bridge). The ‘Palace’ in that name relates to the high court that can be found in the area, which the Dutch refer to with the equivalent of ‘Palace of Justice’. The bridge across the railway line running from ʼs-Hertogenbosch further south had to be 250 metres long. Any bridge that long has the risk of becoming an unpleasant place. That is why the architects decided to make the bridge a ‘place’ even with free wifi. Read on here.