The cityscape on both banks of the Tyne Bridge is constricted by connection. The 1960s Central Motorway and Gateshead Highway have enveloped the river in a tangle of impassable concrete. Multilevel roads, coated with impermeable surfaces, have rendered the air, land and soil inaccessible to human and more-than-human bodies. Through these flyovers, automobiles have alienated the urban landscape, dividing the riverside as a road block.

The Gateshead Urban Pier reinterprets this dividing line as a convivial public terrain, enlivened by a diversity of inhabitation and ecological richness. Drawing inspiration from the inhabited medieval Tyne Bridge and the Victorian coastal typology of linear, occupied piers, the road is repurposed as an expanse of health, entertainment, and proximity to nature.

The entire structure is preserved and accessed through existing rampways, along with a new series of lift towers and stair cores, that also provide structural support. These access points lead to the extensive floor plates of the raised motorway, now transformed to accommodate the dense planting of ecological walks, allotments for Gateshead residents, and a raised playscape. The once bare surface is transformed into a biologically profuse space that fosters connection and sustenance.

The transformation of the raised walkway eventually spreads beneath its surface. The wide road becomes a roof, harbouring community sports facilities, outdoor recreation, and essential local amenities, such as markets, laundrettes and repair shops. Elsewhere, gaps between the high thermal mass concrete are glazed to create winter gardens, while spaces requiring minimal natural light, such as a cinema, are situated beneath the elevated road. The ground level is reimagined as a space for both ecological and economic sustainability,

As an Urban Pier, the flyover, once merely a conduit, now holds diverse uses and experiences - a connector and a destination, a space for movement and rest and a place for Gateshead to nourish and grow.