A design contest, managed by RIBA Competitions, is inviting new concepts for ‘the aesthetic enhancement’ of highway gantries through.

National Highways acknowledges that existing overhead gantries prioritise functionality over appearance.

The competition documentation says: “This competition is seeking to provide a more streamlined, elegant, and consistent visual appearance for roadside gantries to enhance the public’s experience when driving on the National Highways network. Existing designs tend to be heavily engineered, with an emphasis on function over form. This can result in visually intrusive structures that are not overly sympathetic to their settings.”

It adds: “Therefore, the challenge is to create innovative structures that can accommodate the existing signage and equipment. These should work sympathetically in roadside environments, whether they form part of a landscape that is urban, residential or an area of natural beauty.”

RIBA Competitions adviser Jonathan McDowell said: “It is very encouraging that National Highways are actively engaging the design community in helping to improve the design of these ubiquitous but cumbersome parts of the motorway experience – we look forward to seeing a wide range of creative and elegant proposals that take up the challenge.”

The winner will work with National Highways to develop their design concept, with a view to it becoming the standard design for new roads and major upgrades from around 2025.

The deadline for submissions is noon on 24th January 2023.

The full competition brief can be found on the competition webpage at: ribacompetitions.com/gantries

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