Kit Powell-Williams (October 7th, 1950 – September 17th, 2024) discovered at school that the only way he could comprehend maths was through geometry. His understanding of structure, and the affinity of art to the precision of engineering, led to a prodigious career in bridge architecture.
Michael Watts Associates gave Kit his first professional employment. He went on to set up a design and architectural practice with Jonathan Lovett. Wanting to focus on structures, in 1992 he started his own independent practice, Powell-Williams Architects, and began competing in competitions which resulted in his focus on bridges.
The first competition was for The Scotsman newspaper for a bridge over the water of Leith in Edinburgh with Simon Bourne of Robert Benaim Associates (engineers), which won second prize. He designed a bridge at Merthyr Tydfil for the Welsh Development Agency which won first prize. This was an innovative design for a new steel footbridge over the river Taff, employing both cable stay and suspension technology arranged like the sail on a yacht, sited directly over a weir.
Thereafter there were many bridges in conjunction with Benaim’s engineers, including a winning entry in 1998 for a lifting footbridge with a timber deck in St Katherine’s dockyard in a grade II-listed dock wall designed by Thomas Telford. It was shortlisted for a British Construction Industry award. A model he made for a proposal for a London Docklands footbridge competition was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Two unusual glazed footbridges over the ring road at Oldham were built in 2000. They were shortlisted for a British Constructional Steelwork Award.
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In 2000, he won the international competition for a bridge over the Tiber in Rome with Davood Liaghat of Buro Happold (engineers). It immediately appealed to the public as a pair of sleek leafs or opening wings. This was the first modern pedestrian bridge over the Tiber since Roman times. The bridge completed a new axis on Via Guido Reni which included Renzo Piano’s Auditorium, Nervi’s Palazzetto dello Sport, Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI gallery and the Stadio Flaminio. It is a foot- and tram-line bridge and was opened in 2011. Ponte della Musica has since become a much loved venue in Rome for social gatherings, photo shoots and events.
A European Union competition entry for a canal footbridge at Aveiro in Portugal 2010 won first prize, again working with Buro Happold. Further bridges were designed for locations in Italy, in Kuwait at Al-Khiran, for bridges in Uxbridge, and Essex, modelling for cable anchorage for the Pearl River Delta bridge in China for Benaim’s and design for piers and concrete work for a bridge 1.3km long on the A13 viaduct at Dagenham which gained a Concrete Society certificate of excellence and was shortlisted for a British Construction Industry award.
In the early 2000s, he had started working with MCOS (MC O’Sullivan engineers), which led to numerous bridges in Ireland. A road bridge at Wyattville outside Dublin and a design guide for the motorway Dublin Ring Road were undertaken, along with further bridges between Ballinteer to Shankill, where he designed the concrete work abutments, bridge decks and piers.
Ireland followed with MCO/RPS, including a river bridge at Castlcomer, Co Kilkenny, and a road bridge over the Shannon at Killaloe, Co Clare, where the entire scheme is 6.2km long and made up of striking blue 40m sections which is currently under construction. There was a pedestrian/cycle bridge on the Currane river, in Waterville, Co Kerry; the Tremore Valley Park pedestrian bridge (N40) in Cork; a new road bridge at Grange Road/Donnybrook Hill, Cork; a new roadbridge at Castlebar, Co Mayo; the addition of pedestrian walkways at Bunowen river bridge, Louisburg, Co Mayo; the Salmon Weir bridge, Galway; Liffey bridges at Donaghcumper, Co Kildare; and work as an aesthetic adviser on a viaduct bridge on the DBF02 Newry bypass (with Lagan-Ferrovial), Fanad Bridge at Mulroy Bay, Co Donegal, the Southern Cross route motorway in Dublin; the Barrow river bridge at Athy, Co Kildare; and Limerick Southern Ring Road. He designed over 50 bridges.
Whilst working as an independent architect on his own since 1992, Kit collaborated with teams of specialists. Some projects were designed with others – a gallery in St James’s and a swimming pool complex in Oxford. He remodelled a number of houses and apartments, mostly in London, but rarely chose to work on private houses. The exceptions, often in remote locations, were for new buildings sensitively placed in the landscape, with his trademark circular or triangular windows.
He was an expert craftsman and built his own studio and later his workshop where he handcrafted models of his bridges and a model railway. He was a calm, gentle, self-effacing man of great integrity, intellect and insight, valued for his balanced judgment. Wherever he went, he had a sketchbook and paints to hand. He was a keen dry-fly fisherman, and excellent cook and enjoyed preparing meals for friends in combo with his wife Karen. They shared a love of architecture, the arts, painting, music, opera, theatre, history, literature and more. They sailed and surfed together.
Striving for the most simple, elegant and economic solutions, Kit was a perfectionist in approach and execution, constantly seeking a better and innovative way to solve problems. His immense powers of observation, spatial planning and modelling skills have left a lasting legacy of strength and elegance. He only stopped working when his illness forced him to decline consulting on one of his earlier designs which had been resurrected, as he feared he would not be able to complete the work.
Kit (Christopher) was born in Hammersmith, grew up in Surrey and made his home in Putney. He was educated at Ripley Court, St John’s School in Leatherhead, Farnham School of Art and the Architectural Association and was chartered in 1978. He was diagnosed with cancer in October 2023.
He leaves Karen, his wife of 44 years; their children Christopher, Benedict and Candida; grandchildren Otis, Dexter and Leonard; and the bridges.