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The NE 36th Street Bridge earned Bomanite Licensee, Belarde Co. Inc. a 2012 Decorative Concrete Award from the American Society for Concrete Contractors’ Decorative Concrete Council in the category of Artistry, Over 5,000 Sq.Ft. Upon entering or exiting the bridge, drivers navigate around a custom-colored, Bomanite stamped concrete roundabout that directs the flow of traffic.  Alongside the roadways, pebble-studded concrete paths, a curving, sloping wall, complete the look of a river bank.

“The concrete elements of this are so unique,” says John Belarde, president of Belarde Co. Their success in pulling it off, he says, was partly thanks to their skills as a company and partly thanks to the clarity and specificity of the design concept.

Tanja Wilcox, senior associate at Seattle architecture firm J.A. Brennan Associates and aesthetic designer for the project, had her work cut out for her when developing a design concept for the bridge. Although the client was the city of Redmond, a lot of the money for the project was funded by Microsoft Corp. — because their main corporate campus sits on both sides of the 520. The overall objective, says Wilcox, was to transform the overpass into an enjoyable environment for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. But the bridge also had to celebrate Redmond as a city, while giving a nod to its patron and beneficiary, Microsoft.

Wilcox and her team conceived a design that evokes the Sammamish River, that winds through the heart of Redmond, just north of the bridge site. By incorporating native plants and materials as well as subtle river motifs, like that of the Bomacron Creek Stone pattern, the design expresses Redmond’s beautiful natural surroundings.

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