Safe Trestles Finalists Announced
Monday, May 10, 2010 at 07:01AM 
[Image by kola+kle]
The somewhat controversial competition to provide safe access to the legendary surf spot Trestles beach has come to a close with the announcement of five finalists. As predicted, the winning entry solutions range from the architectural to the ecologically focused. But overall, we were impressed with the entries. Here are the five selected finalists:
The shortest distance between two points is a line. This entry uses this approach to create a simplified solution for beach access. The elevated wood walk and direct shot to the beach is low impact and wetland friendly, I think this entry fails to address the unique 'experience' of the beach journey that is so important to the local surf scene.
[Image by Joshua Beck, Tom Reiner] The Wave 7012
The Wave is a beautifully drawn structure intended to be seamlessly integrated into the landscape. Another strong architectural design that compliments the landscape by not disrupting it. The flow of the form adds visual interest to the beach journey.
[Image by E. Tsirintani, G. García, J. Gamboa and M.P. Seixas] Unveiling the Natural
By E. Tsirintani, G. García, J. Gamboa and M.P. Seixas
This entry aims to "not hide the reality of the place, but it only wants to face it through a lineal natural form tool." Another wood structure that is more intensely focused on integrating into the landscape. Vertical wood extentions from the walk orient views.
[Image by Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects] The Natural Scheme
By Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects
Not quite as glamorous in imagery, The Natural Scheme entry however presents one of the more applicable solutions, and one that addressed local surfer's concerns about the project. The entry, coming from Architects, is heavily plant focused.
[Image by Ken Smith Landscape Architect]
By Ken Smith Landscape Architect
If this project were to ever be built, this might be the most viable solution. Ken Smith uses existing desire lines to influence paths and evenly considers and addresses the issues influencing the project.
See all the competition and winning entry details at the Safe Trestles Competition site.
Reader Comments (4)
Why is the Long Trail "the most viable solution"?
What were the surfers' concerns?
From the finalists, I felt KSLA's submission addressed each concern in a pragmatic way, from the railroad crossing, to the approach down, and the use of desire lines to continue the legendary surf journey.
For local surfer's, it is this long walk, the approach, the journey to some of the best and hardest to reach waves in SoCal that is so important to them. Taking this away, to them, would be to destroy Trestles itself.