The John V. Tunney Bridge, named in honor of John V. Tunney, longtime Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hammer Museum, is located within the existing central courtyard of the Hammer Museum. The pedestrian bridge is a prominent architectural feature within the open air courtyard and connects the Temporary Galleries in the western portion of the building with the Permanent Galleries to the east at the building’s second floor level, approximately 17’-6” above the ground below.

The steel structure spans 33’-6” across the open courtyard. It narrows to a minimum width of 8’-8” wide at its center with wider flared ends that reach a maximum of 29’-10” and connect to the preexisting structural bays of the original building.  The bridge sides are made of seamless 3/16” steel painted white, pinched at the center of the bridge and rise where the bridge connects to the existing building. The bridge floor framing system consists of a finished architectural topping slab over a structural concrete slab on a composite metal deck spanning between steel beams. The exposed crisscrossing main structure of the bridge is also painted white, appearing as a cat’s cradle from below, with (14) circular frosted glass lites cut into the floor deck.

The project team included Guy Nordenson and Associates (Structural Design Engineer), John A. Martin & Associates (Engineer of Record), MATT Construction (Contractor), and Plas-Tal Manufacturing Co. (Steel Fabricator).