The integration of sustainability into water infrastructure projects is no longer optional it is essential for delivering long-term environmental, social, and economic value. However, the implementation of sustainability in green water projects introduces a unique set of complexities that can contribute to significant delays and operational inefficiencies. These challenges include regulatory complexity, innovation adoption barriers, financial limitations, and institutional inertia. Despite the growing emphasis on sustainability in infrastructure, the specific impact of these factors on project timelines remains underexplored in existing literature.

This thesis investigates how sustainability-related complexities affect the timely execution of green water projects and identifies targeted planning strategies to mitigate those impacts. The central research question driving this study is: What planning strategies can help in the successful implementation of Sustainability in Water Projects?

To answer this, the following sub-questions are explored:
1. What are Green Water Projects?
2. How do they differ from traditional projects?
3. What differentiating green factors could result in delays in Green Water Projects?
4. How can these delays be mitigated?

A qualitative multi-phase research approach was adopted to answer these questions, consisting of four key stages: exploratory interviews, literature review, semi-structured expert interviews, and expert feedback workshop with industry stakeholders at Bilfinger Engineering and Consultancy. The exploratory interviews scoped the landscape and helped define "green water projects" in practical terms. The literature review established the conceptual framework, while the semi-structured interviews provided in-depth insights into sustainability-related project delays. The final expert validation tested the practical applicability of the proposed strategies.

The research draws on real-world experiences, including cases involving hydrogen infrastructure, algae-based protein production, and sustainable fuel development, to contextualize the analysis.

The study identifies four core planning solutions tied to the delay drivers:
• Regulatory Uncertainty: Mitigated through early stakeholder alignment and adaptive frameworks like Front-End Loading (FEL) and the Transition Management Framework.
• Technological Novelty: Addressed via iterative testing and feedback using tools such as the Innovation Chasm Strategy and Adaptive Management.
• Financial Feasibility: Enhanced by reducing risk perception through Risk Scoring Matrices, Process Thinking, and Outcome-Based Financing approaches.
• Institutional Capacity: Strengthened through Organizational Learning, Bow Tie Risk Models, and Multilevel Transition Management, which foster resilience and governance alignment.

Building on these findings the study introduces a comprehensive roadmap structured around four interlinked pillars consisting of early stakeholder engagement, bridging the innovation adoption gap, adaptive project management, and institutional alignment with long-term sustainability goals. These pillars are operationalized through a layered approach across strategic, tactical, and operational levels, reflecting the complex, dynamic, and socio-technical nature of sustainability implementation. This multi-level structure enables flexible and adaptive planning that accommodates evolving regulatory, technological, and financial conditions, thereby supporting resilience in project delivery.

A key insight of this research is the redefinition of the traditional Iron Triangle of project management. By incorporating sustainability as a core dimension alongside cost, time, quality, and scope, the study proposes a new paradigm for project planning that aligns with contemporary environmental and social requirements. This reconceptualization allows project teams to evaluate trade-offs more holistically and design solutions that do not sacrifice long-term goals for short-term efficiency. Although the strategies have been tailored to green water projects, they are designed for adaptability and can be applied more broadly to green projects.

Ultimately, the findings serve as a practical guide for project managers and policy stakeholders seeking to overcome sustainability-induced delays. The research contributes to both academic understanding and industry practice by offering an actionable, multi-level planning framework that supports the successful implementation of sustainable infrastructure. By embedding adaptive and transition management principles alongside enhanced governance synchronization, the proposed strategies enable proactive management of uncertainty and institutional alignment, which are essential for scaling sustainable innovations in complex infrastructure projects.

The construction industry is under growing pressure to reduce carbon emissions in response to climate change and regulatory demands, particularly in the Netherlands, which has set a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. Timber construction emerges as a promising solution, offering a more sustainable alternative to traditional materials like concrete, given its lower carbon footprint and its capacity to capture and store carbon. At present the domination of concrete and steel as traditional heavy construction material in new buildings poses the underutilization of using the new timber innovative technique within the Dutch residential construction industry, respectively a small market share of 3%. Therefore despite its potential, timber construction remains underutilized, and asks for research on several socio-technical challenges that are needed to advance widespread adoption.

To examine the factors affecting the large-scale implementation of timber building practices in the Dutch residential sector, a Technological Innovation System (TIS) framework is applied. By combining a literature review, case studies, and semi-structured interviews, key socio-technical elements and market actors influencing timber adoption are identified. Both embodied and operational carbon emissions need to be tackled, with the shift toward timber materials offering a significant opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of buildings. However, the construction industry and its actors remain cautious, often perceiving timber as too complex, risky, and lacking in standardization.

This study reveals that the socio-technical factors of leadership, management strategies, and business processes play a crucial role in supporting the transition to timber construction. In particular, project management and commercialization emerge as essential drivers of success. To help organizations prioritize their actions, a quadrant matrix is developed, categorizing strategies based on their level of control and impact on the success of timber projects. Moreover, the findings point to the necessity of integrated design, industrialization, and standardization as key approaches to overcoming the barriers hindering timber adoption. Practical recommendations include fostering open communication within organizations, clearly defining responsibilities, and implementing risk assessment strategies. Looking ahead, future research should explore the operational phases of timber construction and further refine the TIS framework, particularly by examining how socio-technical factors evolve over time. Continuous learning and adaptation are highlighted as vital components for driving innovation in the early adaptors phase of timber building practices.

Monitoring and modelling water systems and potential interventions help to manage water more effectively. However, due to defects and operational failures in sensors, the reliability of monitoring and modelling is affected by incomplete data. Because traditional statistical methods are often ineffective in infilling large and multivariate gaps, several machine learning (ML) techniques have been explored. However, a comprehensive overview of ML techniques and their performance across different methods and hydrologic regimes is missing. Therefore, this thesis project tackles the question: What ML approach(es) are most suitable for infilling gaps in hydrological time series in The Netherlands? 

This thesis evaluates ML models and their behaviour with different methods and hydrologic regimes. This study will help to understand the generalisability of the ML models, while also enabling improvements in (urban) water management. In this thesis, a multicriteria analysis (MCA) was used to assess a wide range of ML models. Next, during two case studies, a subset of these models were applied to infill gaps in groundwater, sewage water and surface water levels using the intra-station and inter-station methods. 
In the MCA, it was found that Support Vector Regressor (SVR), Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting Trees (GBT), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), Self-Organising Map (SOM) and Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) were sufficiently suitable. 
In the first case study, the use of these models with the intra-station approach led to mixed results for infilling small artificial gaps. Generally, acceptable MSE scores were achieved but poor NSE and KGE scores implied limited scalability. 
The second case study showed more promising results with the inter-station method on an artificial gap of seven months. This method proved to be more scalable as all metrics indicated acceptable performance.

In the end, it was concluded that both the RF and GBT models performed most robustly. The MLP and LSTM models showed great potential but suffered from inconsistency, potentially caused by too little training data. It was also found that the inter-station method proved more scalable as compared to the intra-station approach. Furthermore, it was found that success is dependent upon conditions of the hydrologic regime such as human intervention.

As concerns about climate change increase, which can harm the environment, all kinds of businesses face a challenge called sustainability. In the construction sector, one pathway to greater sustainability is designing and constructing buildings with low carbon emissions. Some researchers have explored this challenge by investigating the portion between embodied and operational carbon, as well as the methodologies for calculating each type of carbon emission in buildings. Having an understanding of the design's performance against this challenge will provide more opportunities for design optimization. However, there is limited literature discussing methodologies to optimize whole-life carbon emissions, especially for apartment buildings in the Netherlands. This thesis project aims to fill this research gap by closely examining the practical relationship between embodied and operational carbon and by achieving optimized building designs to minimize whole-life carbon emissions. The scope of this thesis includes analyzing embodied carbon from stages A1 to A5, operational carbon at stage B6, focusing specifically on studio apartments located in the Netherlands. To achieve the aim of this thesis, which is to explore the relationship between embodied and operational carbon in apartment buildings located in the Netherlands, several key steps were undertaken. This study began with a comprehensive literature review and analysis to define factors and methodologies for calculating both embodied and operational carbon emissions. Subsequently, a case study was conducted using a simplified model in Excel and IES software to quantify these emissions. Optimization strategies were then implemented using Rhino 7 and Grasshopper. A detailed framework was developed in Rhino 7 and Grasshopper to guide optimization and analyze the resulting data. Finally, validation and evaluation of the framework and its outcomes were conducted through expert interviews. The findings yielded several critical insights. For instance, certain materials with higher embodied carbon can lead to lower operational carbon, while those with lower embodied carbon may result in higher operational carbon. Moreover, increasing thickness can effectively reduce operational carbon and contribute to overall reductions in whole-life carbon emissions, up to Rc 4; beyond this, the benefits diminish. Furthermore, materials with high embodied carbon above Rc 4 tend to increase whole-life carbon emissions, despite potential reductions in operational carbon. Lastly, each Rc of the façade has its own optimal façade opening, and window frame material only influences a small amount of the embodied carbon and has no influence on operational carbon. However, this result is based on Dutch circumstances and specific MEP inputs. Therefore, these results will differ if different locations and MEP inputs are used. Through this framework, designers are provided with practical guidance to achieve optimal solutions in apartment building design. Additionally, this framework has already been tested by expert respondents in this field, as detailed in Chapter 5. Recommendations for future research include expanding the scope to whole entire apartment (from foundation to roof) and integrating financial considerations into optimization strategies.

This thesis explores the challenges and solutions for integrating circular economy (CE) ambitions into building projects, with a focus on overcoming barriers through effective stakeholder engagement.
The research was motivated by the increasing need for sustainable practices in the construction industry, particularly how to align diverse stakeholder interests with CE goals. The central research question addressed is: How can effective stakeholder engagement strategies overcome barriers to implementing circular economy ambitions in building projects?

The research was conducted using a qualitative research approach, combining case studies, document analysis and interviews with key stakeholders involved with CE ambitions in construction projects (Ma and Hao, 2024); architects, contractors, clients and a material recycling facility. Data was gathered from 9 interviews and analyzed to identify patterns in stakeholder knowledge,
attitudes, and power dynamics related to CE implementation. The stakeholder mapping process included the models of Power-Interest-Attitude (Murray-Webster and Simon, 2006) and Salience (Mitchell et al., 1997) to assess alignment of stakeholders, their engagement levels within the management structure and overall barriers and Critical Success Factors that aided in finding a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy for improvement of CE ambition achievement.

The study revealed that knowledge gaps at project initiation, lack of technical feasibility measurement early on, frequent change in project teams and wavering commitment of these new project teams were considered important barriers that hindered effective implementation of CE ambitions in the Bajeskwartier. Consequently, various Critical Success Factors, such as early alignment of stakeholder knowledge and maintained commitment between stakeholders, are essential for achieving CE goals. Additionally, incorporating other stakeholders such as Investors into
the decision-making process was found to be crucial for overcoming regulatory and financial obstacles, such as the lack of implementing circular business models. Finally, stakeholders with high power and interest, such as clients and contractors, were identified as critical for enforcing CE practices, while architects were considered to have a very high intrinsic motivation for implementing
innovative CE ambitions.

The research concluded that an effective stakeholder engagement strategy involves early alignment of CE ambitions, clear communication of goals and ongoing collaboration between current and future stakeholders, and recurrent checking of ambitions and decision on technical, financial, regulatory and design levels can significantly reduce barriers that hinder effective CE implementation. The findings demonstrate that involving key stakeholders early and fostering a shared understanding of CE objectives and knowledge surrounding this topic leads to better project outcomes and stronger commitment to circular practices. The limitations of this research include the focus on a limited number of stakeholders and the inclusion of only one specific construction project, which greatly limits generalizability. Future research could expand on this by examining similar construction projects, while incorporating new stakeholder groups such as advisors. Finally, various obtained barriers, not found within incorporated literature, were present in alternate literature excluded by this thesis' scope. It is therefore recommended future research highlights their literature research specifically on the topics of leadership, commitment and interests, and the general topics of finance, technical and design barriers and Critical Success Factors.

Real estate development faces numerous challenges due to the dynamic market, socio-economic developments, but also deep-rooted mentalities and practices in the sector. Real estate developers need to innovate at both a strategic and business level to overcome these challenges and remain marketable in the long term. This study explores this gap and offers a solution by answering the question: " How can the strategic and project levels of a developer be aligned to achieve a sustainable real estate development concept?". Using a design science research methodology that combines interviews, workshops and expert panels, the Sustainable Real Estate Development Canvas (SREDC) was developed and tested. The canvas harmonises the strategic view of the developer and the interests of the various stakeholders at project level to achieve a new and sustainable development concept. During the workshop, in which all stakeholders participated, a jointly developed development concept emerged as a result of the harmonisation of interests, which demonstrates the practicability and feasibility of the proposed canvas.

The Netherlands is currently facing a shortage of affordable housing, specifically for middle-income households. These households with too much income to qualify for social housing but not enough to buy a home tend to squeeze into the free rental market increasingly. Housing specifically targeted at this group is known as intermediate housing, which is provided at a cost above social rent but below market rates. In previous years, very few houses for this target group were developed due to the reluctance of the market to develop these homes due to lower profitability and strict regulations that made it difficult for local governments and social housing associations to build and distribute intermediate housing.

This study's primary goal is to reduce the inequality gap in the Dutch housing market by designing a national government housing policy. As a response to the shortage of affordable housing among middle-income households, it has been proposed that more social enterprises should become active in the housing sector as well as in other industries which solve societal problems by combining economic mission and societal impact. Social housing enterprises can explicitly address the shortage of affordable housing for middle-income households, unlike commercial ones that are solely concerned with profits. Furthermore, these newly developed Social Housing Enterprises are not subject to strict rules regarding the distribution of housing to middle-income households. As a result, they might be able to address the housing shortage.

The research question is "How can national government policy trigger social entrepreneurship initiatives focusing on delivering affordable owner-occupied housing?". For this research, a qualitative approach has been taken, in which primary and secondary data are used. The primary data came from ten semi-structured in-depth interviews, and the secondary data came from the literature review. In general, the national government's involvement increases the likelihood of individuals engaging in Social Entrepreneurship and its formation. The result showed that government support for removing barriers to social enterprise creation was the most important factor driving social entrepreneurship. Governments can lower barriers to social enterprises in the provision of intermediate housing by giving formal recognition, improving access to markets and finances, providing in-kind resources, and strengthening skills to trigger social entrepreneurship initiatives focusing on delivering affordable owner-occupied housing.

The number of raw materials consumed and waste generated by the construction industry is no longer a viable solution in the future. It is required for the construction industry to move from a linear towards a circular economy (CE) by circular construction (CC). The unfamiliarity in actions that need to be taken for CC is still new terrain for many companies since the whole life cycle of a project needs to be considered and is plagued with technical, legal and cost issues that obstruct CC.
Contract forms such as Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) involve contractors in the design phase of a project, such as suppliers, builders, and demolition contractors, to engender a better design by sharing and creating new knowledge. There are, however, no sources directly indicating that the benefits of ECI also regard circularity. At the same time, issues that emerge with CC remain an obstacle for fully transitioning to a CE.

This research aims to understand better the issues regarding CC and if ECI would be beneficial in solving them due to the knowledge contribution of contractors and their collaboration with other parties in the design process. Therefore the research question is framed as follows: “How is contractor’s knowledge contribution improving circular construction in ECI context?”

The research consists of a literature study and an empirical study. First, the literature study was conducted to define the relevant concepts such as ECI, CC and knowledge processes. Next, to understand the knowledge contribution of contractors to CC in the design process, interviews with practitioners involved in CC projects were conducted according to the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). In CIT, research participants are asked to recall and describe a time when a behaviour, action, or occurrence impacted a specified outcome positively or negatively.

From the empirical study, there can be concluded that contractors' knowledge contribution plays an essential role in the feasibility of a circular design solution. However, the dynamics in collaboration between multiple parties can lead to better circular results. Since the collaboration can result in knowledge creation and sharing, developing a good work relationship between contractor and client and problems can be jointly solved when there is mutual support. This, however, also requires trust and transparency between the parties, and if lacking, it can obstruct CC.

The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of implementing circularity in infrastructural construction projects. As a very polluting sector, circularity is becoming a more and more popular theme in the construction industry. Driven by both governmental regulations of reaching a full circular economy in 2050 and intrinsic motivation, construction companies are slowly introducing practices which contribute to circularity. Unfortunately, not much is yet known about the effects on project process and construction costs when implementing circularity. This research has initiated the first step towards understanding what the effects of circularity are on infrastructural construction projects, providing welcoming insights to both the academic world and practice. Based on a case specific comparison, a circular construction project is more expensive than a regular construction project, due to extra activities which need to be executed before a secondhand material can be applied. Regarding the project process, the circular construction project introduced ''gathering of materials'' as a whole new process step which is constantly interchanging with (re)design until a final design has been completed.

The current research stems from the motivation of reducing the information loss that asset managers face in the operation & maintenance phase of the project. Most of the public infrastructure assets’ condition nowadays deteriorate due to ageing and municipalities confront challenges to manage their portfolios effectively by adopting proactive management strategies. To succeed the highest possible value from assets, asset management is being adopted as an industry practice in the Dutch construction sector. Successfully managing assets requires managers at the handover stage to acquire accurate, explicit, and complete information from the earlier stages (Design and Construction phase). Only with reliable information they can make the right decisions about costs, performance, and risks which are the pillars of asset management theory. However, the information in the operations stage is incomplete or invalid and dispersed in various sources. This is an obstacle to reuse knowledge as asset managers have to identify information from various sources leading to secondary costs. Significant barriers are the asset managers' limited involvement from the project's beginning. That makes their needs less explicit for contractors and reduces the level of understanding of what information they have to deliver. This thesis works towards providing a more reusable and flexible method in the construction industry for capturing and structuring the strategic information needs of asset managers in a machine and human-understandable way. Linked data and semantic web technologies were used to capture and structure the information and create an ontology. In conclusion, the research demonstrated a way of identifying, capturing and structuring asset information needs with which users can communicate effectively using a common language. The ontology aggregates and stores information from diverse sources and enhance the communication between parties by providing them a common understanding given the specific scope. In this way, the information needs of asset managers can be explicitly defined from the beginning of a project, resulting to complete and reusable information. Now the understanding of what information has to be transferred to asset managers is more straightforward, reusable and unambiguous, resulting in reduced time retrieval of information and secondary costs (e.g. looking for information).

With the current urgency to become more circular, procurement presents the primary method to deliver the circular policy ambition by purchasing circular products and stimulating circularity in the market. In the building and infrastructure sector, civil engineering projects offer unique opportunities for circularity. This research presents an assessment of the implementation fidelity of the circular ambition within the tendering process. It examines for each of the methods that define the tendering process, the tendered project, and the awarding framework whether the way circularity is being implemented delivers the ambition as expected.
Along with the four research phases, the research devises and uses a framework to assess the fidelity of circularity implementation through the methods to include it in the tendering of civil engineering works. The implementation fidelity framework is used to; create a holistic analysis that captures the many facets impacting the tendering process; determine areas of issues and, consequently, room for improvements; and differentiate between the methods to include the circular ambition in the process. Through three study cases, the construct of the analysis managed to capture the data between quantitative and qualitative in a consistent and interpretable manner. It creates a consistent link between the fidelity dimensions, the corresponding issue areas, and the methods to include circularity in the tendering process.
The room for improvement follows the three moderating dimensions, exposure, quality of delivery, and participation. The research links the issues impacting the fidelity of circular ambition implementation in three categories: structural issues, implementation traps, and policy-related, to the three moderating dimensions. The research acknowledges that policy-related issues impact at a sector level as issues inherent to the policy itself. Nonetheless, the research finds that, on an organizational level, removing structural issues and implementation traps raises overall fidelity and reduces the effect of policy-related issues. Increasing this fidelity reflects on the efficacy of the methods to include circularity in tendering, individually and as a group of instruments intended to complement each other.
In conclusion, the research recommends practical use of the implementation fidelity framework, which would feed into the body of expertise within an organization to improve future tendering processes to include, enable, and produce more circular solutions with more efficacy in the use of the methods. It will also allow aligning perceptions of the contractors and the contracting authority on one hand and the policymakers and policy implementers on the other hand. For future research, examining all five implementation fidelity dimensions for the instruments and processes at the different levels throughout the procurement cycle is most compatible with the circular ambition in the building and infrastructure sector. This could be most beneficial to establish a more vital link between policymakers and policy implementers. Moreover, it would support future efforts to update the circular ambition goals and milestones by presenting a more encompassing image of the policy implementation fidelity in real-world settings.

The goal of the graduation studio is to research and design housing solutions that improve the livelihood of Addis Ababa’s urban dwellers. Combining analysis, planning and design, the participants of this graduation studio were challenged to use multidisciplinary research methods and tools to elaborate design proposals for the development of a pilot housing project in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia is following the urbanization trend which can be seen across Africa. This is reflected in the population growth in Addis Ababa which has doubled from 2.3million in 2000, to 4.5million in 2020. The primary reasons for this rural-to-urban migration are education and work. We find that unmonitored overcrowded households, long commuting distances and high urban expenses pose obstacles to the progress of all Ethiopian students. This project places due importance on arriving students, as I believe that acknowledging this group as critical to the future development of Addis Ababa and Ethiopia as a whole.”

An alternative proposal for the densification needs of Gerji site in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The design itself is systematic and highly flexible, on a larger scale, it could be an example of a gentler way of deification that is caring for the people involved.

Addis Ababa is a city experiencing a huge population boom, and where the vast majority of housing can be classified as “slum”. State-owned kebele housing, which houses an estimated 40% of the city’s inhabitants, has very low rents but is not maintained, leading to deterioration. Thus, the city is left with a severe shortage of adequate housing. Current state-led developments intended to alleviate the acute housing problem do not address the specific situation of Addis Ababa, and do not allow for the flexibility and adaptability that is required by residents. This research and design project focusses on a specific site in Gerji, owned by the Federal Housing Corporation, and proposes a new model for mid-density, low-rise development which is specific to the context of Ethiopia and suitable for the varying and different living patterns of people in Addis Ababa. The project includes ethnographic research, looking into the lifestyles and daily habits of local residents, as well as documenting their homes and living spaces. Further research was conducted into vernacular and historical building styles and construction methods present in Ethiopia, which was used to inform the design and better understand the specific context of Ethiopia. The research concluded that many different living patterns must be accommodated in a new development, and that this should allow for flexibility and adaptability as household incomes and expectations change over time. Moreover, homes should be suitable for the climate and materials and construction techniques should be informed by local customs in order to aid social sustainability. Finally, tenure options, functions and typologies should be mixed to create a diverse and resilient neighbourhood. The proposed design addresses the research by offering three distinct typologies of building, all of which offer the flexibility needed to allow for different functions and uses. These three typologies are aimed at different sectors of the community and are proposed to be offered in different tenure models. The design is simple and uses adobe bricks and laminated bamboo lumber as its main construction materials. These both use raw materials that can easily be sourced locally and can be processed cheaply on site, using local labour. Ultimately, the proposal achieves a density similar to that of local state-funded housing developments, known as “condominiums”, suggesting that this more varied and site-specific approach to tackling the housing shortage is feasible for Addis Ababa. Adopting such an approach, which looks to local customs and vernacular styles for inspiration, is a radical alternative to the unsustainable route currently being taken in Addis Ababa.

This design focuses on the upliftment of the community in the settlement Zandspruit, which is located on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa. This is done by creating a community centre with a large program of requirements.
Important is the creation of an innovative building structure, that the community members should be able to build by themselves. Furthermore the circularity of materials is a point of focus. By using a wide variety of materials, inspiration of what could be done with the materials, is given to the members of the settlement. Because of the location and the context the centre is placed in, passive climate design was very important. All the functions placed within the community centre will help tackle a lot of the problems settlements face, and eventually help a lot of community members to find a job and move to a better place.

This thesis focuses on the collaboration of two innovative materials - Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) and structural glass – in the design of a (hybrid) footbridge with a 30 meter span. The choice of subject is led by a rising popularity of these materials in bridge design and strengthened by positive recent developments in conceptual small-scale FRP & glass hybrid structures. This research will try to take previous research one step further and will combine the advantages of both materials to reach a structurally efficient bridge design. The research question is as follows: “Can a hybrid pedestrian bridge with a loadbearing structure of FRP and structural glass be designed while making optimal use of the material properties of both materials?”. The design by research process is divided in multiple steps. First of all a theoretical framework is created, with state-of-the-art information about the material properties of glass and FRP. This theoretical framework resulted - via design rules - in several preliminary design variants of which the structurally most efficient, most transparent and safest variant is chosen and subsequently elaborated on. The chosen variant is optimized by using a form-finding and geometric optimization process powered by the Grasshopper plugin Kangaroo and Finite Element software DIANA. The research shows - via its design rules – that a hybrid facetted shell bridge, consisting of glass facets and FRP joints is the most efficient variant. A concave shape is chosen for its “natural” parapet and relatively low share of bending stress in the total stress, while still measuring up to the bridges’ requirements. The concave shape is tessellated with triangular panels due to problems with the – in theory – more efficient hexagonal panels. By shortening the length of connections along each side of a triangular panel, the behavior of hexagonal panels is approximated. Several topologically different triangular tessellation variants have been analyzed using DIANA. The topological variant based on a combination of the equilateral and isosceles triangle proved to result in the lowest stress and deformation values under NEN-based loads and is therefore the most efficient variant. By adding more curvature to the base of the bridge, better shell behavior is achieved, resulting in even lower stress and deformation values. The connection between the panels is made using an FRP embedded sheet, which results in a higher axial stiffness and ultimately also a higher critical load of the bridge. The ideal thickness of this sheet is determined with FEM analysis. A clamped double-pin joint is chosen for its uniformity and adaptability. Finally, an uncertainty analysis is performed to investigate the influence of tolerance related production flaws on stress levels in the joint, which resulted in no issues.