Project Overview

Cities, campuses and other shared spaces often experience problems with random, unauthorized bicycle parking and bicycle theft. Cyclists will seek to lock their bike as close as possible to a destination and will use a sign post, railing or lamp post in the absence of official bike parking facilities. This can create problems with chained bikes being lifted off the top of short sign posts and bicycles blowing or loosely secured bicycles being knocked over to create trip hazards. The Smartstreets-Cyclepark design quickly improves official bike parking opportunities across cities and campuses without adding clutter, by transforming existing sign posts and lamp posts in a matter of minutes into secure bike parking for two bicycles. This makes streets safer, reduces bike theft and improves civic pride by helping Councils and Municipalities encourage cycling and keep streets looking well organized with greater provision for bike parking, even on narrow streets where traditional bike parking stands would take up too much room.

Organisation

Smartstreets Ltd

Team

Andrew Farish and Chris Garcin
Design team and founders of Smartstreets Ltd

Award winning environmental product designers with over 60 years combined experience designing innovative products and packaging for global brands. Andrew and Chris are passionate about the urban environment and set up Smartstreets to help cities, Universities and private businesses use a design and people-centric approach to help resolve the most difficult, costly, social and environmental problems. Smartstreets aim is to engineer and improve public amenities to meet people's needs better in shared spaces. To re-evaluate how disruptive design and the re-purposing of existing infrastructure can transform the cost effectiveness of public services. By making better use of what is already there Smartstreets have demonstrated it is possible to reduce public service costs by deploying engaging, practical design solutions which empower citizens and enable them become a bigger part of the solution.

Smartstreets clients are Local Authorities, Councils, Cities, Street Scene Managers, Town Centre Managers, Municipalities, University campuses, Architects, Town Planners, Highway Engineers, Cleansing contractors, Transport Authorities, Cycling Interest Groups, Business Parks and other private businesses who have an interest in improving the local environment quality and the provision of enhanced public services and facilities in urban areas.

Project Brief

It benefits everyone to encourage cycling as an environmentally friendly form of transport. To improve the quality of the urban environment for residents, workers and tourists cities can install Cycleparks in high volumes to promote and facilitate cycling which in turn will reduce congestion and pollution in urban areas. Making certain that cyclists can secure their bicycle as close as possible to their destination with the minimum risk of theft is an important component of a cyclist friendly strategy.

Smartstreets specialize in helping cities release new value from their existing infrastructure to better meet citizens needs - whether it be more convenient litter disposal or secure bike parking facilities which people can find quickly and easily when they need it.

Lamp post and sign post infrastructure is present in almost every major city and town worldwide and it offers a unique, evenly spaced opportunity for delivering new bike parking facilities quickly and easily that cyclists will appreciate and use.

The Smartstreets-Cyclepark is designed to complement this infrastructure and provide a neat, eye catching facility which will not look out of place on any column regardless of size or configuration.

Project Innovation/Need

By providing enhanced bicycle parking facilities and highlighting cycle routes Smartstreets-Cycleparks™ encourage carbon neutral travel and can help increase custom at shops by putting convenient bicycle parking on sign posts close by. Every person persuaded to take a bicycle into town is helping ease traffic congestion and reduce expenditure on fuel and parking charges. Sign posts are existing infrastructure which has already been paid for so Councils can release new value from them by re-purposing them as a bicycle park as well as a sign post. The ease of installation with just 4 bolts makes the Smartstreets-Cyclepark™ the most easily installed public bicycle park on the market - saving money as the Councils do not need public consultations or extensive pavement work sub contracted out to embed a new bicycle facility. It would be possible for two people to fit 60 - 80 Smartstreets-Cycleparks™ in a day - saving Councils time and money and rapidly increasing bicycle parking provision.

Design Challenge

It is expensive and time consuming to go through the process of public consultations before disturbing pavements to install new bicycle parking and not every street is wide enough to accommodate additional, free standing bike parking facilities.

The challenge was to create a new kind of bicycle parking facility that would transform existing street furniture into something much more useful for cyclists without adding clutter to the street scene. A new breed of bike park that would look good, carry branding, be easily located, easy to use and significantly increase safety on busy walkways where space is limited.

A wide variety of sizes and configurations of Cyclepark can be offered without the need for expensive tooling being developed for each new size. The manufacturing process requires tube bending and traditional sheet metal fabrication techniques. This enables very rapid development of new sizes which is important due to the diverse range of post, column, bollard and other street furniture sizes and shapes present in urban areas which the equipment is required to fit to.

The solution needed to be suitable aesthetically for any infrastructure, traditional or contemporary and not obstruct any access panels on lighting columns.

Sustainability

Smartstreets design and manufacture the Cyclepark in the UK.

It is made of stainless steel to prevent corrosion for the longest possible lifespan and any requirements for RAL colour matching are performed in house to reduce the carbon footprint by keeping transport to the minimum. The products are fully re-furbishable and recyclable over time. Welding is performed using robots to keep consistency and ensure reliable, consistent joins.

Smartstreets consulted with over 200 Councils before finalizing on the optimal feature set. Multiple versions were prototyped and trialed in the design stages to identify the optimal solution for practicality, value for money and aesthetics. All Smartstreets products are extensively field tested before launch and only environmentally sustainable cleansing materials, pre-treatments and coatings are used in the manufacturing process.

Packaging is kept to the minimum required to ensure there is no damage to equipment during shipping.