HONORABLE MENTION: 2012 Newhouse project #20121005 | school bike shelter
- Overview
- Collect Info Completed
- Brainstorm Ideas Completed
- Develop Solutions Completed
- Final Design Completed
Welcome Chicago Public High School students!
These are the instructions for entering a project in Division 6 for the 2012 Newhouse Architecture Competition.
Bike racks and bike rider amenities are given little attention when schools are planned, and bike riders have little infrastructure support for their choice to ride to work or school.
In order to support healthy lifestyles we are asking you to design a bike shelter that will provide safe and secure storage, protection from Chicago weather (year around), and some amenities that would be helpful for bike riders to have when they reach school.
The project will either replace your existing bike storage area OR you can find a new location that would better serve the school. You must identify and justify the new location (eg. - visibility is better, or there is more room to maneuver).
Bike Shelter Curie High School
Newhouse Division 6
2012
“Let’s bike it”, a statement that is going extinct; with more and more people use cars and gas guzzling public transportation; bikes are becoming obsolete. A bike is an easy and cheap transportation device and serves cardiovascular health. The shelter itself will be self-sustainable keeping up with the most modern green architecture.
The proposed bike shelter will be on our schools parking lot, new parking space will be provided but that is irrelevant, it will be a building 43’ by 43’ by 16’. The storage system will be mechanically powered; a system of axles and winches will bike up a bike and rotate it into place on a belt that will move the bike into storage. All of this, will be powered by solar panels; these axels and the belt will consume will be efficient enough to have electricity left over. The left over electricity will then be fed into the grid and we will be reimbursed.
Commuting has become very expensive now a days gas is high and bus fare will probably increase again. A bike is the logical solution; it doesn’t cost anything and it helps ones health. Biking is a great cardiovascular work-out
One can be fit, healthy and save money by biking. The only thing stopping people from biking is the old, “where will I put it?’ With Curie’s new bike shelter the excuses to not bike will be gone.
In the Collect Info step of the design process, you try to gather as much information as possible about your school's existing bike storage facilities, along with the students and staff who will use it. You can't propose new solutions until you figure out and document what the existing problems are.
Try This
- Do a site visit of your bicycle parking facilities and make notes, sketches, and take photographs. Note conditions that are unsafe, unsecure, or that are less than ideal.
- Look at other schools or public facilities to determine good / bad examples of how bikes are stored and if anything is done to accommodate riders needs when they get off their bike.
- Interview bike users and ask them what they would like to have in a bike shelter at their school or place of work.
- Calculate the number of bikes that park over a week, also inquire if bikes are registered with the main office and if so how many are registered with the school.
- Do an analysis at different times of the day and week and create an analysis with average usage and high / low points. Also determine if there are more bikes at the beginning of the week or end of the week.
- Measure and draw the existing bike parking area and locate and note existing structures such as fencing, bike rack (notate the type and material), show the size of a bike and its clearances on the plan. Include dimensions.
My work for the Collect Information step:
research what a bike shelter has and how most people use it; I also take pictures of the purposed
In progress
In the Brainstorm Ideas step of the design process, you put some early ideas down on paper that show what you've found in the Collect Info step.
Try This
- As you are observing and making notes think about how your bike shelter is taking shape. Make side notes of where new elements may go or how you would change what is currently in place.
- Take note of unsafe conditions or conditions that do not make sense (For example, bicycles sticking out into a sidewalk or people having difficulty parking their bikes).
- Sit and study photographs of your site visit. If you can print and write comments of what you remember and note where you might change things and how.
My work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:
Sketching on velium paper i drew out my ideas. Unliike other bike shelters I will be creating an actually facility. This facility will be electrically powered and have about one to two poeple running it. In the sketches i have depicted the machinery in the facility
In the Develop Solutions step, your rough ideas come together with drawings and models that can show others your solutions for a new bike shelter.
Try This
- Try out different ideas and save each “version”. You do not want to lose a good idea later! Other people viewing your project - other students around the country, your teacher, and mentors - want to see how your ideas have changed over time. This means that while you're working on your digital model, you’ll want to be sure to keep re-saving it with a new file name every few days as you work through the steps.
- Make a list of your ideas and associated sketches, or practice models. For your final upload you will want to write a short but effective paragraph of your process and what you found. This will inform the direction you will take for the final solution.
- Show your ideas to your teacher and peers for some feedback. You can also review your progress with the test group you may have interviewed and test whether your design would meet their needs or address their concerns. Learn from the feedback you receive and incorporate into your final design solution.
- Be sure to check out and make comments on other student bike shelter projects. Post a link to your project on your Facebook account.
- Review your design and test it against your own observations and review that it has met the project requirements. Did it meet the expectations of the end users that you spoke to?
- Do not leave work for the last minute! Going through a detailed design process requires time to gather information, develop ideas, and make improvements. This is difficult or impossible if you try to pull everything together a week before your project is due. Projects that are researched, developed, and well executed will always stand out!
My work for the Develop Solutions step:
using sketch up i started to develop my bike shelter.
The final step of the design process is to create more finished drawings that illustrate your ideas to others. Remember, your explanation text, and the types of drawings, images, and models you share need to tell the whole story of your project to someone who may or may not have ever visited your school.
Be sure that you understand and meet all schedule deadlines and project data submission requirements.
The Newhouse Competition judges will be evaluating your design project on:
- The creativity of the final solution.
- If you have included all studies, observations, data, and calculations utilized for determining capacities, design considerations, and scale of final project.
- How well you showed the design process through sketches, notes, pictures, etc.
- How well your projects incorporates the following components:
Secure bike storage using common bike parking structures (bike racks), or some type of creative structure that is an “improvement” to what is currently installed and utilized at the school.
Shelter from the weather – it can be enclosed or partially enclosed.
Basic amenities: clean up or private shower facilities, personal lockers, small food kiosk or beverage bar, considerations for self performing bike maintenance, bike storage, information board(s).
Consideration for use at all hours and seasons.
My work for the Final Design step:
With the initial concept on paper, I have begun to complete the site plans, elevations and floor plans.
Finishing Summary
A 1000 sq. ft. bike shelter is just too small. More space is required to operate the storing machines. With less storage space, we won’t be able to accommodate the community , as well as bikers that use the train. On another note, we expect to get quite a few bikes due to the Orange Line train station in the immediate vicinity. A 1600 sq. ft. bike is just right. It is not too big and not too small. The community as well as students and train travelers will be able to store their bike.
The final steps were as stressful as they were jaw dropping; stress was reduced by using a generic Curie Metro High School floor plan created in a previous year. The reduction in efficiency was greatly impacted by the processing speed of the architecture computers. Although they are up to date, Google Sketch Up, when creating a complex project, slowed down and 3 out of 5 times completely froze.
Comments
Where are your pictures? Also, your sketches need to under the Brainstorming tab, and you need additional sketches.
You have no pictures of the possible site for this shelter, nor do you have any pictures of our current bike racks. Secondly, the Sketchup drawing should be under the Developing Solutions tab.
Where are your Site Plans? All drawings are due in the Final Design tab on Tuesday, May 15. You need a Floor Plan in the Final Design also.
Just a friendly reminder, you must upload photos and text for each step of the design process to be eligible for judging in the competition. Good luck!