Cycle-friendly high-rise in London

A twin-tower residential development by Foster + Partners is set to become the most cycle-friendly high-rise in London, with one bike parking space per bedroom.

The 250 City Road development, which was launched at the end of January, features 1,486 bike parking spaces – one-and-a-half for each of the 930 apartments – but only 200 car parking spaces. It also provides for dedicated bike lifts and a bike workshop for residents located beneath the 32- and 46-storey twin towers, which will occupy the site of a 1980s business park.

“The project has a dedicated cycle lift from ground to basement level, where the cycle storage areas are located,” said Giles Robinson, partner at Foster + Partners and the project architect for the scheme. “At the basement level, there is a dedicated cycle maintenance workshop that enables cycles to be cleaned and maintained.”

The high level of cycling provision exceeds Transport for London’s latest cycle design guidelines for new developments, which were published earlier in January. Under the guidelines, the 130,600 sq m project would be expected to provide 1,223 spaces. However, Islington Council’s planners insisted on an even higher provision.

One-quarter of the spaces will be provided in stackable storage racks. “It’s a figure that spectacularly reflects changing attitudes to cycling in London,” said Peter Murray, a member of the London Mayor’s Design Advisory Group and a keen cyclist. “It represents a big shift in London. All new developments have to meet the (cycle provision) requirements, but since this is a tall and dense project, the impact and scale is impressive.”

The twin-tower development also includes space for restaurants and cafes, retail units, three floors of office space and a 190-bedroom hotel.