St. Louis Bicycle Center

Renderings for the interior of a new bicycle commuter center in downtown St. Louis illustrate exciting possibilities for bikers. Centrally located on the corner of 10th and Locust, the center will ease the commute of bikers working in the city by providing bike storage, showers, and locker rooms. The program even includes a computer hub which will keep the center used during the frigid months of the year.

The Union Station bicycle transit center in Washington D.C. had the idea last year. Simply a bike storage space, the station is heavily frequented and admired by the public.

Designed by KGP design studio, the glass clad structure has a dynamic form, where the capital concept is movement. The bikes can be seen from the outside, giving the shelter a museum like quality.

Even though the St. Louis center will be built into an existing ground floor office building, it can still learn from this precedent. The site occupies a valuable city corner block, and there is an opportunity for the center to carve out a unique niche in the urban environment. Hopefully the design will inspire people to get out of their cars and onto their bikes to enjoy a beautifully unfolding cityscape.

Space can only be understood in time. It cannot be understood at once, or so sped up that it is missed completely. To experience a city richly, you must experience it directly, and on a human scale. You have to slow down, move your body, sense the weather, and perceive your surroundings. Hopefully, the new center will support not only an alternative form of transportation, but an ultimate form of experience.