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2012 Newhouse project #2012415 | school bike shelter

By jordansayre95 | M Design a school bike shelter | 2012 Newhouse | Chicago Public High School students

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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).

Check out the video below to get inspiration: 

 

 

What should I upload in this Overview step?

Write a short description of the problems you will be trying to solve in designing a new bike shelter for your school.

Millennium Park Bike Station, Chicago

Explore the great bike facility in downtown Chicago that supports people who are using bicycles to get to work and for recreation.

The main idea of my project is to learn about the bike area at my school and improve it based on students needs.I will do this by asking the students that ride to school things they think could be done to make the bike shelter better. Then I will take their ideas and edit my schools bike shelter to fit their idea of a better bike shelter.
The problem is to remodel the bike shelter that has aged with the times and is in need of desperate modifications to bring it to the needs of the students in the twenty first century.
Some of the renovations needed to be made include: fixing the fence that sometimes gets locked, adding water fountains for the thirsty bike riders, and adding more bike racks because at this school of over four thousand students four bike racks is not enough.
My inspiration was a bike shelter I saw with a sort of cover over it. I am also inspired by my school abbreviation, LT, I plan to use these letters somehow in my design and I was struck with inspiration while playing my favorite childhood game, Tetris.

Comments

The Bike Shelter

By jordansayre95, Student at 08:57 am, 26 April 2012

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!

By lstamatkin, Architect at 11:48 am, 14 May 2012

Curious about the instructions for this bike shelter design problem? >>

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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.

What should I upload in this Collect Info step?

Consider uploading photos, a short video, and a site plan drawing of the existing bike storage areas at your school.

City of Chicago Bike Program

The City of Chicago has lots of information about biking in the city. You can also learn about the Bike 2015 Plan to make biking an integral part of daily life in Chicago.

jordansayre95's work for the Collect Information step:

Summary
I interviewed two different bike riders from my school, Lane Tech, and they gave me there input on how the bike shelter is now and told me what was wrong with the poorly designed bike shelter.
This is a picture of what the bike shelter at my school looks like.
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This picture shows how small the entrance to the bike shelter is.
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This is my floor plan sketch of the bike shelter at my school.
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Clarrisa, a junior at Lane Tech told me that since there is only a bike shelter on one side of the...
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The letter L is a block in the game tetris. It is also apart of the school letters, "LT".
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The letter T is also a block in the game tetris. It is also apart of my school's letters,...
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This is a top angle view of the bike shelter at my school.
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Curious about the instructions for this bike shelter design problem? >>

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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.

Test

What should I upload in this Brainstorm Ideas step?

Consider uploading hand sketches or a quick study model of all your first ideas. You can scan these drawings or take photos of your model.

Bike Sharing

Some cities, including Chicago, have a bike sharing program where you can rent a bike for quick trips. Learn more about this mode of transit.

 

jordansayre95's work for the Brainstorm Ideas step:

Summary
My bike shelter is taking its new shape by adding more materials for the hundreds of bike riders here at lane. I brainstormed ideas by thinking about the bike riders' needs.
While brainstorming I decided to use some sort of cover to put over the bikes so if there are any...
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One of my brainstorming ideas was to add a whole new bike shelter on the other side of my school...
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I definitely plan to add more bike racks to the bike area so more students can park their bikes...
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I brainstormed on some basic shapes for the bike shelter and thought I should use these two shapes...
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A nice thing to add to my design is to add the school colors. A good idea is to make the bike racks...
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In my brainstorm process I thought about how to get the bike riders hydrated after or before a bike...
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Another one of my brainstormed ideas was to split up where the teachers can park their bikes from...
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Curious about the instructions for this bike shelter design problem? >>

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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.
  • 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!


 

 

What should I upload in this Develop Solutions step?

Consider uploading an image of your rough digital model. An axonometric or perspective view, with people, will help others understand the scale of your bike shelter.

jordansayre95's work for the Develop Solutions step:

Summary
My teacher and my classmates working on the same project commented on my project. My teacher gave me his feedback and also gave me some helpful ideas.
One thing I am going to use in my final solution is this shape for the new bike shelter on the...
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Another thing I plan to use in my final solution is the group of water fountains placed by the...
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Along with the new “T Tetris” shape I plan to keep the old “L Tetris” shape because they go...
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This is how I plan to use the top that covers the bikes of the bike shelter. They will be drilled...
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This is the view of the new school colored bike racks in the bike shelter.
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Curious about the instructions for this bike shelter design problem? >>

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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.

 

What should I upload in this Final Design step?

Consider uploading final hand or digital renderings, images of your finished model, or your finished digital model (as a DWF file).

jordansayre95's work for the Final Design step:

Summary
My final design of the bike area has met all of the requirements for the bike riders I interviewed.
These fountains that will be put into my final design will be brand new, state of the art, Gatorade...
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This is what my final design looks like.
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The newly added bike area will complete my design because it will be put on the other side of my...
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The shapes that I picked my final bike areas to be resemble shapes from the game “Tetris.” They...
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This is how the old bike area will be improved. It will have new bike racks with a cover over it...
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