Bicycle shelters and canopies

A covered bike shelter that works all year round

A cycle shelter only succeeds when cyclists use it of their own accord. That rarely comes down to the model alone: the location, the walking distance to the entrance, the width of the aisles and whether a cargo bike fits weigh at least as heavily. So we start from the use and not from the catalogue.

We design, supply and install covered bike shelters for local authorities, schools, stations, companies and residential projects, from a simple canopy over ten bikes to a complete shelter with hundreds of spaces.

Why a roof makes the difference

An unprotected bike is visibly worse off after a single winter. Saddles get wet, chains rust, the electronics on electric bikes take a beating. Where people leave their bike for a full working day or school day, a roof is not a luxury but the factor that decides whether they cycle in again tomorrow.

A canopy also does something that is often underestimated: it makes the shelter visible as a facility. A roof marks the spot, so bikes end up less scattered across railings and lamp posts.

How a shelter is built up

The canopy

A frame in hot-dip galvanised steel or aluminium, with roofing in steel sheet, polycarbonate, glass or a green roof. Polycarbonate lets light through, which makes the shelter brighter and socially safer during the day. A green roof is attractive in projects with de-paving and water targets, but calls for a heavier structure.

The racks

Single-tier or two-tier, with or without a leaning bar. Two-tier doubles the capacity per square metre but needs more height and a mechanism that stays workable with a heavy or electric bike. We prefer to let you try that out first.

Side panels

Fully closed, half open, in perforated sheet or in glass. Closed panels give better protection against driving rain; open panels keep the bikes in view and work better against vandalism.

Lighting and services

Lighting with motion detection, charging points for electric bikes, camera brackets or solar panels on the roof.

The position decides the success

A few rules that hold up in practice: the shelter lies closer to the entrance than the car park, it is visible from a route people actually use, it can be reached without dismounting too early, and it is lit.

At schools the peak counts: three hundred bikes arrive within ten minutes. There the width of the aisles and the number of entrances matter more than the rack type. At companies it is the parking duration and the share of electric bikes that count.

Material, foundations and maintenance

Hot-dip galvanised and powder-coated steel is the workable standard: strong, repairable and still worth refurbishing years later. Aluminium does not corrode and keeps the structure light. Hardwood adds warmth but needs maintenance.

The foundation follows from the wind load, the snow load and the soil type. On existing concrete, anchoring is often enough; on soft ground, pad foundations or a slab are needed. We calculate that and include it in the proposal.

Maintenance stays limited to checking the anchoring, repairing damaged coating and clearing the gutters. We supply spare parts afterwards.

Points that are often forgotten

• Space for cargo bikes, bike trailers and bikes with child seats.
• The extra width taken up by panniers; a centre-to-centre spacing that works on paper can make every second space unusable in practice.
• A socket or charging provision, even where there are still few electric bikes today.
• Roof drainage: where does the rainwater end up, and will the front row of bikes be standing there.

What determines the price of a bike shelter?

There is no fixed price per space. The cost follows from the number of spaces and the rack type, the span and the material of the canopy, the roofing, the number and type of side panels, the foundation that follows from the ground conditions and the wind load, extra services such as lighting, charging points or solar panels, and the site conditions during installation.

Send us your site plan and the number of spaces you want, and you will get a detailed quotation and our advice on what is realistic in the space available. Better eighty usable spaces than a hundred of which half stay empty.

Putting your location to us

Send us a site sketch or a few photographs, with the number of bikes and the type of users. We will draw up a proposal with a layout, a material choice and phasing.