No plain iron bicycle racks, the municipality of Deventer opted for a customised bicycle racks with Deventer logo!
Deventer has a historic city centre with many authentic streets and squares. For years, bicycles blocked the narrow streets and cluttered the view. The municipality thought it was time for a change. But not with ordinary bicycle racks and clamps - with custom-made ones. Studio Groen+Schild was commissioned by the municipality to make a design dossier to specify the design principles for the bicycle parking facilities.
The basic idea was that the bicycle parking spaces would be made of corten steel, in a nice rust colour. Strips on the ground clearly indicate the bicycle parking space and the parking direction. Depending on the location in the city centre and the number of bicycles to be parked, the parking spaces are provided with rust-coloured bicycle stands, racks or clamps. VelopA, had previously carried out such projects for other municipalities, such as Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Utrecht, and further developed the plan. A team of advisors perfected a customised solution, in keeping with Deventer's street scene. VelopA worked out customer wishes in a sketch, which, after approval from the municipality of Deventer, was converted into engineering and production drawings (in compliance with the applicable requirements). VelopA also took care of producing and delivering the design.
"The bicycle parking solutions are not a superfluous luxury," says Jan Nakken, urban development advisor for the municipality of Deventer. "The municipality encourages residents to cycle to the city centre. People must be able to park their bicycles properly and safely. But those parked bicycles mustn’t clutter public space or get in the way of the emergency services, literally and figuratively, by blocking narrow streets.''
location: Deventer, The Netherlands
location type: Urban locations
customer: Municipality Deventer
year of placement: 2017
