Studio Rose Architects is a UK design and architecture studio based in East London.
Studio Rose Architects is a UK design and architecture studio based in East London.
RIBA Forgotten Spaces, London
Year: 2014
Shortlisted entry and exhibited in Somerset House.
Bikebox is a charity cycle scheme to adopt and convert redundant K6 telephone kiosks to create a network of bicycle repair kiosks across London. In the age of 4G and Wifi on every street corner, the amenity of a former age lies underused on our streets. BT currently maintains the public telephone network at a huge loss, and have introduced an adoption scheme for councils and charities to adopt telephone boxes. With just a handful of the 1800 adoptions in London, a larger idea is required in the Capital.
A TFL report of cycling between 2000 and 2007 showed a 10-fold increase in cyclists to 500,000 journeys made per day in the capital. With so many cyclists on London’s streets, the need for repair facilities is great but usually limited to sparsely located bicycle shops or equipment carried with the cyclist. Bikebox will provide a safe space to fix bicycles away from the dangerous roadside and off the busy pavement, a space conveniently established in the public realm by the redundant telephone kiosks.
The plywood console is lasercut from a single piece of plywood and simply assembled by slotting together. The tools recess into their corresponding laser-cut holes in the plywood console, which are tied in with a pull chord that allows use but prevents stealing or misplacement. The soft plywood interior contrasts to the cast iron shell, which will be repainted a visible yellow to make the Bikebox recognisable.
The Bikebox scheme reinvents Gilbert-Scotts’ redundant icon, from a financial burden, into the backbone of a safer cycle network.