I don't know about you, but with limited space, and often, not having a lockup garage makes things a bit hard when it comes to keeping your motorcycle or bicycle safe from theft. Many apartment blocks have car spaces, in communal car parks. Sometimes you might have a garage door. Sometimes not. So where do you leave your pride and joy and know when you come back, it will be in the same condition that you left it?
Ride the Machine answered this pressing question when they blogged Urban-Artrock's bike box earlier this week. An Austrian based design company, they tackled the problem of how to keep your motorcycle safe, in a lock up garage, with savy street aesthetics.
Available in either showcase style (XX only) like this one, or in solid form garage design (S - XX). The website says that custom sizes are also available based on customer need.
Then, Urban-Artrock took these garages one step further, and looked at the needs for bicyclists. In Europe, electric bicycles are becoming all the rage. So, Urban-Artrock took into consideration the need for electric charging stations, kept with the idea of sustainability, and developed solar powered bicycle re-charging stations that were also lock up garages for commuters.
Nice huh?
Back home in Australia, our practicality makes our designs less aesthetic, but not less effective. For instance, AdShell's project for Perth Transit Authority saw mesh bicycle shelters popping up at train stations, enableing commuters to lock up their bicycle in a shed made of mesh - similar to that used in prisons, and catch the train to / from work. Safety level: Maximum security.
For the readers out there - what similar projects / designs are you seeing in your home patch?
