Cycle houses
The cycle houses are designed with the bike and rider in
mind - bike facilities are key to the design and the house is
connected to the Bristol & Bath cycle path.
The houses are double fronted and dual aspect facing on
to the cycle path to the south and New Street to the north.
Pedestrian entrance is from the north and rider entrance is
from the south.
A secure inset external deck and an integral shed is provided
for bike storage, maintenance and repairs. The external
deck connects with the cycle path via a bridge link
providing direct cycle access into Bristol and Bath.
A large drying cupboard for coats, cycle bags, helmets,
accessories etc is positioned just inside the entrance hall
and a wc, shower & utility room is provided for rider wash
down.
The bike facilities connect with the kitchen and dining
areas on the other half of the lower floor creating an active
hub to the house whilst maintainig a visual link with both
the cycle path and New Street.
A green screen is planted along the cycle path in front of
the houses to create a degree of privacy to the habitable
rooms on that level.
The bedrooms and bathroom are located in the centre of
the house and the living area is on the top floor. The living
area links with a large private external terrace which provides
a sun trap and views to the north and south of the
site and beyond.
More about the cycle houses
The cycle house garages are not just garages, as shown on the floorplans. The space can be
used as an office or similar, it's intended to be flexible. As 3
bedroom houses, realistically Squarepeg believes they will attract
families who own a car as well as being cycling families and they
will need space to park off street. There are also cycle houses
with no garages and these are located to the west of the site as per the illustration above.
East side cycle houses
The houses are 2-storeys above the cycle path, (this is the living,
kitchen and dining rooms and roof garden). The height above the cycle
path is between 5.5m and 8m at top of roof pitch. This is a standard
2 bed house height. We believe that it is best for the dining/kitchen
and cycle storage to be accessed straight from the cycle path, we
also believe that the living area should be next to the roof terrace.
Due to the height of the embankment, we have tucked the bedrooms
and a garage/office into the embankment in the lower 1.5 storeys
below the cycle path level. (therefore it is a 4 storey house)
As a 4 bed family houses they have a garage/ office space,
whether this is used for a car, other bikes or as a home office
is up to the occupants.
Due to the site constraints the houses are quite tall onto the street
however, the street runs south-east in orientation and the houses to the
north west have bay windows to maximise the western (evening) light that
will fall down the street. (see Cycle house cross section).
The houses have through kitchen/ living dining rooms that open out into
the gardens plus a roof light into this double height space, the living
areas will therefore receive a lot of natural light.
West side houses
The houses to the west are three storeys on both sides with a lower area
as part of the top storey is a terrace, height 6,5m to 9.5m top of roof
above cycle path. Like us, Sustrans were also keen to promote car free living and
therefore these houses have no garages.
Cycle houses
Cycle house plans
