Our opinion

So far we were trying to be as objective as possible, relying only on facts and data. This is our last entry and as a final accord we'd like to share our personal opinions with you...

'The prefabricated triangles that compose the buildings facade, is the main feature of the buildings identity. The light from the surrounding buildings reflects on to the brushed triangular by night, transforming the facade to a color full jewel. It's one of the more eye catching
features of the area'.

'After studying the Bermondsey Bike store closely, I feel that the originality in its intriguing design contributes to the square as a whole, and makes it more interesting. If I had to be in any way critical about the structure, I would say that it might be going a little overboard, and may seem too fancy for the simple purpose it is made to function as, bike storage. However the fact that the store’s design and materiality is directly influenced from its surrounding environemnt, makes me feel that its qualities compliment the square greatly, as well as generating life and excitement to the area'.

'To me the building has remained discursive and questionable. When I saw it first time, I thought "Nice, but what for? Though, perhaps, the idea of bike storing must be really helpful for some people". With the course of the project, I became subjective and started loving it. Its chameleon skin is just amazing: a diamond in a day time and a flaming fire in the night, an incredible adornment of surroundings. Later, I discovered that the public doesn’t like it at all. Some people believe, it is too expensive, some - useless and majority just doesn’t like modern architecture in general. Personally I have to agree with many former points to a great extent. If you look inside the Store, you will find out that it is almost empty. So, though the design solution is just wonderful, I can not stop asking myself: "Do we really need such a piece of architecture?"'

'I feel the design of Bermondsey bike store is a success to the regeneration of the area of Bermondsey as a whole. The area immediately becomes more welcoming to visitors and is an eye catching landmark of which is closely linked to the antique market. What I find most fascinating about this building is its manipulation of light and how it’s dispersed along the stainless steel cladding. The collaboration of plastic, wood and metal is combined coherently to communicate the striking structure that is Bermondsey bike store'.

We also expressed our experience of the Bike Store in drawings

Remember, our opinions are just opinions. We are much more interested in what you think. What do you think?

Environment

The Bike Store is surrounded by a net of paths. Pedestrians and cars are moving around day and night. Dealers from Antiquity Market, residents of the buildings nearby, users of the Bike Store, passing-byers - all are constantly moving around

Pedestrians and cars paths around the Bike Store

Car flow near the Bike Store in the night

  

Car flow 2



Car flow 3



Pedestrian flow


The Bike Store is actually one of the reasons why Bermondsey Square is an enclosed space. The building stands in the way in and out of the square



The building site boundaries map



The Bike store, standing on the way in and out the Bermondsey Square

 
In terms of volumes and heights the Bermondsey Bike Store is probably the least dominant object in its surroundings





Domination map of the building site

Relative volumes, view 1

Relative volumes, view 2

  
The Bike Store’s interior is a kind of a mirror reflection of the exterior view. Since panels of reinforced plastic are semitransparent, all elements of the building’s structure are seen from both sides

Exterior-interior relationships

During the day time the Bike Store absorbs and benefits from the natural sunlight, at night the situation changes and the Bike Store becomes a light donor for surroundings, being both a source of light and a mirror reflection of other sources of light



Lighting during the day and night day times

Due to the plastics transparency light is subtlety able to pass through it, contributing to its atmospheric quality when lit at night. During the day, sunlight is optimized to provide sufficient lighting inside.

Game of light on the plastic

 



Lighting of the Bermondsey Square in the night

  

The Bike Store might be called an environment friendly building

Glass-reinforced plastic is non-recyclable as it contains a thermosetting resin. During the production of glass reinforced plastic harmful gasses are let off. By using glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) as an interior shell, bikes stored inside benefit from the material’s weather resistant properties. The properties of GRP can be manipulated to suite its purpose. Due to the woven glass fiber structure, GRP is extremely hard to break, as it does not shatter. Wire mesh has also been combined with the thermosetting resin to provide additional strength.

Stainless steel is corrosion resistant therefore doesn’t need to be maintained and is 100% recyclable.

Wood (Douglas fir) is a sustainable building material.

http://www.ecomii.com/building/wood

Taking into account the lifecycle of materials, we may assume that in the next 20 years the building is likely to lose its current attraction and after 60 years is likely to be demolished or totally restored

Material lifecycle

The Bike Store's relationships with the public: interviewing people around
In the middle of November we conducted a survey of people near the building, trying to find out…

• What is the function of the building in their opinion?
• Do they like the building?
• Is the “bicycle issue” sensitive to them (are they bicycle users)?
• How close is the “bike issue” to them (frequency of usage)?
• May a bike store affect their lives (enforce to buy a bicycle or start using it more frequently)?

The sample consists of 32 respondents of different gender, age and professions



Sample


Many interviewed respondents knew or guessed that the building is actually a bike store, but there were also some unpredicted assumptions



Respondents' associations with the building



In general, the survey has shown that the percentage of the public interviewed on whether they like the building is even. The idea of a bike store may effect people’s behavior and lifestyle in 1 case out of 2. It must be mentioned that the major part of the effect figure has been built by bike owners’ responses

However, closer analysis of the data totally destroys the 50%/50% impression, highlighting the sample structure, which is presented by passing by strangers and people involved into Antiquity Market activity

Passing-byers which were in favour of the Bike Store stressed mainly its features as a building, but there were those who believed that the strongest point of the building is the way it contributes to surroundings.

Sellers from Antiquity Market could hardly restrain themselves in expressions. They strongly believe that Bike Store ‘killed’ the market because now it can not be seen from the road. In addition, they consider the Store as an expensive, excessive and useless fancy box which promotes dangerous nowadays activity – ridding a bicycle on busy London’s roads.

Undoubtedly, both opinions have the right to exist. But paradoxical relationships between the initial idea of the Bike Store as a part of the Bermondsey Square project and the extremely negative attitude of actual inhabitants of the Square could not be mentioned.

Demographical factors like age and gender also influence the way of experiencing the building. Women and people in the age before 50 tend to have more positive perception of the bike store, while elder respondents are more critical to the piece of modern architecture

Sources for pictures:

Sample
http://www.ehow.com/about_4685610_role-business-administrator.html
http://www.ifanc.org.uk/page.php?page=9&lang=1
http://keywordsblogger.com/become-a-%E2%80%9Cniche-journalist%E2%80%9D-why-you-
don%E2%80%99t-need-to-be-an-expert-to-start-an-online-business/
http://www.marriedtothesea.com/archives/2008/Jun/
http://604pr.com/tag/social-media/
http://studentmiu.org/holiday/
http://www.aperfectworld.org/healthcare.html
http://www.acimt.com/surveying.html
http://www.whitewatervalleyartsfusion.com/contact/index.html
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.akirarabelais.com/v/witchbefooled/
historyof/images/image_044.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.akirarabelais.com/v/
witchbefooled/historyof/painting.html&usg=__hqkAdU3VGMxGEmu-iUWRB2tfy-
s=&h=422&w=500&sz=52&hl=ru&start=68&zoom=1&tbnid=EqwK
5fhymWB4WM:&tbnh=133&tbnw=158&prev=/
images%3Fq%3DAntiquities%2Bmarket%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dru%26client%3Dfirefox%26s
a%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:ru:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D610%26tbs%3Disch:1,
itp:lineart0%2C1368&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=798&vpy=304&dur=364&hovh=199&hov
w=236&tx=133&ty=101&ei=ijvsTMqtGdWJ4QaTvOycAQ&oei=TzvsTMqdEcGDhQfQz6jPD
A&esq=18&page=4&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:68&biw=1280&bih=610

Respondents' associations with the building
web.wits.ac.za
http://londonist.com/2008/04/monday_miscella_100.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2009/apr/08/london-automotive-industry
mothersdayflowersredhill.co.uk
sharjahcity.olx.ae
sitemaker.umich.edu

Construction

The Bike Store under construction

Source:Google Maps

The Construction process, as we see it, consited out of 3 stages and about 13 steps



Construction process map

 
Drill 48 holes in the ground



Step 1

Fix 48 construction steel beams into holes



Step 2

Attach 48 pairs of wooden beams to each construction steel girdle

Step 3

Attach brushed steel triangle panels to wooden beams

Step 4

Assemble 2 wooden frames for 2 facade walls attached to wooden beams

Step 5

Attach plywood leaves to wooden frames from inside and outside

Steps 6 and 7

Attach reinforced plastic to wooden beams from inside

Step 8

Structure

The bike store has an armour type structure which consists of two key blocks, the portal frame and the two trapezium shaped frames, (front and back facade).



Types of structures in use

 
There is a chance that armor could have served as a source of inspiration of the whole building



A turtle armor abstracted to the building's structure and the surface pattern


The main structural element is a pair of portal beams, ...

Portal beams elevation

… which are being repeated 24 times …

Portal beam structure

… create a load bearing structure and unified inner space of the building

Load bearing mechanism

Inner space of the Bike Store

The other structure in use is presented by a grid of wooden joists

Trapezium shaped facade frame

bermondsey market
The overall structure is strong enough to carry the load many times greater than its own

Book test of the structure

We conducted 3 tests. Each time we were adding books until the structure could no longer stand. We restored the model after two first collapses and kept testing by books the same model. In the beginning (test 1) the model structure was able to carry up to 9 books before collapsing. During the third test the model was able to carry only 5 books.

Test 3

Materials

The Bike Store is mainly made out of six key materials

The set of applied materials is extremely widely spread, so one can meet it everywhere

Similar materials set in a cafe

Brushed steel triangles cover two sides of the store, creating the chaotic and intriguing pattern of the building décor

Scratches on the triangles have different orientations. As a result, each triangle reflects the sun light in its own unique way. The triangles come together like pixels, where we perceive various shades of the colour grey.

In the night time orientations of scratches can be clearly seen

The Bike Store (night view)

Transparent plastic covers the left and right walls and ceiling of the structure, creating the interior space and allowing light to pass through it. This means the interior space is lit from natural sunlight, which corresponds with the architect’s environmentally friendly philosophy.

Plywood covers the two facades and is a cheap construction material

Wood is the main material used, it supports the building's structure, joins all materials together and blends in with the sorroundings

Construction steel is used as a key structural material to support/carry the load of the building

The Structure sits on stone flooring, as does the entire square.

The key linking material is wood (wooden beams), which join the majority of all the materials and parts of the structure, with the help of screws and bolts.

Wood and plastic are the most notable materials in terms of the visual covered surface.