A recent project sparked our imagination. We realized that at GBD we have a tremendously valuable collective body of bicycling knowledge and experience. Some of us bike commute, some tote our children to school, some like to take leisurely weekend rides, some compete in races, and some don’t bike at all, but might like to.

We also noticed that while places like Portland have led the charge on city-scale bicycle planning and design, that consideration often stops at the front door. Because cyclists are first and foremost people, not vehicles, the bike journey actually continues through buildings. Opportunities to rethink how we design for bikes at the building level remain unexplored.

We started with a frank discussion about our experiences biking. We pinned up pictures, took inspiration from distant places, and scribbled our ideas on the wall. We identified a lot of simple changes to building design that would make cycling more approachable for anyone, and brainstormed some big ideas about how to shape best practices for projects in the future.

We are proud to share the summary of this investigation, our Biking is for Everyone book. It includes lots of case studies and four best practices. Pick one up in the GBD lobby!

We look forward to expanding upon our Bikes in Buildings brainstorm. We have already launched into a conversation with talented members of the Portland Alta Planning + Design team, who met with us over lunch to talk about the crossover of bike infrastructure and buildings. No firm is an island—the built environment of the future will be shaped by many hands.