There are a lot of reasons to make cycling your mode of transport — it being good for the planet, and your health (bar the perils of busy city roads) to say the least. However, being a cyclist has its trials when it comes to storing your bike, especially in a city like London where real estate is at a premium.
I've been to enough London terraces with bikes clumsily stored in narrow hallways to know it's not an ideal solution. It causes access issues, is hard on the paintwork, and, as Tracey Bendrien, director of Bikebox Works, points out, it's not as free as you think. "At London terrace housing costing about £7,000-£12,000 per square meter in Zones 2 and 3), it is an expensive way to use your space," she says. However, with some outdoor bike storage ideas, you run the risk of theft, as well as ruining your outdoor space's aesthetic.
So what's the solution? Well, your front garden is, technically, the best spot for storing bikes in most small-space city homes, and these ideas for storing them look as aesthetic as they are practical.
Beautiful Built-in Storage for Bikes
When you're dealing with adding outdoor storage, the temptation is to add it apologetically to the space, fulfilling a function as long as it doesn't interfere with your front garden planting so much. However, I love the idea of the bespoke storage created by Bikebox Works, a London-based studio that specializes in custom, unapologetic, outdoor projects.
"We take away garden space and we give it back better," Tracey Bendrien tells me. Their intervention is bold, tall storage made from materials such as corten steel, that is, undoubtedly, quite imposing in a front garden, but reframes this space as more useful, while introducing planting that might otherwise be absent, anyway.
"It’s a strong aesthetic and that’s not to say that everyone loves it when it lands," Tracey says, "it’s a very unexpected object that arrives and people don’t know what to make of it. But over time, it reveals itself to be the most practical and considered design solution for the problem; contributing positively to the community, as it does to the owner."
Generally, this company operates as part of a larger front garden renovation, rather than a bolt-on, as there are other factors to consider, especially for planted versions of the Bikeboxes. " An irrigation strategy does need to be considered," Tracey says. "This is a planter — it is not suited to ‘dry gardening’, as there is no groundwater to draw from. A time-controlled, micro-drip system is a very sustainable way of maintaining a garden’s watering requirement, and when there was a hose-pipe ban in place, these systems were exempt."
There's also the consideration of whether this sort of bike storage needs planning permission, too. "A bike shed in the front garden does not actually fall under Permitted Development in England and Wales (though it does in Scotland)," Tracey explains. "That is the case for all bike sheds, perhaps even bin stores. It is a hot topic, and not an easy topic, for a lot of reasons."
It's fair to say that not everyone seeks planning permission for erecting a bike shed, but there will undoubtedly be some instances where this comes back to haunt you if you don't do so.
So, What Are the Other Options?
This sort of more-considered storage isn't the only option for storing your bike, even in your front garden, but in this editor's mind, it's probably the best.
Other options though, as Tracey outlines, exist, though not without their limitations:
- Local authority bike hangers on the street have great access and work as option for flat-occupancy bike owners whose next option is on the street. However there are often waiting lists, and you're reliant on fellow users ensuring your bike's security. It might not be the place for your expensive bike, at any rate.
- Your entryway, living room, kitchen, etc. is less than ideal. "Access is quite difficult – particularly if there is a flight of stairs involved or there are a lot of bikes to pile through to get the one you want," Tracey says.
- On the street. It's free, but "many a bike has gone missing with this approach, so really not ‘free’ at all," Tracey adds.
- Back garden, but access is quite challenging, particularly in the wet months, needing to traipse bikes through the house when you have no side return, and security isn't still guaranteed.
- Classic front garden sheds, but they're not always secure, not always aesthetic, and still up for scrutiny from your neighbors and local planning guidance.
This bike storage shed has a modern feel and lockable doors designed specifically for bikes.
This galvanized steel bike store brings a more industrial look.
A more classic bin store, which is affordable but less secure than an actual bike store.
And some last food for thought, in searching for some alternative ways to store your bike in your front yard, I came across the PlantLock from Front Yard Company. "When planted up and full, PlantLock is a very heavy object to lock two bikes to, and it brings you close up to flowering plants every day," Duncan Kramer of Front Yard Company tells me. "Cyclists surprise us all the time with what they manage to grow in PlantLocks — birch trees, sunflowers, banana plants — but you can also just grow herbs and flowers to cut and put on the table."
It's another example of how bike storage and container gardening go hand in hand.
