Gallery: Glass-Clad Bike Transit Cente...
Contributing to the downtown fabric, this full-service bike faclity makes bike commuting a viable option for more people.
The bike center’s radial glass vernacular stands in soft opposition to the neoclassical marble buildings that define the country’s Capital. The soft edges slip into the street, offering an oasis for those inclined to move by pedal. The center can house 150 bikes, and the storage units and changing rooms make the station a highly valuable asset to the area. Visitors can sign up for a memberships or pay for the day to lock their bike in one of the double-height bike racks.
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bougie- thanks for the update. Clearly this was an ambitious project and shows the limits of engineering. If they had to caulk the glass the the whole cooling system will not work as designed. And yea, resistance heaters is clearly not a viable solution.
This is a beautiful piece of sculpture, but it is a terrible building and by no means “green.” Walk up to it and take a close look at the details. The once operable windows had to be caulked shut because they didn’t close fully. The large amount of glazing makes it a hothouse in a steamy humid environment in summer. The building has large electric resistance heaters to try to combat energy loss through its leaky envelope.
The building is not new either. Its been up at least a year and was well published when it first opened. Also, it cost over ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER SQUARE FOOT to construct! We could have done a lot of energy upgrades to schools for what we taxpayers spent on this ridiculous project. I like bikes and I like modern architecture and I even like this building visually, but it is NOT GREEN and NOT a good (to paraphrase Vitruvious: functional, sound and aesthetically pleasing) building.