Victoria Bike Shelter
Engineer-Build
Overview
Having delivered several projects in the City of Victoria, StructureCraft is delighted to work in this beautiful city again. Our team had the pleasure of working with Cascadia Architects in the design, then fabricating and installing a 250sqft glulam bike shelter as part of a revitalization program called stART, supported by the Downtown Victoria Business Association.
Located on the corner of Yates and Douglas St, the shelter creates a central hub for cyclists in the city to park as well as repair their bicycle. The overall structure is comprised of curved glulam posts & beams and plywood diaphragh roof.
This bike shelter is a concept project intended to be repeatable for other cities and locations. See the time lapse video below to see the structure being installed.
Design
Design sessions began in early November 2015 with collaboration between the DVBA, Cascadia Architects, and our team. With early involvement, our team was able to provide innovative and efficient solutions to meet their performance criteria.
The structure uses only one size of curved glulam member, but all posts and beams were uniquely detailed using Rhino CAD software to create a flowing form of simplicity.
For a quick installation, the bike shelter uses a pin connection at the top to allow the legs to fold open after transportation.
Engineering
This bike shelter has a unique structural concept - although it looks like a 4-pin frame which is inherently unstable, the curved geometry of the support legs creates moment fixity. Unlike a typical frame with rigid moment connections at the top of the structure, the shelter has a pin connection at the top to allow for a quick installation. Due to this, moments in the frame are carried to the footings via the splayed legs which create a coupled reaction at the footing which resists overturning. The structure features the use of engineered screws (over 400mm long) to transfer the tension and compression from the legs to the base steel channel.
Fabrication
The bike shelter was hand crafted by our skilled carpenters in our 25,000sqft shop in Delta, BC.
Installation
The installation of the structure is an interesting sight. The structure was shipped only 4' high on a flatbed truck, to fit onto the BC Ferries to make its journey to Victoria. Once on site, the top pin connections allow the legs to swing open and land on the prepared footings, an installation time of 40 minutes from truck to ground. See the time lapse video below to see the structure being installed.