Delft | Traffic Nightmare

One of the crowded places in the Delft Technical University (The Netherlands) is its cafeteria which is also a workshop and a bike parking. This 2018 building was projected at the square of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering with the suggestive name of Coffee & Bikes.

Interestingly, a rider can make use of its 2,100 bike parking and the two floors construction is surrounded by a mound covered with grass where one can relax between classes. Marjolein van Eig designed it inspired by the modern architecture of the Illinois Institute of Technology (USA) campus. The Coffee & Bikes presents a 5 x 6 meters steel beams grid which will ease a future enlargement and all the structure is detachable. Bikes are protected by the external parapet.

The workshop is located on the ground floor, directly connected to the bike parking, whereas the cafeteria is on the first floor. This last is accessed through external stairs and enjoys the sight. Moreover, the ceiling height varies so that the seating area is original and personality.

One of the key concepts to fight against climate change is to allow people use non- or small-pollutant ways of transport. This fact, along with reducing space and infrastructures dedicated to noisy, contaminating transports, has been promoting in the most advanced countries for decades. One clear example is the Delft train + bike station (in The Netherlands) . This exemplar infrastructure enables thousands of people moving long distances under a comfortable, green model. Intermodality (1, 2) means just it: To transport people or things by using multiple modes of transportation. The good point in the Delft infrastructure is that the carbon footprint and the cost of using the station is considerably reduced in comparison with driving a car or a motorbike the same distance.

Why is so special this station? The Netherlands is well-known for being a paradise for urban cyclist and its developed railway system. So, they determined killing two birds with one stone. The Delft station was built thinking about the thousands of bikes one can see on a daily basis in the city. The result is a massive bike parking for 5,000 bicycles with natural light. A person arrives at the station by pedaling, locks her bike and takes the train. So easy, so powerful. What’s more, one can put it there for 14 days by free.

The modern bike parking sits of the floor and the train station is bellow it. But due to the fact of the enthusiasm people have shown with this infrastructure, there is an additional bike parking for 2,700 more bicycles close to the station. Well done!