Bikeoff cycling show now on

Central St Martins College of Art and Design’s bicycle research and design initiative Bikeoff this week presents Holborn Unlocked, an exhibition exploring the future of cycling and urban infrastructure.

Showcasing a series of 16 design proposals from MA Industrial Design students, organisers are hoping to raise the debate about security and quality of urban space for all users of public space, as well as looking at how these issues can be addressed through end-user design.

Adam Thorpe, director of Bikeoff, explains that research from Bikeoff’s projects has been feeding into MA Industrial Design students’ work.

‘The idea was to load them up with information about wayfinding, parking and use of space from not only cyclists but pedestrians too. We’ve been working with Camden Council, Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police on this. We’re hoping it will be a tool for a new generation of urban space,’ he says.

Since being set up in 2004, Bikeoff has worked on a number of products and services, including bike hire schemes, locks, security accessories and parking environments.

Of these, the Butterfly and the M stands are being considered for use in the Camden and Brighton boroughs. It has also devised Little Brother, a self-surveillance security system for bikes, which sends alerts to mobiles when suspicious activity is detected.

The exhibition runs for two days, until 25 May, at the college’s Southampton Row site in London WC2.