Sample Bike Room design. The Park and Facilities Catalog offers a FREE design service to help maximize bike parking density

The Guide to Bike Rooms from The Park and Facilities Catalog is a handy overview on how to create an attractive indoor bike storage area.

Why create a bike room in an apartment or office building?

According to a recent survey of people in the multi-family construction business, right now bike rooms are a hot amenity.

Multifamily Design and Construction recently surveyed architects, developers, property owners, and contractors to determine their take on amenities.

As you might know, providing cool, appealing new amenities is a popular trend right now

Wall-mounted bike racks and freestanding bike racks are more popular than ever as an option to provide secure bike rooms for residents of apartment buildings.

The Grande at Metro Park in Iselin, NJ recently created some very efficient indoor parking for its residents.

But first, let's talk about this luxury apartment building and its many amenities.

This is one very appealing place to live.

The building provides spacious 1, 2, and 2 bedroom plus apartments with an array of features. They include quartz kitchen countertops, private patios, Juliet balconies or full balconies, full-size gas washers and dryers, hotel-style card access, exterior vented kitchen exhaust, pantry closets, nine-foot ceiling and the top floor lofts with vaulted ceilings and skylights.

The

Bike rooms with vertical bike racks, bike lockers and bike repair stations

Bike rooms providing secure indoor storage are a great way to attract cyclists as future renters or employees.

(FYI: The expert planners at Park and Facilities Catalog offer free bike room layouts and diagrams to help maximize bike storage).

That's why the number of indoor bike storage areas are trending up and are becoming more and more prevalent around the US.

There are several reasons for this.

First of all, people invest some serious time and money in bicycles today. The days of the clunky old boneshakers are over.

Today bicyclists are riding bikes made with aerodynamic lightweight carbon frames, disc brakes, automatic shifting systems and all sorts of high-tech gadgetry.

It's not uncommon f

Bike rooms, like this one at Mississippi State University, are a great strategy to encourage more bicycling than driving on campus

There are ordinary bike rooms and then there are outstanding, spacious bike rooms.

You'll find the latter in the Old Main Academic Center on the campus of Mississippi State University in Starkville, MS.

The Park and Facilities Catalog recently supplied 24 "Horseshoe" metal bicycle parking racks to an indoor bike room designed by Belinda Stewart Architects.

The entire space promotes "cycling." On a large wall in the back of the bike room, there is a huge mural of yellow bike

May is Bike Month. Bicyclists gather in a "Critical Mass" demonstration to show their concern for safe streets and protected bike lanes

May is Bike Month and the impact of all those bicyclists, bike lanes, bike parking racks, bike share programs, bike accessories and bike trails have given this segment of society enormous clout.

Bike Month was created by the League of American Bicyclists. Cities all across the US have planned activities such as car-free days and get-togethers to celebrate this month. The number of active bicyclists in every town is increasing.

Just consider these