Designboom: Bamboo Urban Mini Velo with mccloy + muchemwa

Architects mccloy + muchemwa collaborate with us to design a custom city bike to carry their portfolio.

Architects mccloy + muchemwa have collaborated with Bamboo Bicycle Club to design a custom city bike to carry the emerging practice's portfolio. The 'bamboo urban mini velo' uses biocomposites to demonstrate innovative sustainable construction methods while helping the architects stay active during the pandemic.

The bike has a split frame and central cargo compartment that accommodates an A3 portfolio and laptop case without the need for a clunky basket or awkward backpack.

"At mccloy + muchemwa we challenge the conceptualization and the functionality of each design, even on the smallest scales. As with our projects for public spaces and street furniture, we wanted the bike design to bring a moment of joy and imagination. The bamboo bicycle club workshop is an incredible opportunity for anyone, not just designers, to learn the satisfaction of handmaking a complex and beautiful object like a bicycle frame."

— Steve McCloy, Architect, mccloy + muchemwa

The small-wheeled bicycle has a biocomposite dual top-tube frame comprised of bamboo, flax fibre bindings and plant-based resin. It features high quality and durable component parts that will ensure that maintenance is easy and replacement minimal.

"There is freedom for creativity when working with bamboo because the tooling is low-tech, safe and accessible. But as a designer you have to stand out too – we wanted to push the club's existing format into something special, but also found inspiration in all the various processes and working with the raw materials during the build."

— Steve McCloy, Architect, mccloy + muchemwa

Originally published: Designboom, 26 November 2020
Design: mccloy + muchemwa and Bamboo Bicycle Club
Photography: Sophie Percival
Editor: Lynne Myers
Original article: Read on Designboom