urbanspec News

May 30, 2025

Helping architects with compliance in external works

Helping architects simplify compliance, from fire safety to cycle parking, with coordinated systems that meet key regulations and standards.

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May 23, 2025

Why does early design integration matter? Cycle and waste storage

Early design for bike parking and waste storage helps architects meet planning rules, boost sustainability, and avoid costly issues later.

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May 21, 2025

Webinar: Waste Management Design Advice

Too often an afterthought, waste design deserves a rethink. Join our Waste Management webinar on June 18th at 11am.

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May 9, 2025

Helping architects to design against crime

How can design help prevent crime? Explore how architects can reduce antisocial behaviour through smarter spatial planning.

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April 7, 2025

urbanspec design for cycling city: meeting the London Cycling Design Standards

urbanspec bike storage meets London Cycling Design Standards - safe, secure, space-smart solutions for cycle-friendly cities.

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April 1, 2025

urbanspec launches BOS-certified BIM files for architects

urbanspec’s BOS-certified BIM files make specifying bin and bike storage easier than ever - fully compatible, data-rich, and ready to download!

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October 10, 2024

urbanspec CPD Seminar: Understanding Design Principles for Bin & Bike Storage

On 31st October, this free online webinar will help give you a detailed insight into the planning and design requirements for bin & bike storage.

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October 8, 2024

More secure cycle storage needed as part of cycle voucher scheme, study shows

Recent research by Sustrans reveals that the absence of secure cycle storage is a key barrier to bike ownership.

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September 19, 2024

3D Configurator tool for specifiers

Introducing our Configurator. This tool will allow specifiers to quickly generate a 3D view of their desired product and configure it in real time.

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July 4, 2024

Which Two-tier Bike Rack To Select? – The Key Differences

Commonly specified for high-density developments where the available footprint represents a constraint, two-tier bike racks provide secure storage for the maximum number of bikes per […]

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June 26, 2024

Reducing Bike Theft in Cities: The Demand for Secure Bike Storage

In London, around 50 bikes are reported stolen every day. The actual figure, taking into account incidents not reported to the police, is likely to […]

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June 18, 2024

Incorporating E-bike Storage into New-build Suburban Developments for Commuters

The UK’s e-bike market is continuing to grow, with more people turning to micromobility for commuting purposes. According to a recent report, 57% of Britons […]

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May 31, 2024

CPD Seminar: Safe Storage of E-bikes and other LEV’s

With the number of fires resulting from LEVs increasing steadily, it’s urgent we get on top of the key measures that need to be taken […]

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March 28, 2024

CPD Seminar: Understanding Design Principles for Bin & Bike Storage at Stage 4 & 5

This free online seminar will help give you a detailed insight into the planning and design requirements for bin & bike storage, following an overview […]

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March 15, 2024

Secure Bike Storage: What are the Options for Safe Storage in Communal Settings

Table of Contents: A recent research report from Direct Line Cycling Insurance found that 56% of cyclists in the UK use their bike to commute, […]

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February 13, 2024

New Biodiversity Net Gain Rules and Achieving the 10% Target

Introduced through the Environment Act, Biodiversity Net Gain is a fundamental part of efforts to create higher-quality natural habitats and green spaces, requiring all developers […]

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February 7, 2024

Secure Bike Parking & Storage for Hospitals & Healthcare Settings

For healthcare settings, whether large hospital sites with multiple buildings or smaller medical and GP practices, health trusts are constantly evaluating  opportunities to expand facilities, […]

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January 16, 2024

Achieving Biodiversity Net Gain with External Storage Buildings

Table of Contents: An approach to development, and land management and acquisition that aims to deliver measurable more for nature and habitats than what is […]

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January 9, 2024

How to Choose the Right Bike Parking Solution for Your Project

Table of Contents: A valuable element of the built environment, bike parking design has progressed considerably over the years, in-line with the development of UK […]

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Bike Parking Solutions for Public Transport Hubs

Table of Contents: Secure bike parking is seeing increased integration at public transport hubs on busy urban corridors, encouraging cycling uptake for commuters. In turn […]

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January 5, 2024

Bike Parking Solutions for Universities & Colleges

Campus life with its frequent, short journey times and often high-density environments, has long been ideal for active travel opportunities. Universities across the country have […]

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CPD Seminar: Achieving Biodiversity Net Gain with External Storage

With the new Biodiversity Net Gain rules coming into force this month, developers in England will be required to deliver on the 10% BNG target […]

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December 12, 2023

Selecting the Correct Bike Rack System for a Cycle Store

Offering a highly configurable design platform, bike stores can accommodate vertical, semi-vertical, and level housing of bikes to meet user requirements. Ensuring that any bike […]

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Specifying Green Roofs on External Bike Stores to Support Biodiversity and Active Travel

The UK’s average cycling mileage per year has been gradually increasing since 1993, rising to 4.2bn miles in 2021. Combined with a reduction in annual […]

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December 7, 2023

What is the Urban Greening Factor and How Does it Apply to New Developments?

Originating in Berlin and since adopted by a number of European cities, the Urban Greening Factor (UGF) is a planning tool to improve the provision […]

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December 1, 2023

Intensive vs Extensive Green Roofs on External Storage: Which is Right for You?

Table of Contents: All new developments within England will, come January 2024, have an obligation to deliver measurable Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), which mandates a […]

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November 28, 2023

End-of-Trip Facilities: What Are They And Why Secure Bike Parking is Essential

Table of Contents: A recent research report from Direct Line Cycling Insurance found that up to 1.5m cyclists are deterred from cycling to work due […]

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November 27, 2023

UK Bike Parking Standards

Table of Contents: 77,148 bike thefts were reported to police across England and Wales across 2022/23. This equates to an incident every 7 minutes, while […]

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November 23, 2023

BREEAM Bike Storage Compliance

With the UK Government promoting initiatives to help mitigate climate-change through sustainable development, secure bike storage can be considered integral to encouraging cycling uptake and […]

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November 17, 2023

Designing Effective Bike Parking Hubs

Table of Contents: What are Bike Hubs? Bike parking hubs help promote sustainable and active travel, and will often combine various bike parking types and […]

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Secure Bike Storage for Residential Settings

Table of Contents: Secure external storage of bikes in residential settings is an important aspect of a development, and most will require a provision for […]

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November 3, 2023

Bike Parking & Storage Solutions for Commercial & Industrial Settings

Table of contents: With a focus on security considerations and efficient space utilisation, establishing well-designed bike parking & storage solutions in commercial and industrial settings […]

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October 18, 2023

Effective Bin Storage for New-build Developments

Table of Contents: Often, new-build developments will have the design focus primarily allocated to the building elements with landscape features and external infrastructure, such as […]

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September 21, 2023

Green Roof Systems on External Storage: Securing BNG through Sustainable Urban Solutions

Table of Contents: Under the National Planning Policy Framework and the Environmental Bill 2021, all new developments within England now have an obligation to deliver […]

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September 4, 2023

New Case Study: Bidwell West Local Centre

Forming part of a larger housing scheme named Millard Grange, the Bidwell West Local Centre is a neighbourhood complex centre contained within a vibrant new […]

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August 22, 2023

Cycling in the UK: Exploring the Rise

Table of Contents: Cycling is on the rise in the UK. Data from the official Cycling Index has revealed that, in the year ending December […]

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August 1, 2023

New Case Study: St. Modwen Park Broomhall, Worcester

St. Modwen Park Broomhall is a 17 acre site in Worcester, designed to meet the growing demands for industrial and logistics space in the area. […]

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July 21, 2023

New Case Study: The 1840, Springfield Village

The 1840 is an exciting new development scheme and part of a joint modernisation programme, situated in Tooting in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Alongside […]

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June 30, 2023

Biodiversity Net Gain – An Overview

Table of Contents: Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is the UK Government’s strategy towards land developments that aims to provide the maintenance and recovery of nature. […]

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June 21, 2023

New Case Study: Arisdale Avenue, Essex

Set over a 10 acre site, Arisdale Avenue is part of the Bennett’s Fields new-build housing estate in South Ockendon, Essex. Providing a range of […]

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June 6, 2023

New Case Study: Victoria Road, Portslade

Situated in Portslade, Brighton and Hove, is the regeneration project of Victoria Road – a residential redevelopment scheme, delivered on behalf of Brighton and Hove […]

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May 30, 2023

Meet the team – Malcolm Parris

Malcolm is one of our Design Engineers, so it goes without saying that he knows the product range inside out. It’s been key to Malcolm’s […]

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May 29, 2023

New Case Study: Wilson Health Centre

The Wilson Health Centre is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art surgery in Cheltenham, providing a new base for 40 NHS medical professionals, including GP’s, nurses, midwives, clinical […]

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May 19, 2023

How to use a two-tier bike rack

Two-tier bike racks are an optimal solution for establishing bike parking for high-density developments and are commonly specified on communal bike storage projects where the […]

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May 12, 2023

New Case Study: Panattoni V Park

Situated two miles from the centre of Basingstoke, V Park is the site of three new warehouse facilities by Panattoni, Europe’s largest developer of logistics […]

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May 9, 2023

Secure Bike Parking Infrastructure in Urban Environments

Table of Contents: European Bike Parking Examples When assessing cycling infrastructure across the UK it can be instructive to review the examples set in key […]

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April 28, 2023

New Case Study: Frank Towell Court

Situated in Feltham in West London, Frank Towell Court is a £32 million housing development scheme by Hounslow Borough Council, providing the area with 102 […]

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April 27, 2023

urbanspec Factories – CNC Fibre Laser Sheet Cutting Machines

State of the art machinery helps urbanspec factories drive efficiency and ensure consistently high-quality production. The CNC fibre laser sheet cutting machines work are double-shifted […]

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April 25, 2023

Bike Parking – An Overview

Table of Contents: Cycling in a Modern Context Across the United Kingdom an increased focus on sustainability strategies and better urban planning, combined with societal […]

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April 15, 2023

Meet the team – Jayden Spurgeon

Jayden is an integral part of the urbanspec team, having spent countless hours over the last 3 years cultivating early relationships with architect practices all over the country […]

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April 12, 2023

New Case Study: West House, Orpington

Situated along a busy high street in Orpington, West House is a redevelopment of an existing office building, providing 20 1-bedroom apartments finished to a […]

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April 6, 2023

New Case Study: The Cofton Centre

This self-contained industrial and logistics warehouse space in Longbridge is an integral part of the largest regeneration projection in the West Midlands. Working with GMI […]

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March 30, 2023

New Case Study: Seething Wells Campus, Kingston University

Seething Wells Campus is a residential campus for students at Kingston University, and is currently undergoing an ambitious project to transform its student accommodation. The […]

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March 24, 2023

New Case Study: Cathedral Hill Industrial Estate

Cathedral Hill is a thriving industrial estate in Guilford, Surrey. It is part of a comprehensive refurbishment scheme providing modern accommodation, enhanced cladding and external spaces. […]

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March 21, 2023

New Case Study: Secure Cycle Storage for Deakins Place

Deakins Place is a recently developed, purpose-built student accommodation in the heart of the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee campus. The Nottingham Student Quarter provides first-class […]

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January 26, 2023

5-step Specifier Process for External Bin and Bike Stores

One of the fundamental attributes we provide with the urbanspec range of bin and bike stores is our ease of specification experience. The urbanspec 5-step […]

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Secure Cycle Storage at the University of Derby

Cycle storage is always a hot topic in education settings, especially universities, with secure, accessible storage key to ensuring staff and students can use facilities […]

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October 21, 2022

New Case Study: Brewers Hill

The Brewers Hill development in Dunstable is now complete with urbanspec products providing dedicated bin and cycle storage for residents. The external stores are located […]

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October 14, 2022

Bike and Bin Storage for Steels Wheels House

A design co-ordinated package of an urbanspec H-Series Bin Room Building, PMN 2 Bin Store and HC 24.92 cycle store looking smart on the Steelwheels House […]

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October 7, 2022

New Case Study: Sighthill, Glasgow

urbanspec bin and cycle stores are looking neat on the Northbridge Development, Glasgow. Part of the former Sighthill Estate, the project has the title of […]

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July 11, 2022

New Case Study: Berechurch Road, Colchester

As part of a new residential development on Berechurch Road in Colchester, Urbanspec have delivered a package of safe and secure outdoor storage solutions for […]

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July 1, 2022

New Case Study: Prince Avenue, Essex

Estuary Housing Association own and manage over 4400 properties in the South East and place a strong emphasis on creating neighbourhoods of the highest quality. […]

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June 27, 2022

New Case Study: Bespoke Green Roof Cycle Hub

The Watchmoor Point Industrial Estate, in Surrey, is situated at the rear of the prestigious Watchmoor Business Park which is home to offices for world […]

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May 27, 2022

Secure bin storage for a new business park

Bourn Quarter is a new business park to the west of Cambridge. Inspired by the Dutch High Tech Campus Eindhoven, the development offers a unique […]

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March 8, 2022

New Case Study: St Modwen Park, Newport

St. Modwen Park in Newport is a sought after industrial and logistics hub strategically located at the gateway to South Wales. Close proximity to Junction […]

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February 16, 2022

16 BIKE-S Units for Queen Mary University London

As a Russel Group Institution, Queen Mary is recognised as one the UK’s leading research-focused higher education institutions; teaching and researching across a wide range […]

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February 2, 2022

Bespoke Urbanspec HTC Bike Hub

10, Victoria Street, located in the heart of Bristol’s central business district is a five-storey office development, with a striking Grade II listed facade.  The […]

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June 10, 2021

CAD Models and Technical Drawing for External Works Products!

From the earliest design stages; clear, accurate and readily available technical information on storage capacities and operational space requirements for external works products is essential […]

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March 25, 2021

Specifier ready cycle storage solutions

There is a planning requirement for all new and refurb developments stating that a certain quantity of cycle storage should be provided for residents. This […]

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October 17, 2019

Speedy design solutions for architects

Architects can draw upon a trio of design options when creating new developments or regeneration projects. urbanspec’s out-of-the-box design tools are perfect for every level […]

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