As you can imagine, we spend quite a lot of time in cycle stores and over the years, we’ve learned what it takes to encourage people to travel by bike.
For a workplace to be really cyclist-friendly, the whole end-of-journey experience needs to work. Commuters want to arrive, store their bike quickly and securely, access personal storage, change comfortably, dry their wet kit, charge their equipment and deal with minor maintenance if necessary.
As employers, developers and occupiers look for workplaces that support wellbeing, sustainability and a better everyday experience for building users, provision for active commuters needs to go further than a few bike racks – it should help cycling to work feel practical and enjoyable.
A changing workplace expectation
The way people think about workplaces has changed.
Employers aren’t only looking at desks, meeting rooms and reception areas. They’re looking at amenities, arrival experience, sustainability credentials and the small practical details that help make the working day better for their employees.
For a lot of people, the right end-of-journey facilities are the difference between choosing to cycle to work and just not bothering.
It’s a shift the Government is backing too. Its new Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3), published in June 2026, sets out a long-term, multi-billion-pound plan to make active travel a mainstream choice. But those ambitions only work if cycle parking is treated as essential infrastructure rather than an afterthought. Get the end-of-journey experience right and you remove one of the everyday barriers that stops people choosing their bike over other forms of transport.
If the cycle store is secure, the lockers are convenient, the changing area feels considered and there is somewhere to dry wet clothing or fix a minor mechanical issue, active travel becomes easier. If the space feels awkward, cramped or poorly located, it becomes another barrier.
The whole journey matters
That’s why end-of-journey design should always be approached from the user’s perspective.
Can they enter the store without a complicated route through doors, ramps or tight turns? Is there enough room to manoeuvre a bike with panniers? Are lockers and benches in the right place? What about repair stations? Is there somewhere to charge an e-bike? Is there any demand for bike wash stations?
All detailed questions, but they all affect the user experience.
You might not need a bike wash station, but if you do, it needs to be planned properly. The same is true of lockers, drying cabinets, stands, lock bars, two-tier racks, vertical systems and service stations. Each element needs to be coordinated in a way that supports the wider flow of the room.
Otherwise, the space can start to feel like a collection of products rather than a coherent end-of-journey facility.
The specification challenge
End-of-journey provision is largely about addressing the practicalities of active commuting. But it needs to look good too – because every part of the building contributes to the occupier experience.
The cycle store may not be the reception, but it still says something about the building. In modern workspaces it should feel considered and aligned with the wider design language.
The finish matters. The colour matters. Product choices matter. The way racks, lockers, benches and service stations are coordinated within the room matters.
A powder-coated Sheffield stand can feel much more aligned with the design intent than a standard finish. A well-chosen locker system can make the space feel more organised. The right combination of systems can help the facilities feel considered rather than an afterthought.
That doesn’t mean every project needs the most expensive solution.
In fact, we’ll often tell a project team they don’t need something. When you over-specify at concept stage, it can look impressive right up until the budget review, when it becomes the easiest thing in the room to cut back on. It’s always better to specify something that meets the design ambition, while being deliverable within the budget.
Specialist thinking protects outcomes
At Bellsure, we help architects, developers and contractors create end-of-journey spaces that work in the real world. When we’re involved at concept or design stage, we can help project teams understand what’s realistic based on the footprint, what products suit the brief, where the pinch points might be, what needs to be coordinated with other packages and how to avoid unnecessary pressure later.
Importantly, we can help answer some of the key questions you need to ask.
- Will the layout work in practice?
- Are the clearances realistic?
- Is the chosen system right for the ceiling height?
- Is there enough room around lockers and benches?
- Where should the service station sit?
- Will the specification survive a budget review?
These questions are much easier to resolve when the project team is working with a partner who understands both the design ambition and the realities of supply and installation.
How Bellsure supports better outcomes
The most important work we do often happens before anything gets ordered. We offer early space-planning support, CAD input, product guidance, technical advice and practical installation knowledge, based on years of experience.
Working alongside architects, interior teams, main contractors, electrical contractors and other specialists, we delivered multiple elements within a high-spec end-of-journey room at Plot 9A First South Street, including cycle racks, storage lockers, drying provision and a bike service station.
At St Michael’s, we helped create a secure, high-quality active travel facility that reflected the wider design ambition of the building, including gas-assisted cycle racks, vertical stands, cycle stands and a bike service station. And at Holborn Viaduct, we delivered a complete end-of-journey package using premium quality materials chosen to match the architecture, combining two-tier racks, vertical storage, folding bike lockers, Sheffield stands, a bike wash station and a repair stand.
Be sure with Bellsure
The best end-of-journey spaces make active commuting feel easy and help people start their working day without unnecessary friction.
At Bellsure, we help architects and contractors shape solutions that work from first drawings to handover. And we can help coordinate multiple elements as an integrated solution, with cycle storage, lockers, drying cabinets, benches, service stations and supporting accessories combining to create an outstanding end-of-journey experience.
Designing or delivering an end-of-journey space? Talk to us early in the design process. Send us your drawings or call 03333 608301, and be sure your end-of-journey provision will work for the people using it every day.
