Lucky Bike is one of Germany's largest bicycle retailers, with 29 locations across the country. The Bielefeld branch of Lucky Bike opened in 2008, but no longer meets the requirements of a rapidly growing bicycle market. For this reason, it was decided to replace it with a new building on the same site. The property is located directly on a major and heavily trafficked federal highway, so the building is visible to many people. This was not the only reason why the client placed great importance on attractive architecture.
In the future, bicycles, accessories, and clothing will be sold on approximately 2,250 m² of floor space. At the rear of the building, there is a three-story warehouse with a total area of almost 1,300 m², a small workshop with a repair reception area, and the necessary staff rooms. In addition, the central administration with approximately 50 workstations had to be accommodated in the building. These are located on a gallery level on the long side of the new building facing the federal highway.
Due to an extremely tight construction schedule of seven months, the building will be constructed primarily from prefabricated elements. A precast concrete structure was chosen for the supporting framework, with anthracite-colored aerated concrete elements for the exterior walls up to a height of approximately 3 meters and, above that, a timber panel construction with vertically arranged pressure-impregnated wooden slats as the outer shell. The decision to use a wooden façade was made not least for ecological reasons. The exterior appearance of the building thus complements the image of the bicycle as the environmentally friendly means of transport par excellence.