Designing a Compact Bike Shed/Repair Station

I live in a bike friendly urban area, but one of the biggest issues I've faced is that there really isn't a great place to store my bike. For the past couple of semesters, I've had to park my bike outside, and it really isn't great for the lifespan of the bike when it rains/snows.

I designed a bike storage solution that also has a small workspace for bike repairs, meant to be as small as possible to be able to fit even in the most cramped urban cities.

The total area of the bike shed if 64 square feet (roughly the size of a NY apartment haha), and it can store 5 bikes, with one of them in position to be worked on if repairs are needed.

1. Modeling Software (In my case, I used Fusion 360 as it's what I have the most experience with, although Rhino3D or Autodesk's Revit might be better)
2. 3D printer
3. Acrylic Paints

I needed a model of a bike to reference for my design to make sure that the sizing would make sense. I wasn't able to find one online that I could easily import, so instead I redesigned one.

To do so:

1. Import the image as a canvas into Fusion360
2. Calibrate the scale of the image
3. Create a new sketch
4. Trace the image
5. Extrude and add other relevant details

Below are the relevant files, BikeModel v3.f3d is the full scale model of the bike, BikeModel v4.step is scaled to about 1/20th size for 3D printing.

The shed itself is not very complicated, mostly just an 8x8x8ft cube with an angled roof for rain to slide down.

I designed it by

1. Creating a sketch with an 8x8ft square
2. Adding rectangles on the edges of the squares to extrude up to be the walls
3. Cutting out a triangle from the walls
4. Creating a sketch with a 9x9ft square for the roof
5. Extruding the roof

I've attached relevant files below. BikeShed v2.f3z is most of the project as a whole. Floor.step and Walls.step are scaled for 3D printing, and Roof.dxf is meant to be laser cut.

A bike shed needs a place to store bikes. A simple way that I've seen sometimes is to just mount hooks onto the walls. It is important to stagger the heights of the hooks so that the handles of the bikes don't interfere with one another. I also went back and added cutouts into the wheels.

1. Import and copy bikes into the model
2. Use the move tool move and rotate the bikes into a way they fit optimally
3. Create a rectangle and extrude it
4. Design the hooks, which are just rectangles extruded then filleted, with extruded cylinders on the sides

I've attached a model of the bike rack scaled for 3D printing. The full-scale version can be found in the BikeShed.f3z file from above.

The bike shed should also double as a compact workshop. At the bare minimum, it would require a table, a place to hold up a bike frame, a place to store a bike pump, a power strip, and a place to store tools.

I individually designed each component starting with the table, which is just a rectangular prism with some cut outs. The bike stand is a large metal pole with a cutout for the bike frame. There are some hooks on the walls behind the bike for toolboxes to be held as well. I also added a cutout on the wall to act as a nice window.

I've attached scaled models for 3D printing.

I utilized Fusion 360's appearance command to add color to the models and went into the render tab to get a nice realistic image of what the bike shed would look like in real life.

I believe it's really important to model things in real life. I went ahead and 3D printed all the models that I had, with most of it in white plastic such that it will be easier to paint. I painted all the relevant parts using acrylic paint since I've found that it sticks the best to 3D printed objects, and then let it dry.

After the paint has dried, I hot glued the entire model together.

This project was very enjoyable for me. I mostly do mechanical engineering and design, but taking a crack at something more architecture adjacent proved to be very rewarding in itself.

I really enjoyed designing this bike storage solution but had the most fun assembly the model and seeing my work come to life. I really liked the way the model came out, and it paints a nice picture of how this sort of bike shed would work in the real world.