The competition asks this material to form spaces to serve as an an urban node for transportation and social interaction. The nature of vinyl and its flexibility allows an extremely wide range of possible forms. The bike center responds to these requirements with the preservation of our planet in mind not only by introducing the bike as a viable means of transportation but also utilizes recycled materials and technologies to create a center that embodies the criterion for a building that is nearly energy neutral.
The intention of the bicycle center proposed for the Skyline Park site is to extend the green-space of the existing park on the southwest end and create a modern gateway that opens up to the park, energizing the location. In this sense the Cyclical Gateway relates to the existing context of the park but also serves to institute the bicycle as an emerging form of transportation that will play a vital role in the Denver metropolitan area. Skyline Park and its success play a large role in the choice of sites, but even more importantly Arapahoe Street, which runs along the park, is one of Denver´s proposed bike routes through the city; not including several proximate routes already in existence. The bicycle center also incorporates spaces for businesses and has media walls that can be used for advertisement and events such as movies and presentations. By placing the bike center on this route the building will further assert the presence of cycling in the city of Denver. <br><br>
The design of the building is ecologically sensitive and employs vinyl as one of the primary materials, and with recycled vinyl, the uses for vinyl are endless. The building uses vinyl Strataglass sheets instead of glass, vinyl weathering and seals in assemblies, vinyl curtain wall mullions, and as coatings for floors and shower stalls. The building employs a thermal-air façade that is used to heat the interior spaces during the winter, an important feature as it greatly decreases energy consumption. The air that is thermally heated in the façade is pumped into vents in the floor that distribute the conditioned air into the building. The bicycle center also incorporates a cistern system that uses the intentional shape of the building as a rain collector. The cistern is underground and uses natural methods to filter the water that is distributed throughout the building for the gray water source. Vinyl is used to coat the cistern and allows the water to be collected and toxin-free PVC is used to distribute the water.