In the centre of Glasgow something rare is happening. A large office development is being planned without in-built parking – at least, not parking for petrol or diesel cars.

The 96,250 sq ft New Exchange development, a two-minute walk from Glasgow Central station, will have just a handful of street-level electric car charging points. Instead of underground car parking, it will feature more than 4,000 sq ft of high-quality basement cycling facilities, including 108 cycle spaces, 108 lockers and 12 showers, for its 700-odd employee capacity.



FORE Partnership – the company behind the plans – hopes it can profit from a green, low-carbon offer by attracting forward-thinking businesses.

Image of New Exchange’s cycle facilities Photograph: FORE Partnership

“We think we can make more money through our sustainability strategy, not less,” says managing partner Basil Demeroutis. “We sell it as a feature.”

Those who cycle to work will be able to ride into the space, as you would car parking, Demeroutis says, and there will also be bike maintenance stations with tools so users can fix their bikes. “This is the first development in Scotland taking a cycle-centric approach, rather than car-centric,” he says.



Demeroutis says FORE hopes to attract “a more interesting mix of tenants, willing to pay higher rents and buy into the lifestyle the building represents”.



While cycling numbers in the UK remain static, recent evidence shows commuting by bike could double if decent cycle networks were built. E-bikes have the potential to more than double the average cycling commuting distance in the UK.

Those who cycle to work have been found to take fewer sick days and be less stressed – offering obvious benefits for employers who encourage two wheeled travel.

In a survey of 1,000 workers, British Land, one of Europe’s largest publicly listed real estate investment trusts, found 87% want public transport links close to their offices, rising to 97% in London. And 39% of all employees want somewhere to park their bike at work, a figure that rises to 50% among millennials. Also, 53% of employees want showers and lockers to use after they have run or cycled to work.



Five years ago, British Land began divesting from property poorly served by public transport, while investing in cycling facilities, because it realised vehicle access alone no longer offered the best return for shareholders.

“Our corporate focus is to make dividends for our shareholders,” says Sarah Cary, head of sustainable places at British Land. “We do that by focusing on high-quality places that are well connected and pleasant to be. Bicycle lanes and good pavements are part of that.”

More than 10% of people in workplaces the company has built cycle to work, she says. “Many, many years ago, we would be putting car parking spaces in offices – that’s not the case any more. It’s now showers and somewhere to put your bike.”

Cycle provision can improve the letting potential of business space and reduce rental voids, according to research conducted for the British Council of Offices, due for release in July. In some cases, buildings were chosen because of their superior cycling facilities.

Good building standards, including cycling facilities, is a means to attract talent, says Jonathan Gibson, head of sustainability at real estate advisory GVA. Gibson advises landlords and developers to include cycling facilities in developments and refurbishments, a tactic GVA employs with its own office buildings. “I don’t like the term ‘millennial’,” he says, “but that’s what they care about ... they want to see cycle spaces and good facilities when they’re walking around the building.”

However, not all developers recognise this trend and it is harder to retrofit facilities in a building than to include it from day one, according to Nick Knight, managing director at Eco Cycle, which produces automated bike parking units. “Office occupiers are demanding more and more cycle parking, which takes up a lot of space in buildings. Developers are reluctant to provide it because it costs them money”.

Knight believes councils need to push back when developers try to provide less bike parking than local standards require.

As city rents rise, workers move to cheaper neighbourhoods away from public transport links and where cycling is the most convenient transport option. People not only need facilities at work, but also safe routes to work.

Campaigners are helping give businesses a voice to government on active travel. British Cycling’s Choose Cycling network has a combined workforce of more than 500,000 people, calling for a 5% government investment in cycling, design guidance for bike routes and a target of 10% of trips by bike by 2025 – recommendations from the 2013 parliamentary Get Britain Cycling report.



Cycling UK, the national cycling charity, points out that businesses hold the purse strings to more than £700m of the government’s £1.1bn cycling and walking investment strategy, via local enterprise partnerships, with the ability to make decisions on investment in active travel in their local communities.



“Cycling UK believes employers should recognise the health, environmental and economic benefits of promoting the use of cycles for commuting and work purposes,” says Sam Jones from the charity. “As we saw with the cycle superhighways, [business] can be a powerful force for good in getting infrastructure through.”