Since it closed down it's sadly sat there for about ten years slowly decaying like a brewery themed Marie Ceste. Wheezing past it on my cycle the other day i had an 'inspired' thought, wouldn't it be frickin' ace Bike stop!. My ideas usually come fully formed in Black and White with helpful labels and arrows so i quickly knocked this up...
If you're not familiar with the former F&B it's about 10 minutes from the city centre on Sheepcote St, off Broad Street and adjacent/accessible to the Canal towpaths, with two floors it has a large courtyard /car park featuring some deep 'railway arches' and the downstairs front doors fully fold back so the selling points would be...
- An upstairs Cafe (Bar?) F.E.B etc
- Upstairs Quietspace/Lounge for working(?)
- Wi Fi (free of course)
- Downstairs Shop/Workshop area (see Birmingham Bike Foundry model)
- Commuter Space Bike lockers, changing room, shower, etc
- Maybe charging points for those stupid electric cars
- Summer events run from the courtyard
- and so on
I'm not sure who owns it now, what their intentions are, or what structural state it's interior is in (it's all timber inside) but it would be a crying shame to see a venue like this return to the beer soaked sawdust from whence it came.
So that's my idea, now to start grubbing down the back of the sofa for some funding.
(view from Sheepcote Street)
* the reason it closed is a bit more complex than noise but the complaints issue really stuck in my craw >:|
