Visit the ultimate bike-friendly office

Bike lanes through the middle of the workspace, personal bike racks beside your desk and a huge maintenance area for keeping your steed in pristine condition.

But then, what would you expect when one of the world’s largest bicycle component manufacturers fits out its new office space?

Transforming offices into more than just desks, chairs and four walls has become its own industry over the past decade, with employees and employers now expecting dynamic open-plan environments, eye-catching breakout areas, in-house entertainment zones and upmarket change rooms.

SRAM’s new headquarters features a 200m cycling track for testing components.

But bike parts manufacturer SRAM has taken things to the next level at its Chicago headquarters, after enlisting architecture and design firm Perkins+Will to create its new office space.

With a former cold storage facility in the Fulton Market district as its blank canvas, SRAM now has a building that is the envy of cycling commuters everywhere.

Each desk at SRAM’s offices has hanging facilities for storing bikes.

At the heart of the fitout is a 200m internal cycling track, which winds its way through every floor of the office, while maintenance facilities, hooks for hanging bikes outside workers’ cubicles

The company also used subtle cycling touches, such as handlebar tape on door pulls, and pieces of components repurposed as cabinet handles in conference rooms.

The test track isn’t just for show either, having been included as a way to test prototype components on-site, though remembering to look left and right before leaving your desk might take some getting used to.

See the rest of SRAM’s new facility in the video below.