There is a small hack on Gitlab for that actually: right under the textbox with the clone URI there is a link to the README.
Files (209 MB) / Commits (44,194) / ... / Readme / MIT License / Contribution guide / ...
Personally, I'm finding myself far more often interested in project's main files/dirs update dates that project's readme.
Perhaps a two column layout for big wide screens would be best. That would cater for both use cases.
You mean exactly like with Github?
Solution: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitter/webapp/blob/master/READ...
And why do I always need to scroll down to see the project README?