Skateboard Park Design

What do skaters skate?

Skateboard park design tries to answer that question.

Skaters skate almost anything you can imagine. A smooth flat surface and your skateboard is all you need for a good session. There is so possible in a good skate spot. Sometime keeping it simple is good. Other times skateparks can get pretty crazy.

Skateboard ramps are a basic look at some of what works for skateboarding. They are the basic pieces of thread that can be woven into a great skate spot or skateboard park.

The best skatepark design meets the needs of those who will use it most. Novice and advanced skaters have different needs. Some skaters only skate ramps and bowls. Others only hit the street obstacles. Most will skate anything that they can get their wheels on. When designing a park for each of these needs they will turn out different.

Good Skateboard Park Design

I have designed on over 40 skateparks. I have skated 100's of skateparks. The best parks are all built with these key points:

Experienced team - Design and built by companies the specialize in skateparks. Get an experienced designer and builder.  This is key to making place that is good for skateboarding.

• Equity in design - A skateboard spot needs to have at least one street element and one transition element. Design things for all types of skateboard tricks. Street and tranny.  You make the skatepark the most useful for the most skaters. Called equity in skatepark design.

• The right size for most skaters - It is important to design obstacles to the right proportions. Try to design feature that can be used based on skill not guts. The right sizes and shapes make them skateable. You can make something look right but be completely unskateable. This has happened a lot in the past and left a lot of skateparks that just aren’t used.

• The site features - The design must include thoughts about the site of the skatepark. Think about all the non skateboarding things people need to use a space. Washrooms, benches, garbage cans, trees, shade and lights. These elements improve and extend the use of the skatepark. Skaters are people too and they need all the things that any other recreational facility has. We spend a lot of time at the park make it a comfortable stay.

• Innovative features - I love parks that create new features and new trick possibilities. If the park has something innovative in it in addition to the basics then I like it.

No skatepark is perfect. With so many ways to design a skatepark, there will always be room to tweak and improve any park.

How do I spot good skateboard park design?

Look at these steps:

1. Plan - Planning, Advocacy.
2. Fund - Getting the money can be from the City, fundraising.
3. Build - Design, Construct.
4. Manage – Keep it clean, light and serviced.

These great resources on skateboard park design can help:
Skaters for Public Skateparks
The Tony Hawk Foundation

Good Companies

There are a few experienced designers and builders. They know how to make the best terrain you will ever skate.

Spectrum Skatepark Creations
Newline Skateparks
Grindline Skateparks
California Skateparks
Team Pain
Evergreen

Skateboard Park Design

If you want a skateboard park it will take work. They are not as easy as a standard baseball diamond or soccer field. They are all different. There is a lot to learn.

So get an overview and dive into the areas that interest you most. After a little while you will get a better idea of what you want and how to get it.

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