Building Skateparks: Beneficials places, for happy users.
Lust for life! - That special kind of magic and stoke skateparks entail.
Knowing user-needs and -desires. Stoke via creative multiplicity. Fantasy for lively spaces and inspired youths.
No run of the mill: Quality skateparks are one of a kind - they only follow user interests, styles and variation.
More and more people are using facilities for informal sports for individual, active recreation. Especially in skateboarding there have never been more users than today. This growth has been very constant over the past years. According to recent estimations, each third beginner is female. Compared to the supply of high quality facilities for classic sports, there is huge demand for development in the field of modern skatepark infrastructure. In-situ concrete skateparks are perfect active recreation meeting places for the youths and the young-at-heart.
Sports and active living never have been as important as they are today. Incentives for unorganised, free sports beyond club structure are vital to promote active living in communal target groups. Time spent at outdoor activities is a valuable asset. Skateboarding facilities for example are proven to foster health aspects. On top of that skateboarding boosts teenagers’ social skills. 90 per cent of the people asked by the City of Melbourne viewed skateboarding as a positive activity. In the US the number of active users even surpassed the number of people playing Baseball.
Skateboarding entails a very special magic, this is what we at Yamato Living Ramps believe in. It is a bold move to first step on a board, because learning to master skateboarding means learning to deal with failure. Yet, at the same time it teaches: getting up again and working hard for goals you set – pure self-empowerment. It is an egalitarian and highly integrative activity. Skateboarding overcomes boundaries, ethnicity and social classes. If you have found skating, you’ll find and connect to like-minded people anywhere in the world.
Skateboarding is among the biggest and oldest youth cultures, it is accessible and inclusive. The larger part of users is younger than 25 years of age. However, by now more and more skaters keep at it beyond their 50’s. Six decades in, the former trend sport has entered the mainstream. About 85 million people are estimated to skate at least twice a month, of which about two to five million of them live in Germany.
One main feature sets the difference between skateparks and most facilities for classic sports: While each running track, football pitch or basketball court more or less equal each other in shape and configuration and usually go by fixed measurements, modern skateparks are one of a kind. Quality skateparks convince via creative multiplicity and phantasy. They follow certain styles, user priorities and variations. Creative approaches unlock a space’s full potential. Even pure visual factors can make the difference. A location’s success lies in identifying goals as well as knowing and understanding the desires of users.
In the best case skateparks manage to equally cater to each user group’s needs in type of terrain and space. Be it via zoning of space, overlapping terrain for similar use, features geared towards WCMX use, BMX, scooter etc., zones emphasising on different focuses can be implemented.
Click to enlarge
Which land area is reasonable for a skatepark design? How much space do individual user groups need? Best practice for dimensioning of a skatepark should take into account the number of youths or potential users within the catchment area – not necessarily the current number of active skateboarders. Experience shows: Once a modern skatepark is built, it creates its users automatically.
Compared to the requirements of facilities for other sports (such as football), even relatively small size spaces can make a big impact. A fraction of the size of a pitch can be used by more people skating than the 22 playing a match. Furthermore, a good skatepark will be in use as long as weather and lighting allow (younger kids early on, school children in the afternoon, employed persons in the evening/at night). Net usage time of skateparks exceeds that of many other sports and recreational facilities and can be further increased by floodlighting.
Single obstacle or skate-friendly multi-use urban furniture on a small footprint including run up and landing spaces. Reasonable as part of a bigger skatepark masterplan with different facilities within a district, city or region. Exceptional case: Miniramps, which can work as stand-alone in small communities. Costs vary depending on extent. Smaller spots can start at small four figures, a small miniramp starts at around 50.000€.
Multi-use of public space of adjustable size, including a range of skate-friendly multi-use urban furniture, can be combined with classic skate obstacles. As above, costs vary with project extent and it is difficult to put a price tag on beforehand. If overhauling an existing park with re-use of present floor a coherent overall design can be conducted starting at around 50.000 to 100.000€. Smallest stand-alone skateparks start at around 120.000€.
Limited supply of basic skatepark features as singular space, or special interest facility in a city-wide masterplan. Overall manufacturing costs are highly effected by production approach. A reasonably laid-out skatepark covering most basic obstacle features starts at around 250.000€. Of course obstacle-intensive parks with higher topography will turn out more expensive than more low or minimal ones or plaza-ish skateparks. The assistance of special consultants will add up to about 15-20% of the building cost. If commissioned as general contractor shares in this could be reduced.
Covering most basic obstacles for different skate disciplines. As above, the actual project extent will affect the overall costs. Medium size facilities usually cater to a variety of skating styles and a more elaborate scope of obstacles, thus more earthworks, drainage and land improvement fall into the equation. It is likely that different trades (demolition, landscaping, concrete) will become necessary. However, the actual manufacturing cost for concrete work will fall, since establishing and projecting cost will be spread throughout a larger building activity. A medium-sized skatepark starts at around 400.000-450.000€, depending on the extent of necessary recreational areas or installations such as lighting and land improvement.
Substantial skatepark, with enough space to include terrain variety for one of currently two Olympic skate disciplines. The overall costs for a skatepark of this size are difficult to estimate since non-skate-features (drinking fountain, lighting, toilets, etc.) usually gain importance with rising footprint size. The more complex a project the more need for expert special consultants. Projects of this size start at about 800.000-900.000€.
Skatepark with all refinements, including enough space to incorporate a variety of terrain for both current Olympic disciplines in skateboarding. Due to a large number of potential simultaneous users and their impact on the district, projects of this magnitude require extensive city planning. Participation and involvement of different user groups, cooperation of different project consultants and initial market research are highly recommended. The overall costs differ largely with project complexity and are not to be estimated across-the-board.
Click to enlarge
…the question many desperate skaters ask upon returning from a trip to the neighbouring city or while liking the latest post on the Yamato-Instagram. From our perspective it is useful to point out the benefits of modern skateparks. How do different users profit from good skate spaces? This is how you get more people beyond the local skate crew on board. After all, a skatepark costs money – tax money in most cases – and thus spending that tax money should result in making a maximum amount of taxpayers happy.
Spread the word, let your city know about the idea and how a skatepark could make it a better place.
...to gain attention. Cause a stir, rally supporters, talk to the local press, form a club, get organised.
...or a petitionen, look out for local sponsors and partners.
...with your local district deciders or city officials, present your campaign, let your word be heard.
...can be tapped into. With the right concepts there are numerous ways to finance some of the costs, so the big bulk can be spread on more shoulders.
Once things get moving, look out for a partner within the field of skatepark-design and construction. Browse portfolios to see what’s more up your alley. Yamato offers full service for smaller to medium projects. For larger projects, things such as land improvement gain importance, hence, special consultants would be a good call. We are happy to suggest skilled companies.
Average skateboard wheels measure around 50-56mm. Even millimetre deviations in joints, heights, radiuses or incline at in the wrong place can cause major issues. Coordination and layout of flow, lines and runways tuned to obstacle placement are vital for skateparks in deploying their full potential. Well-designed skateparks are far more than mere purpose-builts or functional facilities: It’s the level of innovation, matching of user interests, aesthetics and liveability that determine a space’s success.
Skateparks and spaces for roller sports fundamentally differ from facilities for classic sports. While football pitches or basketball courts are subject to defined measures and sizes, there are plenty of approaches for skateparks and -spaces. Setting priorities and feature relevance, styles and facets may vary. Quality skateparks actively strive for new combinations and variations. “USP”’s can become a locational factors.
For optimum riding characteristics, individual design options and maximum durability we construct our skateparks conform with DIN EN 14974. Using in-situ shotcrete enables us to variably respond to local conditions, available budget and special user desires. As masters of the trade and with many years of experience under our belts, we are perfectly prepared to cope with all challenges of this style of building. Shotcrete is a method of using air pressure to shoot in-situ concrete onto a pre-modulated base-layer, into precisely mounted formwork, causing it to compact. All surfaces are then shaped, trowelled and finished by hand in sub-sequent steps.
The end result is a virtually maintenance-free skatepark with practically seamless organic flow of components. Each new park is unique skate-flow poured in shape, hand-made and one-of-a-kind – a "Living" Ramp.
With opening the Olympic Games towards action sports such as skateboarding, BMX and surfing, the IOC underwent a step towards young sports and thereby, broadened their former classic understanding of sports. After our favourite pastime’s successful debut in Tokyo, the hosts of the following Olympic Games, Paris 2024 and L.A. 2028 also picked up skateboarding for their programs. In the meantime, the IOC proclaimed the acceptance of the two skateboarding disciplines “street” and “park terrain” into the regular canon of sports at the games. On top, talks are on to add “vert” as a third discipline
So much regarding the big picture – but how to inspire enthusiasm for the Olympic spirit, if skate facilities are missing? Appropriate skateparks preparing for Olympic parcours are very few and far between. Although, such skateparks would not by any means be elitist or geared towards competitive sports exclusively. Key is appropriate know-how in park-design and enough space for variation of terrain, diversity and placement of challenges – a good call at many sites, simply because of the number of potential users.
Especially the field “construction of outdoor sports facilities” can be a big chance for municipalities. Investing in well-designed, quality facilities can be a major pay-off.
Skateboarding as part of the Tokyo 2020 games was a first step. We’ve been following the path of skateboarding from close for decades. This allows us to offer custom-fitted park design concepts stimulating and challenging for any kind of use – no matter what target group: From low-threshold beginners park to competition parcours – or combinations hitting the happy medium!
Building Skateparks: Beneficials places, for happy users.
Lust for life! - That special kind of magic and stoke skateparks entail.
No run of the mill: Quality skateparks are one of a kind - they only follow user interests, styles and variation.
Knowing user-needs and -desires. Stoke via creative multiplicity. Fantasy for lively spaces and inspired youths.
More and more people are using facilities for informal sports for individual, active recreation. Especially in skateboarding there have never been more users than today. This growth has been very constant over the past years. According to recent estimations, each third beginner is female. Compared to the supply of high quality facilities for classic sports, there is huge demand for development in the field of modern skatepark infrastructure. In-situ concrete skateparks are perfect active recreation meeting places for the youths and the young-at-heart.
Sports and active living never have been as important as they are today. Incentives for unorganised, free sports beyond club structure are vital to promote active living in communal target groups. Time spent at outdoor activities is a valuable asset. Skateboarding facilities for example are proven to foster health aspects. On top of that skateboarding boosts teenagers’ social skills. 90 per cent of the people asked by the City of Melbourne viewed skateboarding as a positive activity. In the US the number of active users even surpassed the number of people playing Baseball.
Skateboarding entails a very special magic, this is what we at Yamato Living Ramps believe in. It is a bold move to first step on a board, because learning to master skateboarding means learning to deal with failure. Yet, at the same time it teaches: getting up again and working hard for goals you set – pure self-empowerment. It is an egalitarian and highly integrative activity. Skateboarding overcomes boundaries, ethnicity and social classes. If you have found skating, you’ll find and connect to like-minded people anywhere in the world.
Skateboarding is among the biggest and oldest youth cultures, it is accessible and inclusive. The larger part of users is younger than 25 years of age. However, by now more and more skaters keep at it beyond their 50’s. Six decades in, the former trend sport has entered the mainstream. About 85 million people are estimated to skate at least twice a month, of which about two to five million of them live in Germany.
One main feature sets the difference between skateparks and most facilities for classic sports: While each running track, football pitch or basketball court more or less equal each other in shape and configuration and usually go by fixed measurements, modern skateparks are one of a kind. Quality skateparks convince via creative multiplicity and phantasy. They follow certain styles, user priorities and variations. Creative approaches unlock a space’s full potential. Even pure visual factors can make the difference. A location’s success lies in identifying goals as well as knowing and understanding the desires of users.
In the best case skateparks manage to equally cater to each user group’s needs in type of terrain and space. Be it via zoning of space, overlapping terrain for similar use, features geared towards WCMX use, BMX, scooter etc., zones emphasising on different focuses can be implemented.
Click to enlarge
Which land area is reasonable for a skatepark design? How much space do individual user groups need? Best practice for dimensioning of a skatepark should take into account the number of youths or potential users within the catchment area – not necessarily the current number of active skateboarders. Experience shows: Once a modern skatepark is built, it creates its users automatically.
Compared to the requirements of facilities for other sports (such as football), even relatively small size spaces can make a big impact. A fraction of the size of a pitch can be used by more people skating than the 22 playing a match. Furthermore, a good skatepark will be in use as long as weather and lighting allow (younger kids early on, school children in the afternoon, employed persons in the evening/at night). Net usage time of skateparks exceeds that of many other sports and recreational facilities and can be further increased by floodlighting.
Single obstacle or skate-friendly multi-use urban furniture on a small footprint including run up and landing spaces. Reasonable as part of a bigger skatepark masterplan with different facilities within a district, city or region. Exceptional case: Miniramps, which can work as stand-alone in small communities. Costs vary depending on extent. Smaller spots can start at small four figures, a small miniramp starts at around 50.000€.
Multi-use of public space of adjustable size, including a range of skate-friendly multi-use urban furniture, can be combined with classic skate obstacles. As above, costs vary with project extent and it is difficult to put a price tag on beforehand. If overhauling an existing park with re-use of present floor a coherent overall design can be conducted starting at around 50.000 to 100.000€. Smallest stand-alone skateparks start at around 120.000€.
Limited supply of basic skatepark features as singular space, or special interest facility in a city-wide masterplan. Overall manufacturing costs are highly effected by production approach. A reasonably laid-out skatepark covering most basic obstacle features starts at around 250.000€. Of course obstacle-intensive parks with higher topography will turn out more expensive than more low or minimal ones or plaza-ish skateparks. The assistance of special consultants will add up to about 15-20% of the building cost. If commissioned as general contractor shares in this could be reduced.
Covering most basic obstacles for different skate disciplines. As above, the actual project extent will affect the overall costs. Medium size facilities usually cater to a variety of skating styles and a more elaborate scope of obstacles, thus more earthworks, drainage and land improvement fall into the equation. It is likely that different trades (demolition, landscaping, concrete) will become necessary. However, the actual manufacturing cost for concrete work will fall, since establishing and projecting cost will be spread throughout a larger building activity. A medium-sized skatepark starts at around 400.000-450.000€, depending on the extent of necessary recreational areas or installations such as lighting and land improvement.
Substantial skatepark, with enough space to include terrain variety for one of currently two Olympic skate disciplines. The overall costs for a skatepark of this size are difficult to estimate since non-skate-features (drinking fountain, lighting, toilets, etc.) usually gain importance with rising footprint size. The more complex a project the more need for expert special consultants. Projects of this size start at about 800.000-900.000€.
Skatepark with all refinements, including enough space to incorporate a variety of terrain for both current Olympic disciplines in skateboarding. Due to a large number of potential simultaneous users and their impact on the district, projects of this magnitude require extensive city planning. Participation and involvement of different user groups, cooperation of different project consultants and initial market research are highly recommended. The overall costs differ largely with project complexity and are not to be estimated across-the-board.
Click to enlarge
…the question many desperate skaters ask upon returning from a trip to the neighbouring city or while liking the latest post on the Yamato-Instagram. From our perspective it is useful to point out the benefits of modern skateparks. How do different users profit from good skate spaces? This is how you get more people beyond the local skate crew on board. After all, a skatepark costs money – tax money in most cases – and thus spending that tax money should result in making a maximum amount of taxpayers happy.
Spread the word, let your city know about the idea and how a skatepark could make it a better place.
...to gain attention. Cause a stir, rally supporters, talk to the local press, form a club, get organised.
...or a petitionen, look out for local sponsors and partners.
...with your local district deciders or city officials, present your campaign, let your word be heard.
...can be tapped into. With the right concepts there are numerous ways to finance some of the costs, so the big bulk can be spread on more shoulders.
Once things get moving, look out for a partner within the field of skatepark-design and construction. Browse portfolios to see what’s more up your alley. Yamato offers full service for smaller to medium projects. For larger projects, things such as land improvement gain importance, hence, special consultants would be a good call. We are happy to suggest skilled companies.
Average skateboard wheels measure around 50-56mm. Even millimetre deviations in joints, heights, radiuses or incline at in the wrong place can cause major issues. Coordination and layout of flow, lines and runways tuned to obstacle placement are vital for skateparks in deploying their full potential. Well-designed skateparks are far more than mere purpose-builts or functional facilities: It’s the level of innovation, matching of user interests, aesthetics and liveability that determine a space’s success.
Skateparks and spaces for roller sports fundamentally differ from facilities for classic sports. While football pitches or basketball courts are subject to defined measures and sizes, there are plenty of approaches for skateparks and -spaces. Setting priorities and feature relevance, styles and facets may vary. Quality skateparks actively strive for new combinations and variations. “USP”’s can become a locational factors.
For optimum riding characteristics, individual design options and maximum durability we construct our skateparks conform with DIN EN 14974. Using in-situ shotcrete enables us to variably respond to local conditions, available budget and special user desires. As masters of the trade and with many years of experience under our belts, we are perfectly prepared to cope with all challenges of this style of building. Shotcrete is a method of using air pressure to shoot in-situ concrete onto a pre-modulated base-layer, into precisely mounted formwork, causing it to compact. All surfaces are then shaped, trowelled and finished by hand in sub-sequent steps.
The end result is a virtually maintenance-free skatepark with practically seamless organic flow of components. Each new park is unique skate-flow poured in shape, hand-made and one-of-a-kind – a "Living" Ramp.
With opening the Olympic Games towards action sports such as skateboarding, BMX and surfing, the IOC underwent a step towards young sports and thereby, broadened their former classic understanding of sports. After our favourite pastime’s successful debut in Tokyo, the hosts of the following Olympic Games, Paris 2024 and L.A. 2028 also picked up skateboarding for their programs. In the meantime, the IOC proclaimed the acceptance of the two skateboarding disciplines “street” and “park terrain” into the regular canon of sports at the games. On top, talks are on to add “vert” as a third discipline
So much regarding the big picture – but how to inspire enthusiasm for the Olympic spirit, if skate facilities are missing? Appropriate skateparks preparing for Olympic parcours are very few and far between. Although, such skateparks would not by any means be elitist or geared towards competitive sports exclusively. Key is appropriate know-how in park-design and enough space for variation of terrain, diversity and placement of challenges – a good call at many sites, simply because of the number of potential users.
Especially the field “construction of outdoor sports facilities” can be a big chance for municipalities. Investing in well-designed, quality facilities can be a major pay-off.
Skateboarding as part of the Tokyo 2020 games was a first step. We’ve been following the path of skateboarding from close for decades. This allows us to offer custom-fitted park design concepts stimulating and challenging for any kind of use – no matter what target group: From low-threshold beginners park to competition parcours – or combinations hitting the happy medium!
Yamato Living Ramps GmbH
+49 511 7902 5090
kontakt@yamatoramps.de
Kötnerholzweg 13
30451 Hannover (GER)
©Yamato Living Ramps, All Rights Reserved. Design, Development: Christian Vukomanovic
Yamato Living Ramps GmbH
+49 511 7902 5090
kontakt@yamatoramps.de
Kötnerholzweg 13
30451 Hannover (GER)
©Yamato Living Ramps, All Rights Reserved.
Design, Development: Christian Vukomanovic
