The Pros Open up About Skatepark Design

Legendary skater Tony Hawk has dropped in on half pipes and ollied over obstacles at skateparks around the globe for most of his life.

Knowing the correct size of the park, materials to use, and how the park flows is something Hawk has an intimate knowledge of. With skateparks popping up all over the United States, Landscape Architects must harness the knowledge Hawk has in order to produce quality skateparks that will continue to be used for years to come.

Hawk and fellow professional skateboarder Andy Macdonald told LASN that although there are many quality skateparks now being developed, there are still too many that are poorly designed.

"The first sign of a bad skatepark is one that does not include experienced skaters in the design process," Hawk said. "The second is one that is built by a firm that 'recently' got into skatepark construction or is built by the lowest bidder, like sidewalk contractors for example.

"In a good skatepark the contours have to be smooth and the overall flow of the park has to be functional, even when it gets crowded."

Macdonald agrees with Hawk, adding that the size of the park is also a factor.

"The overwhelming majority of public parks today are grossly inadequate," Macdonald said. "Picture 'Anytown USA' building just one basketball court for the entire city. It's brand new and costs $200,000 but the cement is lumpy and rough, the court itself is half the size of a standard court, the rims have no backboards and are only seven feet high.

"A good skatepark should be big enough to accommodate a high volume of skaters without getting overcrowded."

The 33-year-old Hawk turned pro when he was 14. Two years later he was a world champion. This past summer, ESPN2's Tony Hawk's Gigantic Skatepark Tour took skaters and BMX bikers to skateparks across the country and became the cable channel's highest rated show. He started the non-profit Tony Hawk Foundation in 2000 to promote and provide funds for high-quality public skateparks throughout the U.S. The Foundation focuses on working with local officials and grass-roots, community-based organizations to hire designers and contractors who have strong experience designing and building parks.

Macdonald, 28, is a five-time World Champion (1996, '97,'98,'99, 2000). He is on the board of directors at the local YMCA in his hometown of San Diego, where he designed the new park that is being built this spring. He has also consulted on public and private parks around the country including the first two skateparks in San Diego.

Experience Rules

Sure, Landscape Architects are able to design incredible landscapes that are functional and aesthetically pleasing, but a skatepark is a different animal. A skatepark is its own world with its own laws and culture that govern it. This is a place

that must be respected by an outsider. The only way for a Landscape Architect, not familiar with the skating world to know what works and what doesn't, is to have experienced skaters to turn to.

"Landscape Architects should do research and know the physics of skateboarding," Macdonald said. "They should learn about skating or hire someone that already knows."

Spohn Ranch, Inc., located in City of Industry, Calif. started as a special events company providing equipment for high caliber skateboarding competitions and concerts. Through their work with such events as X Games and the Vans Warped Tour, they were able to take the modular courses that they designed and refine them for permanent installation.

"We try and gather all our information from pros and users," said Aaron Spohn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Spohn Ranch, Inc. "Working with competition events, we worked with pros a lot. We try to get kids involved whenever possible to take ownership in the park, allowing them to pick obstacles. We learn a lot from them about what is going on right now in skateboarding."

Although Spohn has over 20 years of design and construction experience, he felt the more experienced his staff was, the better. Recently, Spohn Ranch, Inc. brought in Brian Harper formerly of Site Design Group as a designer/project manager.

A good skatepark is one that offers ramps for boarders, bladers and bikers. In order to avoid conflicts with the rival groups, it is advised that chunks of time be set aside each day for each group so that all three have exclusive use of the park. In addition, each ramp should be multi-use so all boarders, bladers and bikers can use the entire facitlity.

"Brian is a judge for World Cup Skateboarding and is involved in X Games," Spohn said. "He has great design ideas and knows what is going on in pro skateboarding today."

Of course many skateparks will not be frequented by pros but they will be visited by kids of all abilities and styles in the community. Even though a professional or even an experienced skateboarder can help out with some of the more complicated facets of the design, the kids and their ideas are what will make it a success.

"A skateboard park should offer something for every level of skater as well as every style of skater and every style of skating," Macdonald said. "That means having ramps and street obstacles as well as bowls and snake runs."

Skateparks will be frequented by in-line skaters and BMX bikers as well, this is something to also take into consideration.

"We work with experienced riders including skaters, in-liners, and bikers to help us develop obstacles and parks that meet the needs of our customers and users," said John Nessen, Product Manager for SkateWave, a division of Landscape Structures Inc. "In addition, we will also be working closely with the newly formed Rider Advisory Council (RAC) which is an independent organization made up of skaters, in-liners and bikers from throughout the country."

Living in a Material World

Basically there are three types of materials that can be used in a skatepark: concrete, steel and wood. All three materials have their positives and negatives, and whether the park is being built indoors or out will all play a role in what material is best.

• Concrete: "The upside of concrete is that it will last a long, long time," said Ron Derk, Director of Sales and Marketing for Huna Designs, a division of Playworld Systems. "But, if you make a mistake you are dead, you own it. You can't change it very easily. Mistakes can occur in ride and geometry."

• Steel: Allows for excellent portability like wood, but not quite as expensive as concrete. It also has the durability of concrete.

• Wood: This is probably the most cost effective material in the short-term, but in the long run it can become the most costly. "The downside of wood is that you get what you pay for," Derk said. "In under three years it must be rebuilt. In 15 years, you'll replace the wood three to five times."

Spohn stressed the fact that those looking to build parks need to understand the pros and cons of each material. He said that people are concerned about maintenance and turn to concrete because they feel it is the lowest cost of ownership over the long term, but he added that above-ground steel modular systems with the durability of concrete allowing the park owner to reconfigure and alter the terrain has become the trend.

The flow of a skatepark is very important to its success. It is important that the obstacles are not too far apart to where the users lose interest while at the same time not being to close to where collisions are innevitable. Pro skater Andy Macdonald suggests that a good skatepark be big enough for 70-80 skaters use at a time.

"I'm a little prejudiced towards steel because that is what our company does," Derk said. "That doesn't mean the other two are bad, but steel combines the best of wood and concrete while eliminating the undesirable features. At Huna we analyzed the materials to figure out how we can get the best of wood and concrete. A bowl will last longer, but after 15 years no one will want it, they will want something new and fresh. Steel is not as cheap as wood, it is about in the middle as far as price."

Wood seems to be taking a beating, but there is a place for it as long as the skatepark designer proceeds with caution. It is one of the best materials for indoor ramps and half pipes, but to get the wood to last longer, often it is treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) which contains 22 percent pure arsenic, an issue that all playground manufacturers, skatepark owner/operators, parents and Landscape Architects should be aware of. CCA prolongs the life of wood, which when looked at from a cost standpoint initially is the cheapest way to go. But eventually the system will need to be repaired and that becomes costly in the long run.

"There are surfaces for wooden ramps that are weather proof and much more cost effective," Hawk said. "The good thing about wood is you can always improve on wooden parks without destroying the place."

How to go With the Flow

"In a good skatepark the contours have to be smooth and the overall flow of the park has to be functional, even when it gets crowded." -Tony Hawk

One of the biggest problems that skatepark designers face is the flow of the park. How can the users get the most out of a crowded skatepark? How do you keep it exciting, while maintaining the safety of the park and not boring the kids? The key seems to be making the most out of the space you have. And of course, the more room the better.

"There is a secret to designing a park with good flow as opposed to a park that just doesn't work," Derk said. "A bad flow sets up pretty nasty collisions.

"The height of the ramps versus the distance between them is something to take into consideration. Distances need to be right so that they have enough speed to go from one obstacle to another. But they can't be too far apart as to where they lose the excitement and they can't be too close to where they fumble it."

When Macdonald advises cities he says there needs to be enough room for 70-80 skaters to ride comfortably at the same time. He recommends that 50,000-square-feet be made available for skateparks.

The City of Huntington Beach, Calif. was a pioneer in the development of skateparks in the early 1990s. The city now has two parks and a third in development. Bill Fowler with the Huntington Beach Parks and Recreation Dept. said they learned about "going with the flow" from their first two parks.

"The third park will have a better flow pattern," Fowler said. "The first two parks are fairly small. The transitions are a little steep on both of them, and kids can't get up a lot of speed."

Fowler said the park the city built in front of Huntington Beach High School is about 7,000 square feet and has a pretty good flow pattern as opposed to the city's other park located at Murdy Park which is about half that size.

What the Future Holds

A recent survey showed that only 20 percent of Landscape Architects have experience with skatepark design. Will that number increase as demand increases? Or will a smaller amount of firms who have already established a relationship with the skateboarding community be the ones to benefit from the growth in the skatepark industry?

"I see a smaller number of design firms with better experience being the ones who get the jobs," Hawk said. "Skateparks can only become better as the skaters get more involved, which is why we started the Tony Hawk Foundation."

Well, for those of you who plan on, or who are already doing skatepark design, here is some words of advice from the experts that will help you in the long run:

• Tony Hawk: "Hire experienced skaters as consultants. Otherwise, you build something, possibly funded by taxpayers, that nobody wants to ride."

• Andy Macdonald: "A taller ramp does not mean it is more dangerous or even more difficult. Learn about skating or hire someone like me that already does."

• Bill Fowler: "Listen to the kids. But there is a fine line in going too far in doing what the kids want, which ultimately isn't what is best for the design overall."

• Aaron Spohn: "Take a look at your errors and omissions insurance to make sure you are covered for skatepark design. Don't do too much. Landscape Architects try to cram too much in too small of a space. Landscape Architects should work with experienced consultants who are apprised of what is going on in the sport today."

• John Nessen: "I would advise Landscape Architects to contact manufacturers so that we can help them learn about this fast growing need in our communities. Together we can help our customers plan, develop and operate skateparks."

• Ron Derk: "Look at avoiding the trap of doing what is cheapest. Because what is cheapest now is the worst value in the long term."

Even though you might never "grind a rail" or pull off a "Mctwist," there are those that have. Their knowledge and experience are invaluable to a successful skatepark design. Together, Landscape Architects and experienced skateboarders can team up to bring skatepark design to the next level.