09. Post 2000 Skate Park – Cairns Skatepark

Overview

Architect: Convic Design P/L

The Cairns Esplanade Skatepark is not only Australia’s largest all ages public sporting facility of its type, but an important national and international community resource challenging the perception of what skateparks are and how they can integrate into the public domain. The Cairns Esplanade Skatepark is the first skatepark of its kind blurring the lines between traditional skatepark infrastructure and landscape. Echoing the alignment of the new esplanade three skatepark plazas push through the landscape, rising to form and deform the upper tiers of the adjacent beach volleyball court viewing seat wall. Dissected by skateable paths, the plazas are connected back to the esplanade creating defined entry points to the facility. Perched and banked lawns arise in the wake of this concrete latticework, offering passive viewing and refuge areas able to be utilised for event days and competition, whilst addressing existing trees and services.

Adjoining an internationally recognised migratory wader bird habitat and in close proximity to a declared fish habitat area, the foreshore of the northern esplanade overlays soft marine clays requiring the area to be preloaded before excavation works could take place. A major influential factor in setting the levels of the skatepark bowls and in turn the whole facility was to avoid any disturbance of the underlying acid sulphate soil. Adhering to Councils philosophy of no net environmental impact – any detrimental impact is compensated by an equal or greater beneficial impact. As a non-traditional area of the landscape architecture, Convic Design is an international award winning design practice that contains a diverse mix of athletes and professionally qualified designers who work collaboratively on the likeminded goal of developing the most innovative, integrated design solutions for clients around the world. Convic Design would like to raise the Cairns Esplanade Skatepark as a example of New Directions In landscape Practice.

Society

The Cairns Esplanade Skatepark embraces sensitivity to social, cultural, historical, physical and natural context. The skatepark is part of the parkland reserve, not an intrusion to it. The designers embraced the need for the skatepark to add to the visual quality of this foreshore reserve. The Cairns Esplanade Skatepark is all ages’ public sporting facility of its type, but an important national and international community resource challenging the perception of what skateparks are and how they can integrate into the public domain

The Cairns Esplanade Skatepark is unique as it embraces the need to provide exciting innovative sporting infrastructure but also appreciates the importance of site and context. Firstly to be in such a high profile location creates a challenge to ensure that this sporting space compliments rather than detracts from the surrounding parkland context. To achieve this, Convic consciously focused on landscape integration as the driving force of the design.

Culture

The Cairns Skatepark comfortably sits as one of the major recreation features of the recently redeveloped Esplanade Parklands. It complements other major facilities including the adjacent beach volleyball courts, Muddy’s playground, Cairns swimming Lagoon and embraces the broader parkland environment in which it is placed. It meets council’s requirements for both a local level sporting space and tourist attraction – within the skate industry it is already considered Australia’s best skatepark and has attracted interest worldwide.

More than any other single components, Convic have been able to integrate a sporting facility into a broader parkland environment without hindering function. In fact, by taking this landscape approach, Convic have actually maximised skate/BMX/inline sporting opportunities. This park was recently awarded one the ‘Seven Skate Wonders of the World’ by Skate Park Guide 2006. Convic has been able to redefine skatepark provision, create a visually dynamic sporting space that compliments the broader parkland context in which it is placed and still ensure it is the most functional and popular skatepark in Australia.

Planning

Convic adopted WSUD principals in surface water disbursement with all plaza surfaces graded to expel any rainwater onto lawn area or garden beds, negating the need for any irrigation requirements, additional to this significant existing Vegetation was retained providing refuge from the elements.

Supporting the local ecosystem.

Adjoining the skatepark site is an internationally recognised migratory wader bird habitat and in close proximity to a declared fish habitat area, the foreshore of the northern esplanade overlays soft marine clays requiring the area to be preloaded before excavation works could take place. A major influential factor in setting the levels of the skatepark bowls and in turn the whole facility was to avoid any disturbance of the underlying acid sulphate soil. Adhering to Councils philosophy of no net

What makes the Cairns Skatepark work as a sporting space is the final implementation of the built work. Whilst the design is innovative and unique, it is the precise concrete finishing within the bowls what gives Cairns such a high reputation within the skateboarding/BMX community.

Bold simple path system that not only creates delineated entrances and a multitude of street skating opportunities throughout the space but also defines both the landscaped viewing areas and creates defendable articulated areas specifically for the bowls. In doing this we ensure these areas maximize safety and viewing opportunities.

Since completion the Cairns Esplanade Skatepark as received several awards:

AILA Victoria President's Award for Playground Design 2007.

Queensland State Winner of the national CCAA Public Domain Awards 2007.

Paths Commendation Award national CCAA Public Domain Awards 2007.

Environments

Largest skatepark in Australia in a high profile location. Site design approach where the connecting paths and integrated landscape actually form the design of the facility itself. Unique in skate facility provision to date, where traditionally the facility is designed and then landscape manipulated to contain the facility.

The space is essentially a series of interconnecting skateable paths that form a matrix, linking beach to car park, parkland to beach volleyball space. The adjacent boardwalk has then been used to generate internal skate runs, further connecting the space with the broader context. The resultant spaces created by the path system are then a mix of either defined active ‘bowl’ terrain or lawn refuge areas. As such the facility has both clearly defined articulated access (skate paths) throughout that knits to the boardwalk, parkland and car parking whilst also has clearly designated nodes of high contained activity (Bowl areas). Bowl skating is an activity undertaken in a contained space whilst street skating is about the journey. Convic has created a facility that embraces both and in doing so also improves safety with the separation of these different uses.

The lawn refuge areas are also unique to Cairns. With the crisscrossing paths providing a multitude of skating opportunities, the ‘left over’ lawn spaces create simple seating and viewing areas adjacent to the activity. They have also been designed to catch run off from the park to mitigate the need for significant irrigation. Trees planted within these lawn wedges also create shade for both participants and those watching the activity. In terms of the environmental impact – any detrimental impact is compensated by an equal or greater beneficial impact.

Infor used from the Convic website can be found at: http://www.convic.com/