Brunswick Skatepark 2013

The turf is probs the most famous of clover bowls

Aesthetically it would be cool to make it a proper look of one with a stalk roll in. Whe a roll in? Clover's are one of the only bowls where a roll in does not screw with the lines too much. We also want younger crew to progress. Rolling in is a great confidence booster to working up to dropping in. Progression wise you will have three levels to work your tricks up to.

NO POLEJAMS

Ok so the idea making sense?

Next step is to get some quantitative votes for specific obstacles for the flowy plaza path. Lets take it as a given that there will be a sweet ass flat bar and a sweet ass ledge, just the same as in every other park in the state.

For gathering quantitate ideas I have pinched a resource from the Canberra lads. It is an awesome tool, all the sketches are rad. Australian skaters can all learn a lot from the Canberra skate community. So I will post em up and please provide feedback, as with please provide feedback on every other aspect posted.

Cheers!

i reckon a spine would do us good, anyone agree ?

I'm feeling the 5th photo you posted on this page Josh. Got my vote for that, the small spine/curb is cool, same as the quater roller. A bank to ledge would be good too. Had a look over the sketches and i like pretty much all of them. So good work on that haha

A lot of those elements should be apart of it, just as long as they flow together.

I've always wondered how they ever got pole jams approved as apart of skateparks? seems to me that they would be a pretty obvious hazard.

http://www.spohnranch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ImperialPlaza2-2.jpg


i reckon this would be pretty sick

Yeah shift that cnr obstacle is cool huh? Must say it again these drawings are pinched from the Canberra lads, awesome resource. Yep the small spine with parking blocks and kerb pail in sheet 4 would be rad, new kerbs are about $20 and would bolt on and be replaced as needed.

Imgne it is all about flow. If you click the link in the Jason Adam's part linked in the previous page it should put an image in your head of what could be achieved with that concept. Having things well spaced and on alternative sides (ie frontside to backside lines) as opposed to being linear is crucial.

Mahzar thanks for the contribution I would personally say that park is a poor design. Some of the individual elements are great. The whole hubba section following on from ledge is good and love the triangle obstacle up the top. The major flaws are two semi circles that have no features and would create a flow totally against the major flow lines of the park. Ie the experienced users that would be sessioning the obstacles would run into inexperienced users cutting laps on that like an oval as they wouldn't understand the flow of the park and how to use the obstacles. The most significant flaw is an open bowl, which never work.

In general let's keep to new innovative ideas and not replicate existing terrain. If you want to hit a traditional spine there are at least 15 parks in Melbourne with a spine.

My only suggestions, and it applies for all parks not just Brunswick. Instead of putting in stairs, put in banks, even if it is a double set, you can make a euro gap instead of a double set. Stairs are only good for going down, a bank you can go up, down, into, over and turn around on it.
Also, instead of putting in granite or marble, or some other 'street' ledge option, just do a good metal edge on a concrete ledge. As much as its 'different' to use these other materials, they never grind as well or last as long as a metal edge concrete ledge and I know as a local I'd be bummed if someone chipped up the best ledge and the council refused to repair it.
Alot of newer parks have these very skinny square rails, why wouldn't you just put a standard round rail in? Is it because it is cheaper and easier to construct a square rail instead a round one?
SOmeone else said that all parks should have a good ledge, flatbar and a quarter pipe. I agree with that statement.

top work josh, we should get together and pow wow. 6pack on the way. flow flow flow thats what i say and moccos you would be surprised how many people are scared of round rails. personally i love em

Agree with all you said Moccos. I like round rails, the flatbar at Newport is great.

Borat we will beer. We should talk about Resi too that is a bit iffy.

Letter sent to council. Posting it up to give people some ideas for if they want to shoot me through one. May sound a little wack for the FoRuMMz but it is with my councilspeak hat on!

In the 25 years I have been skateboarding I have seen the growth in safe, well designed public facilities. The benefits of public facilities are diverse. People that use them become more physically active and gain confidence. They soon become part of a very positive culture. Skateparks are, by their nature, multicultural and diverse. People coming from wide ranging socio economic and cultural backgrounds share a common bond and a common place to practice. Increasingly, parents feel more comfortable spending time supervising younger participants as the facilities cater more to their needs.

As a Moreland skateboarder, Sport and Recreation accredited skateboard coach and program and events facilitator I appreciate the existing facilities in the area. Melbourne wide, there is no facility that is suitable to hold National level competitions and events. A world class skatepark in Brunswick could be a great opportunity for Moreland. The community benefits would last decades with a well built and designed world class facility. The vibrant community of Brunswick would also be perfectly suited.

Importantly a world class facility does not mean it is just for advanced and experienced participants. Carefully considered obstacles can be enjoyed by people that have been using skateparks for 10 years or 10 days.

The smaller skate parks at Fawkner and Coburg have been a great success with high levels of participation. A new facility in Brunswick would take the participants to the next level.

The skate community is committed to assisting to make Brunswick a world class facility for all skill levels and ages.

I am always contactable in regards to any questions you may have.

Another cool obstacle!

Good thread here... I'm located in coburg and don't really dig the local which is only a minute away, so a park in the wick would be sick!
I like heaps of those ideas. Some I'd really like to see are that ditch inspired bank, the roller doorway, pole jams are dope and plenty of curbs (at least a long one)! Something for wall rides would also be good.

"Lets take it as a given that there will be a sweet ass flat bar and a sweet ass ledge, just the same as in every other park in the state"

it seems so many other parks seem to screw this one up.
frankston's coping on the ledges from the get go was terrible, and the replacement/repair wasn't great.
chelsea skatepark (old, i know) would be 10x better if the ledges had have been built better.
there are a number of parks around that check the box of ledge, flat bar, quarter pipe, however due to poor construction/design they were made terrible/put in the wrong spot.

the parks around long beach i went to were fun.
cherry park had all the essentials, minus a quarter pipe, and could spend hours there.
LBC park in the picture was also fun however suffered from the ol' slippery concrete as mentioned earlier in this thread.

and it has landscaping potential like mentioned. it looks bad but it added to the flow of the park, and wasn't such a problem.

from shoota and brodies blog.. just add lumps

So many good ideas/promising positive directions happening. Wish I was from Melbourne but your city often gets my tourist $ so i'll give my opinion.

Less is more.....hallelujah!!! Cherry Park...Yep....It shouldn't be so hard.
Rosebud - So simple but such a rare (for Australia) rad plaza. People put too much emphasis on not replicating basics and trying to be "unique" and tend to fuck it up with novelty shit so definitely agree to cover the basics properly first. Flatbar, quarter, ledge....Gold! then do something different but be careful you don't end up with fuckups like the transitioned hubba down the 5 at belco. Thing looks more like a bank than transiton.
I do however think every park needs at least two well located flat ledges of different heights (about 1ft and 1.5ft). Seating around the bowl platform does not count!!!
About the spine, I know there are traditional spines at lots of parks but is there one really well transitioned good small one say 1.5-2ft high that you can skate like a ledge/flatbar into the tranny??? That would be so fun. some people may disagree but i think the worst thing about that spine at belco is that shitty curb. Would be so much better if it was just metal coping.
I also agree with the comment about marble and other "unique" materials. Just make it out of coloured concrete with metal if you want pretty. Tired of seeing dumb architects waste money on impractical expensive shit. Also avoid tiles like at Roxborough park.

Great work on getting a council person who will really listen.

This is all really constructive and positive. Good stuff.

So to summarise current feedback about the plaza path idea we need to have 2 generous sections fairly uninterupted and simple. These should be the easiest parts to get right. To float it out there one section could have 3 ledges alternating (ie frontside to backside to frontside) and have a corner (perhaps 6th image down on previous page from Rosebud or image above it?)

Secondly we need a flatbar or 2.

Please provide feedback so we can work towards some outcomes.

Ledge wise I acknowledge that longevity is important. Slate, raw concrete granite ect ect are great when they are new but soon get eaten by BMX pegs ect.

So what are the options?

Option 1 is the classic skatepark design with a metal edge. What I find is they are often too narrow and too close to the edge of the path.

The height of these are great in my opinion as is the lower part of the citypark L block.

Half the length and with of these puppies shouls be spot on. These ones are also too close together. If they were generously spaced appart and had another ledge on the opposite side of the path that would be good to link lines up.

Another option is heavy guage steel, so a ledge in the obove proportions made out of a material like this one at Geelong.

Thoughts?

Another option could be a bench for the opposing side. The grat thing about wood is you can easilly replace the outside bits when it wears. Trust me the locals will sort it.

Thoughts on this, like this bloke has parked his arse on?

"Thoughts?"

I love that really low many pad made out of that same stuff at belco