After a long wait, our latest major project has opened its doors. Now the largest underground skatepark in the world, the building was formally a Victorian swimming bathes, and has been dragged from the brink of demolition into the 21st century to start its new life as a leisure facility fit for modern Britain.
The project has been recognized by Sussex Heritage Trust for its tranformation and benefit to the local community
The new custodians of the building, brothers Rich and Mark Moore, chose Cambian as their partner to take on the mammoth task of revitalising this faded edifice. We created a park with two zones, a classic section with vert ramps, half pipes and bowls, and ‘The Plaza’ – a street-style section with grindboxes and rails.
As always we used our well-proven, modular engineered plywood construction.
Their choice of an engineered wood park was a wise one. Not only did it represent a significant cost saving when compared with a concrete or fibreglass park, but the structure of the building meant that using heavy materials like concrete was too risky in a building which is almost 140 years old.
For a forward thinking project, there are also the environmental benefits to think of. Since trees capture and store carbon over their lifetime, using wood construction is a fantastic way of reducing the carbon footprint of our buildings. Concrete on the other hand has a less shining reputation. If world concrete production was taken as a whole, the emissions are larger than the 3rd most polluting country on earth.
The park is now home to the Battle of Hastings, a BMX competition attracting some of the world’s best riders, and a thriving community of local riders, who come to enjoy the supportive atmosphere and the great riding.
