Level 7 Slow Space – Bristol
Between the 25th October, and 3rd of November, Bristol’s Cabot Circus shopping centre brought back their ‘Level 7’ car park pop-up skatepark for a third year in a row. Free-to-use, and open to all members of the public during the school half-term, the skatepark welcomed thousands of visitors for undercover skateboarding opportunities over the 10 days, ranging hugely in age, geographic origin, and abilities.
The skatepark was designed and installed by Bristol based skatepark specialists CANVAS Spaces, and took inspiration from the traditional features and obstacles found in car parks all over the world, themselves a cornerstone of grassroots skateboarding culture throughout the ages.
This year, with support from Skateboard GB and Subway, the third iteration of this pop-up skatepark was able to cater more directly to both young and beginner skateboarders alike. With sponsorship from Subway through their ‘Fresh Moves’ initiative, we were able to include a cohort of primary school aged skateboarders in Bristol, in the design of the newly introduced ‘Slow Space’. Through a skateable feature ‘co-design’ workshop held at May Park Primary school, we uncovered themes that are preferable to beginners and young people, including; a limbo bar, roll-overs, kickers, and ramps. CANVAS Spaces then took the drawings made by these young people, built and installed them at Level 7, bringing to life Bristol’s first ever youth designed skateable space.
After being enjoyed by all the visitors to Level 7 over the course of the event, the features that made up the ‘Slow Space’ have one more journey to undertake to find their permanent home. The playground of the school in which they were designed will see them installed alongside the basketball court and picnic benches. They will be there for all the students to enjoy, in whatever manner they like. The after-school skateboarding club will continue to run on Friday afternoons and will be greatly enhanced by these additional obstacles, encouraging development, growth and hopefully, participation.
Use of the playground skateable space will continue to be monitored and managed, with thanks to participation from the school. Discussions around training and additional skateboarding resources for the school are on-going, but as it stands, the future of skateboarding and education looks bright!
Stories
