At Freestyle we have in-house expertise in all aspects of gaining a successful skatepark. Although our design team have professional qualifications, it is their years of skateboarding experience that allows them to utilise their skills and understand the needs of the end product.
We receive enquiries and tenders in various forms. Two examples would be:
- Example 1: We receive a tender which has a design already in place.
- Example 2: We receive a tender with no design in place.
Where we are involved with a project similar to ‘example 1,’ we do not simply price the design and offer to build as is. We see it as our responsibility to analyse the tendered design, offering our initial thoughts upon areas that we feel would enhance the general layout and where it would comply better by health and safety standards. We would offer and arrange a number of meetings with the client and the nominated user group to gain background information to really get a grasp of the vision that they have for their project.
Where the specified design within the tender is very strong, it is our experience that can take the design concept and develop it to construction stage. This development would see many painstaking tweaks which would ultimately see a final design for the skatepark which keeps its fundamental layout and feel whilst having had the essential development to make it work in terms of: construction; economics; the skatepark in situ and the realisation of the user’s vision. We also feel that we will add value to the design with unique obstacles and flow, to be discussed, developed and agreed with the user group.
Where we are involved with a project similar to ‘example 2,’ as mentioned above, we would again seek to meet with the appropriate user group and client to gain background information and to gain a grasp of the vision that they have for their project.
We would then set about designing their skatepark from scratch and submit with the tender, supporting information pointing out where the proposed design has stemmed from and where it could go. The design development would then see that same procedures as all of our projects.
We also feel that it is the vision and desires of local users, who have usually been campaigning for some time, that should direct the design. This shouldn’t be confused with the notion of Freestyle waiting to be told what and how to design the skatepark. We feel that it is the skatepark company’s task to prove their expertise by taking direction from local users and turning around a design which encompasses the group’s and client’s vision in a professional design in terms of layout, health and safety and the progression of skatepark design and build.