AVENUE & SON Skatepark North Coast By Various Associates

A Coastal Skatepark Reimagined as a Living Public Landscape

Located in Qinhuangdao, China, the AVENUE & SON Skatepark North Coast is a landmark public landscape project designed by Various Associates and completed in 2025. Covering 612 square meters within the larger 15,000-square-meter Riverain district: the ninth-phase development of Aranya: the skatepark sits beside the UNDEFEATED Sports Center, anchoring a pioneering seaside neighborhood shaped by art, culture, and creativity.

More than a professional sports venue, the project redefines the relationship between skateboarding culture, landscape architecture, and everyday public life, positioning itself as both a world-class skatepark and a vibrant community park.

Blurring the Line Between Sport and Public Space

Conceived around the values of vitality, imagination, belonging, and community, the skatepark challenges traditional notions of specialized sports infrastructure. Instead of isolating professional facilities, the design softens boundaries and integrates skateboarding into a park-like public realm accessible to skaters, residents, and visitors alike.

Through sculpted terrain and fluid concrete forms, ramps, bowls, and seating elements appear to grow organically from the landscape. Skate structures double as sculptural features, while pathways, lawns, and planted zones weave seamlessly between active and passive spaces. As sunlight filters through trees and casts shifting shadows across the concrete surfaces, sport and nature merge into a unified coastal experience.

The “Green Heart” as Social and Spatial Anchor

At the center of the master plan lies an irregular lawn known as the “Green Heart.” This open green space breaks the dominance of hardscape, introducing softness, rhythm, and ecological value into the urban environment. Functioning as both visual anchor and social condenser, the lawn accommodates markets, music performances, pop-up events, and informal gatherings, ensuring year-round adaptability.

All programmatic elements radiate outward from this central green, forming a highly connected radial layout that allows diverse activities to coexist while remaining intuitively linked.

Inclusive Programming for All Ages and Skill Levels

The skatepark is carefully zoned to support a wide range of users. Professional and beginner skateboarding areas are positioned on opposite sides of the site, ensuring both high-performance training and accessible entry points. An indoor skatepark and training club occupy one corner, providing all-weather facilities and long-term athlete development.

Children’s play areas are located adjacent to leisure zones, enabling easy parent-child interaction, while community seating, shaded rest areas, and landscaped edges offer spaces for relaxation and observation. This inclusive programming transforms the skatepark into a multi-generational public destination rather than a single-use facility.

A Landscape Language Rooted in Culture and Coast

The project’s visual identity draws from both coastal ecology and street culture. Artist Lin Zinan developed a restrained palette of soft greys and earthy tones, punctuated by low-saturation coral accents that inject energy without overwhelming the landscape. The result is a fresh, artistic, and approachable environment, dynamic enough for competition, yet calm enough for everyday use.

Concrete seating flows organically around planted zones, encouraging spontaneous social interaction. Interspersed greenery further softens the hardscape, reinforcing the idea of a skatepark embedded within nature rather than imposed upon it.

Flexible Architecture and Future Adaptability

The architectural components of the project embrace flexibility and uncertainty. Designed with a lightweight steel structural system, the buildings allow for multiple future uses, ranging from student accommodation and retail to exhibitions and dining. Walls and interiors can be reconfigured as needs evolve, keeping the architecture open-ended and resilient over time.

During GRAND MASTERS 2024, the building became a live graffiti stage, showcasing street art as public performance. In 2025, it was transformed into a dining venue, demonstrating the adaptability of the architectural framework. Large cantilevered roofs, transparent façades, composite panels, and polycarbonate sheets create a clean, serene atmosphere with subtle references to Zen aesthetics.

Indoor Skatepark and Year-Round Community Use

A dedicated building houses the indoor skatepark, supported by NIKE as a long-term partner of the GRAND MASTERS and Riverain’s sports community. Designed to nurture the next generation of Chinese skateboarders, the facility offers professional training spaces usable in all weather conditions.

To reduce environmental impact and operational costs, the indoor skatepark employs a lightweight steel structure and curtain walls with roll-up fireproof shutters. These can be opened during favorable weather to allow natural ventilation and visual continuity with the outdoor skatepark. Large ceiling fans enhance thermal comfort during hot summers, while spectator stands, storage areas, and a dance studio support both training and community engagement.

A New Model for Urban Sports Landscapes

AVENUE & SON Skatepark North Coast stands as a new model for contemporary sports landscapes, where professional athletic infrastructure, public space, and cultural life intersect. By weaving skateboarding into the fabric of everyday urban experience, the project fosters social connection, creative expression, and active living, transforming a skatepark into a shared civic landscape by the sea.

All the photographs are works of SFAP