Recreation Meets Resilience in Danish Skatepark

Integrated into a drainage canal, a new skateboard park can provide stormwater detention in flood conditions.

The site of an old concrete factory in Roskilde, Denmark, is now set to double as a recreational skateboard park and emergency flood reservoir, creatively addressing the area’s complex challenges of redevelopment and climate change.

Designed by the Danish company Nordarch, the 24,000 ft²Rabalder Parken skatepark has a steel ramp and bowl area for ollies and nose-slides but is also integrated into a water canal that leads to a lake. Excess water can be diverted to the skate bowl for storage during strong rainstorms to mitigate damaging floods, which Nordarch says are an increasingly severe problem in Denmark because of climate change. According to Inhabitat.com, the park’s rainwater harvesting system can cumulatively store up to 812,237 ft³ (23,000 m³) of water—a small lake’s worth of capacity.

The multi-use system means a standalone drainage structure won’t take up public space for only occasional use and that recreational opportunities are provided for the surrounding communities. The project was recently nominated for the Sustainable Concrete 2013 award as well as the 2013 Index: Awards.