Luxembourg City skatepark has been built in the park of the Peitruss Valley, at the bottom of the Vauban fortress built all around the old town of Luxembourg that appears on the UNESCO world heritage list. Nowadays the Valley is a natural borderline between the Old Town and the New Town. After years it has become a highly frequented site, with playgrounds, Fitness Park, green lands, underwood pathways, family and picnic areas...
The skatepark is directly located right at the bottom of the bridge crossing the Valley, coming from the central station and going into the Old Town.
Luxembourg City had to ensure its position of European megalopolis by edifying a European-sized skatepark. With a total surface of 2750 m², including a small bowl, one big bowl with a cradle and a deep-end of 3m20 high with pool coping, a street dome and a street plaza, Peitruss Skatepark becomes one of the biggest and one of the most attractive in Europe.
The skatepark is fully polyvalent, adapted for the practice of all urban sports such as skateboarding, rollerblading and BMX, but also adapted to all levels of practice, from the beginner to the professional.
Constructo Skatepark Architecture won the European design & build competition in 2014. A public participation took place, the users from the skateboard community were involved in the discussion to achieve a skatepark according to their needs. The building process lasted for 12 months, and the project was officially inaugurated in July 2016.
To be smoothly integrated into the patrimonial context, the design of the skatepark reinterprets the geometrical design of the Vauban fortress, which is seen in the peripheral benches and curbs. To reinforce the patrimonial aspect, the design integrates stone walls and stone cladding on the benches that makes the skatepark disappearing into the Vauban's Wall.
The project also integrates a lot of different site constraints, such as the fact that the project is built over a concrete holding tank for a former gas firm and hazardous waste. It was not allowed to touch the concrete tank during the building process, to avoid any pollution leaking into the ground and groundwater. The project has also to deal with the underground water, quite close to the surface. The rain waters retained in the bowls are drained to a pump, and then rejected into the water drain system of the city.
The landscape insertion has been reinforced by using different colors for the concrete slabs, such as cream and brown, approaching the colors of the surroundings. For the street plaza, the design includes a patchwork based on three shades of grey that reminds the different shades of the wall. The project includes all public facilities, benches, water fountains, public toilets, bicycle parking, and 12 light masts insuring a secured night use.
