We have designed the Parkour Park Seraing in collaboration with the city of Seraing and SeRaMCo. This pilot urban sports park project contributes to the Seraing Valley Masterplan 1, which targets to revitalize public spaces in the City of Seraing (Belgium) and to showcase the results and products made of recycled demolition waste developed in the SeRaMCo project.
The core ambition of Parkour Park Seraing is to provide the local parkour practitioners a safe place to train and practice. The park functions as a public playground and gathering space for people and practitioners from all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds. The park consists of an assemblage of concrete products derived from the prefab industry and innovative concrete prototypes developed by TU Delft. (e.g. sound absorbing walls, cooling concrete, rammed concrete blocks and salty concrete elements). Apart from exhibiting the rich potentials of recycled concrete, these elements will be placed in the park to convey the message that the products we create are in need of repairing the intrinsic damage they cause on the earth resources during production, use and at end of life.
Considering the practitioners’ needs in practicing various movements, the concrete elements are carefully designed and positioned in the park: Diverse assortment of elements allow numerous variations in heights, size and density. Public functioning of the site is improved by introducing a new entry point, indicating the park as a part of the network of sports facilities in its immediate surroundings.
Simultaneously, this connection forms a passage that helps to divide the park in a passive and active zone, creating an extra buffer between the general public and the practitioners. The passive zone can be used as a multi-purpose open space whilst the active zone is used for dynamic activities, which practitioners can safely run, jump and move in. In order to decrease the risk of injuries, a soft rubber flooring is supplied in this area. In addition to the concrete elements, metal bars are introduced to accommodate other urban sports such as calisthenics and urban workouts. Multiple disciplines of parkour can be practiced in the park which can be used either individually or in a group depending on the practitioner's skill.
The joint collaboration between the designers at Delft University of Technology, Arebs, Prefer, Parkourschool Liege and SeRaMCo partners will lead to a unique display of research, design, and production which will be materialized in a parkour park made of recycled concrete elements.
Sources.
- The Seraing Valley Master plan Reichen-Robert & associets https://www.construction21.org/city/be/master-plan-of-the-seraing-valley.html