Kensington skatepark

The Kensington Skatepark, located at the corner of Knight Street and East 37th Avenue in Vancouver, BC, is a 12,000-square-foot facility that serves as a cornerstone of the city’s East Side skate scene. This project was designed and built by New Line Skateparks in 2011, replacing an older, localized spot with a sophisticated concrete landscape. The park was developed through a comprehensive public consultation process, ensuring it met the high standards of Vancouver’s deeply rooted and diverse skate community.

The design is a masterclass in "technical flow," featuring a layout that provides a distinct separation between high-performance transition and street-style terrain. The centerpiece is a large, open-ended flow bowl with varied depths, extensions. Adjacent to the bowl is a dense street plaza that focuses on precision, featuring granite-capped ledges, "slappy" curbs, flat rails, and a central "A-frame" configuration. The transition elements at the park’s edge function as return walls, allowing riders to maintain their speed and loop back into the street features for continuous sessions.

Constructed with high-strength, smooth-troweled concrete, Kensington is known for being "fast" and durable, standing up well to the frequent rainfall of the Pacific Northwest. The park’s location within Kensington Park means it is surrounded by mature trees, providing natural shade, while the integrated concrete seating blocks offer plenty of space for spectators and families. The design also incorporates managed drainage and landscaping that allows the facility to blend seamlessly with the broader park environment. Today, Kensington remains one of Vancouver's most frequented parks, praised for its intuitive layout and its ability to challenge everyone from local "groms" to professional-level riders.