Adaptive reuse, skateboarding, and shoes.

Hmm.  A curious mix indeed.  As is the project brief for a large underground venue to host performance spaces, art galleries, video display, food and drink, and, most surprisingly, a large skate park.  All within 150 year old brick train tunnels under an active rail yard.

This is a nifty project.  Architecture is all about space.  It’s about how a space is defined, how it feels, and how it performs.  To the architect, materials, light, and volume are the palette.  With those tools, inspiration can come from anywhere.  And here, the architects have done a great job at embracing the motifs and physical features of the skateboarding world (including the pattern often used in Vans shoes) to shape their design.   Deft moves of concrete and a splendid use of light enhance the rough and rigid train tunnels to create a dynamic series of interconnected rooms.  Altogether, despite its seemingly rough and tumble nature, the whole assemblage actually feels kind of refined.

Very cool.  House of Vans in London, by Pete Hellicar and Tim Greatrex.