Palace, manor place

Designed and built by Betongpark in collaboration with JAM Architects and Stage Services, the Manor Place skatepark is a skateable landscape set within a restored Victorian bathhouse. The project brings together skateboarding and football within a single, adaptive reuse of a historic structure, referencing London’s skateboarding past while introducing new spatial possibilities.

The design moves away from the conventions of a typical skatepark, combining street-derived elements with forms inspired by 1970s skatepark design. A variety of concrete forms, textures, and materials are seen throughout the space, creating a unique skating environment.

At one end, rolled transitions rise to become the highest point of the park, integrating inset steps inspired by Stockwell skatepark. The perimeter of the football cage is activated with street-influenced features, including a custom-fabricated Californian inspired school bench. At the opposite end, banked slabs reference Palace Skateboards’ origins at Southbank Undercroft, accompanied by board-marked concrete seating and integrated planting of ferns, grasses, and a cherry blossom tree.

A granite-paved strip runs through the centre of the space, anchoring salvaged and restored Victoria Benches, with stained plywood flooring defining the surrounding skateable areas. Together, these elements establish a clear material language, and create multiple lines throughout the space.

Beneath the skatepark sits a concealed, mechanical 3-on-3 football pitch created by Stage Services. The intervention retains the scale and atmosphere of the original baths while introducing a new public function. Manor Place provides a significant free-to-use covered facility for London’s skateboarding and football communities, offering one of the largest spaces of its kind in the city.