From Halfpipe to Household
With the X Games happening now, see 5 creative ways skateboards and their accessories can slide into home design
Skateboarding has come a long way since the middle of the last century, when California surfers would “sidewalk surf” on planks of wood attached to roller-skate wheels when the waves were bad. Skateboarding will make its debut in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and improvements in board construction have revolutionized the sport.
Extreme sports fans will converge July 13-16, 2017, on the stage that helped put skateboarding into the mainstream: the X Games, this year taking place in Minneapolis (TV coverage starts at 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, with most shown on ESPN). Although it may not inspire us to grab a board and build a skate park in our backyard or basement, here are some creative ways that the materials used in skateboards and skate parks have found their way into the projects of architects and designers.
Extreme sports fans will converge July 13-16, 2017, on the stage that helped put skateboarding into the mainstream: the X Games, this year taking place in Minneapolis (TV coverage starts at 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, with most shown on ESPN). Although it may not inspire us to grab a board and build a skate park in our backyard or basement, here are some creative ways that the materials used in skateboards and skate parks have found their way into the projects of architects and designers.
Bucky Lasek, who with 20 medals is the most awarded vert skater in the history of the X Games, competes in the event's skateboard vert final July 13. He's pictured in Minneapolis July 12.
Photo by Bruce Damonte Photography
1. Siding. This 650-square-foot addition sits on top of a home in San Francisco’s historic Potrero Hill neighborhood. Although the original facade couldn’t be altered during the renovation, the architects covered the new addition in Skatelite, a resilient paper-composite product often used for ramp surfaces, including those at the X Games. Everything from the roof overhang to the rolling planters is covered in the material, contrasting the glossy white finish of the interior.
Richlite, the company that manufactures Skatelite, is also the name of the material that was developed more than 70 years ago. It was originally used in more industrial settings but has since been embraced by the food, marine and design industries because of its appearance, resilience, cleanliness, availability and relatively affordable price.
1. Siding. This 650-square-foot addition sits on top of a home in San Francisco’s historic Potrero Hill neighborhood. Although the original facade couldn’t be altered during the renovation, the architects covered the new addition in Skatelite, a resilient paper-composite product often used for ramp surfaces, including those at the X Games. Everything from the roof overhang to the rolling planters is covered in the material, contrasting the glossy white finish of the interior.
Richlite, the company that manufactures Skatelite, is also the name of the material that was developed more than 70 years ago. It was originally used in more industrial settings but has since been embraced by the food, marine and design industries because of its appearance, resilience, cleanliness, availability and relatively affordable price.
2. Wheels and doorstops. Skateboards’ polyurethane wheels also have found a place in home design, as seen in the breakfast nook of architects Anni Tilt and David Arkin’s Bay Area home. The dining table is a salvaged piece of a maple bowling alley lane, sanded and finished with Osmo Polyx-Oil.
Two skateboard wheels on the table’s steel base allow it to be propped up on its edge and rolled out for better access to the nook’s built-in storage. “We like using them because they roll so well and are relatively easy on wood floors too,” Arkin says. “Our son skateboards, so we have some familiarity with them, as well as a seemingly endless supply of worn ones.”
Table fabrication: Yuri Reiter of Metalmorphic Fabrications
Two skateboard wheels on the table’s steel base allow it to be propped up on its edge and rolled out for better access to the nook’s built-in storage. “We like using them because they roll so well and are relatively easy on wood floors too,” Arkin says. “Our son skateboards, so we have some familiarity with them, as well as a seemingly endless supply of worn ones.”
Table fabrication: Yuri Reiter of Metalmorphic Fabrications
In another project, Arkin and Tilt repurposed used skateboard wheels as doorstops. Here we can see a purple wheel on the floor at the edge of the shower-tub, protecting the tile from hard door swings. The son of the owners of this straw-bale house in Santa Cruz, California, is a professional skateboarder, and he provided all the colorful wheels for the project.
15 Bathrooms That Wow With Vivid Color
15 Bathrooms That Wow With Vivid Color
3. Tile. Skateboards can take a beating, and when they break, there’s not much else you can do but throw them out. In this kitchen, reclaimed skateboard decks find new life as a colorful kitchen backsplash from Art of Board. The tiles are made from the wood of the skateboard deck, turning discarded boards that otherwise might end up in a landfill into subway tiles.
Designer Anna Gibson incorporated these wood tiles into a kitchen renovation after her client saw them. “I love it, and the customer still loves it,” she says. “The product is very colorful. It’s wood but yet very durable.” With such a bold backsplash, she kept the rest of the kitchen neutral, pulling out one color from the tile for the countertop.
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Designer Anna Gibson incorporated these wood tiles into a kitchen renovation after her client saw them. “I love it, and the customer still loves it,” she says. “The product is very colorful. It’s wood but yet very durable.” With such a bold backsplash, she kept the rest of the kitchen neutral, pulling out one color from the tile for the countertop.
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In another project, the same tile appears as the risers of a staircase. Without bold paint or decor, this small corner of the house reveals fun color and detail.
4. Shelves. Skateboards are usually 2 to 3 feet long and 7 to 10 inches wide — perfect dimensions for a wall-mounted shelf.
In this apartment in Nice, France, a skateboard bought by the homeowner at a flea market hangs as an entry shelf. Before mounting it to the wall, wheels and all, the homeowner sanded and revarnished it for a clean finish.
In this apartment in Nice, France, a skateboard bought by the homeowner at a flea market hangs as an entry shelf. Before mounting it to the wall, wheels and all, the homeowner sanded and revarnished it for a clean finish.
In this home office, three skateboard decks are mounted without their wheels, nodding to the skateboard theme in a more subtle way.
5. Wall art. We normally see the top of the boards, but their undersides can reveal a bevy of colorful creations often worthy of display. Artists create one-of-a-kind pieces, or foundations collaborate with skateboard companies to re-create iconic art pieces on these wood boards.
In rural New South Wales, Australia, musician Will Onus and his model-artist wife, Simone Viljoen, decorated a wall in their kitchen with a row of collectors-edition Andy Warhol skateboards.
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In rural New South Wales, Australia, musician Will Onus and his model-artist wife, Simone Viljoen, decorated a wall in their kitchen with a row of collectors-edition Andy Warhol skateboards.
See more of this home
Although this mirror could never be used as a skateboard, real wheels and trucks have been attached to it to create the illusion of a wall-mounted mirrored deck.
Show us: Have you incorporated extreme sports into your home’s design? Please share photos in the Comments.
More: See 3 incredibly creative features for kids
Show us: Have you incorporated extreme sports into your home’s design? Please share photos in the Comments.
More: See 3 incredibly creative features for kids