Bradford facility proposed for transformation into world-first skate park

Twentieth Century (C20) Society, the national charity for the protection of Britain’s modern architecture and design heritage, has joined forces with Ian Chalk Architects to set out a project that would transform Bradford’s derelict Richard Dunn Sports Centre into what they claim would be a world-first skate facility.

The plans outlined today (Friday), which have been put forward to Centre owner Bradford Council, aim to capitalise on the West Yorkshire city’s status as the 2025 UK City of Culture. If realised, ‘The Dunn’ project could see the Grade II listed leisure centre converted into a new national home for skateboarding and action sports in the north of England, creating what its proponents claim will be the first permanent indoor/outdoor Olympic-level skate facility of its type in the world.

Opened in 1978, the Centre’s tented ‘big-top’ has been a landmark on the city skyline for nearly 50 years. Its design was inspired by Kenzo Tange’s pioneering gymnasium for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, and it was one of the earliest projects in the UK to make use of Computer Aided Design (CAD).

However, faced with rising maintenance and energy costs, the Centre permanently closed in 2019. The site was earmarked for redevelopment by the Council only to be initially saved when it was placed on standby in 2020 as a temporary mortuary facility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Faced with the threat of imminent demolition, C20 Society submitted a listing application for the building in late 2021, and in April 2022 it was designated as Grade II listed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), making it one of the first leisure centres of its type to be nationally listed.

However, despite its listing the Centre has since remained empty and fallen prey to vandalism and arson attacks. Its current state of repair saw it used last month as a dystopian filming location for Danny Boyle’s forthcoming feature film, 28 Years Later.

Without a new vision for the building, C20 claims its long-term future is far from certain. As a result, it has drawn up this latest proposal, which has been backed by Skateboard GB, the national governing body for skateboarding in the UK.

The UK currently has no permanent Olympic level skate arena that combines street and park style courses with adequate spectator and competitor facilities. All of these offerings, and more, are proposed to be housed under the ‘big top’ of the former Richard Dunn Sports Centre – rebranded as ‘The Dunn’.

C20 said its vision for The Dunn would adaptively reuse the spaces currently occupied by the empty leisure pool, flumes and former sports hall, by inserting a unique indoor/outdoor skating arena. This would include a 555sqm concrete ‘park style’ concrete bowl that follows the contours of the original leisure pool, and a 1,475sqm ‘street style’ arena that transitions from the indoor sports hall area to a new outdoor course.

Other areas would be repurposed with climbing walls, a café and studio suites to create a versatile new multi-use facility within the existing building.

Catherine Croft, director of Twentieth Century Society, said: “With City of Culture 2025 on the horizon, there’s a real buzz around Bradford at the moment. In the former Richard Dunn Centre you have a genuine landmark building, woven into the social and sporting heritage of the city – robust and unique, yet currently empty, unused and a target for vandalism.

“C20’s proposals for The Dunn show how, with imagination and vision, extraordinary listed buildings like this can be radically yet respectfully reinvented. If realised, they would help write an exciting new chapter for the centre, show Bradford leading the way with environmentally responsible development, and offer young people opportunity and fulfilment through sport – all while becoming a genuine world-first facility for skateboarding and urban sports, underneath that fabulous listed 1970s roof structure.”

Ian Chalk, founder of Ian Chalk Architects, added: “Ian Chalk Architects’ work at Richard Dunn builds on the practice’s work on a number of significant 20th Century buildings, which have been brought back into meaningful use.

“Previous projects have included the Brutalist Camden Town Hall Annexe at Kings Cross, converted into the Standard Hotel, and the delightful Art Deco Poplar Baths in East London, which was transformed from its ruinous state into a new and much-loved community leisure centre.

“We are very excited about the potential for new uses to be incorporated within the fabulous brutalist structure at Richard Dunn, and are very pleased to be collaborating with the 20th Century Society to explore this.”