Transition Extreme Sports is a registered charity that was set up to create an exciting indoor centre for Skateboarding, in-line skating, BMX and climbing for Aberdeen.  Chief Executive, Neil Stevenson, persuaded Aberdeen City Council of the benefits of the project and they backed the project to the tune of £1.26 million.  The remainder of the £2.7m budget was raised from numerous sources with donations from Sport Scotland, oil companies and trust funds along with Transitions’ own fund raising events.

The site at Aberdeen’s Queen’s Links near the beach fitted in well with the Councils policy of the area being designated the Aberdeen Beach Leisure zone.  The site itself was previously outdoor tennis courts that had been unused and derelict for many years.  We designed the building in such a way that we didn’t impact on the surrounding green space of the Links.  Given the prominent location of the site we were charged with creating an iconic building, not only to suit the activities within, but to showcase the wider extreme sports opportunities available in the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire areas.

The Skate/BMX Hall has fantastic ramps, transitions and bowls that were designed by a specialist company.  The main feature is the ‘Swimming pool’, a spectacular double bowl feature that challenges even the most skilled riders.  The Climbing Hall has features that cater to both line climbers and bouldering and is a Scottish Climbing Regional status Centre.  The highest walls are over 15m high and the main feature is the Colorado with its sever overhang.  The walls cater for all standards of climbing from beginners up to the highest classification of difficulty.

As well as the two main halls housing the core sports activities, the building has a range of other facilities.  These are housed in the two storey section between the two halls.  The main entrance leads into the Visitor Centre which has interactive computer terminals given information on the extreme sports activities in the area.  To the right of the entrance there are two retail units, the larger one is operated by Tiso and the smaller one by Boarderline.  The reception is at the far end of the Visitor Centre with the changing rooms beyond.  The access to the sports halls is also off the Visitor Centre as is the access to the Street basketball court.  On the first floor there is the Energy Café, named because it is sponsored by Shell and serves healthy food options.  From the Café there are great views out over the Links to the beach front beyond.  From either side of the Café there is access to balconies that give great views over the Skate/BMX hall and Climbing hall. The Transition offices and toilets are housed in the centre of the building and at the opposite side there is the Recreation and chill out area which also has great views out over the adjacent bowling club to the Broad Hill beyond.  There is a meeting room, available to hire, which is fully kitted with all electronic facilities required in the modern age.  Beyond this there are two music band practice rooms.

Externally we created a dynamic look to emphasise the sporting intent of the building with the low curved roof of the Skate/BMX hall running into the Climbing hall roof, which is also curved but soars from its lower edge up to cover the highest climbing walls.  The Skate/BMX hall has a horizontal emphasis to the cladding, while the Climbing Hall uses cladding orientate vertically to highlight the height of the walls within.

Visit Transition Extreme here