Long Live Southbank

In early March 2013, The South Bank Centre unveiled designs for a ￡120 million redevelopment of its Festival Wing that revealed their plan to transform the iconic South Bank Undercroft skate park into retail units. The South Bank Centre proposes to relocate the revered and popular skate spot further down the river, beneath the Hungerford Bridge and build a new skate facility there.
However, the Undercroft is a treasured space, known as the birthplace of British skateboarding and has been home to skateboarders, BMX riders and graffiti artists for the last 40 years. This makes the South Bank Undercroft the oldest recognised and still existing skateboarding space in the world. The Southbank Centre’s proposed redevelopment site contains none of these features, has no history and lacks the unique, dynamic architecture that has made the Undercroft a globally renowned street culture space.
The campaign, Long Live South Bank, is dedicated to protecting the Undercroft, as it is in its current form. We encourage this because we believe its cultural and historical status to be irreplaceable and that its unique architecture and the vitality of the thriving community should be present for future generations.
The book will be a celebration of the history and culture of the Undercroft area of the South Bank and the community that has evolved there over the years.

Ellen Parnavelas is an author and editor based in London, UK.