Skate Park 2025 Design Competition

COMPETITION BRIEF

Every year, Clark Nexsen welcomes new hires from all of its offices with a new hire and intern retreat. Held in Raleigh this past summer, 15 of our new and talented colleagues took part in a design project competition based on a real project from the Raleigh office, a skate park in the town of Wake Forest. The project is an expansion of the Joyner Park Community Center that will offer the community new amenities and opportunities for programing and fitness. The group divided up into teams and spent a day in a design charrette, which was then presented to staff and a group of guests. Once the retreat was over, teams had four weeks to develop their ideas and submit their proposals.  

FIRST PLACE

West Meadow Skate 
Piper Bratton, Angellina Coats, Ollie Fast, Will Shoenbill

The West Meadow Skate proposal was immediately noticeable due to its sophisticated, and well executed, site plan, which was paired with high-quality graphics. The jury liked the attention and thought given to the building materials and the plants used for the site.  

SECOND PLACE

Skate Park 
Ben Clayton, Margarito Martinez 

The Skate Park proposal utilized a simple scheme and made use of the entire site. Additionally, this proposal consolidated the program into one attractive and simple structure. The usage of high-quality graphics and renderings, combined with a great diagram, was well received by the jury.  

THIRD PLACE

Wake Skate 
Joshua Albert, Daniel Boney, Ethan Hall, Elle Newkirk 

The Wake Skate proposal team separated the buildings of the program and created fun and interesting in-between spaces. The jury noted the team’s use of simple architectural forms, excellent freehand drawings, and overall quality and character of the rendered perspective.