Introducing: Byrrrh and Skate, the Anderlecht (Belgium) based DIY skate park built by Youssef Abaoud, and a whole host of his friends. Their mission: to finally secure a long term space to skate. And more than that; they want to grow globally to offer facilities to everybody through their sessions, courses and workshops. But will they be able to last more than the three year lease they’ve been given?
Where did it all start, Youssef?
We started this project three years ago. I used to work in an old factory called Byrrh – an old french aperitif – as a social worker. But when that closed, the warehouse was left empty and we had the chance to build a skate park from scratch. Using old wood and pallets we put our energy, time and a bit of money into building a skateable area.
Sadly, after almost a year we had to move out and find a new place. So find a new place we did, but again after 10 months of hard work we had to stop. Finally, after a year we were chosen for a new project in a new location. And that’s where we are now.
What was this project?
In fact, it came from the beginning! We shared a place with a dude who was building a wooden boat, and we became good friends. We liked his work and he was impressed by ours. He was working for this big company who were buying warehouses to rebuild them into something, but in the time it takes them to start the build we can get in there for at least 3 years.
And you built Byrrrh and Skate yourself?
Yes! But with the help of a lot of friends. The last build had like 50 different people from all over Belgium. In the beginning, I was almost alone. I was thinking: how am I going to manage this space? But we got hooked up by Levi’s Skateboarding, got new wood and new tools, and friends just came.
“I knew a guy who knew a guy who was a gravedigger…”
We talked about what we wanted to build, and decided to mix wooden and concrete obstacles. From the start I wanted it to be built with granite. I knew a guy who knew a guy who was a gravedigger, he built tombstones and gave us a lot of wasted rock. I cut them and stuck them all over the place.
So some of your park is literally made out of gravestones? That’s rad.
Yeah! Now we are rolling six days a week, trying to find the best times to be open. Our goal is to give access to facilities for everyone who wants to skate, offering courses and a skate camp, even workshops on how to build obstacles.
And music?
Sometime we’ll throw concerts, and we are already working on a small festival with skate jams and rock bands. We want to build a concrete park in the yard. Yeah, there’s a lot till to come.
(Credit: Stéphanie Humez)
Would you call this DIY?
From my point of view, skaters were doing this stuff long before we called it DIY. When we were kids we used to build our own spots, and we just kept going. We want to build what we want to skate, and we don’t want to skate those shit parks from companies who know nothing about skateboarding. And it’s funny how you can actually just find material in the street and other unexpected places yourself.
Is Byrrrh built to last?
We all hope so! We have a minimum of 3 years in this location, and still have a lot to do. I want to build more stuff in the park, but the big new project is the 400m2 yard we want to fill with concrete. Whatever happens, we will never stop building.
