Urban Parkour

My design allows beginners and advanced Free Runners to travel around Plymouth City Centre in a number of different ways. I have concentrated on a particular part of the route, developing how the Free Runners move over the building. The Unite Building at Aramda Way is my chosen proposed site to develop. This particular part of the route will be used by the advanced Free Runners, as it takes them up on top of the roof through difficult obstacles.

For the Free Runner to navigate their way over the building they will have to perform particular moves to negotiate their way through the obstacles. I have concentrated on four movements:

Climbing – this is aided by the platforms jutting out of the front of the building. The Free Runner has to climb these platforms using any route they want to reach their destination.

Dashing – this is where the Free Runner uses a low wall to jump over quickly by placing their hands on the surface of the wall to support themselves. This is the first obstacle they will meet.

Jumping – from using the high platforms provided the Free Runner can use them to jump from one level to another.

Flipping – by cutting into the existing structure , stepped walls have been provided for the Free Runner to perform flips against. To aid with this movement there are spring loaded platforms that they can use.



The main material used for the Free Runner's furniture is concrete. It will blend with the existing materials in the area and gives a rough urban feel to the route. Concrete can be easily manufactured into the different shapes by using batch processing techniques. The concrete will be fixed to the building using resin anchors, which will be drilled into the existing structure. The platforms used for flipping against will use heavy industrial springs, which again will be anchored into the main building using resin.