For such a planned city like Canberra, it’s ironic that an unplanned skate park in Erindale is the most famous skateboarding site in Australia and now has newly-minted heritage protection.
This accidental skate park (“the Brick Banks”) has starred in international skateboarding magazines and videos more than any other place in Australia and now it’s cemented its place on the ACT Heritage register.
The unsung architects are a bunch of college students who were learning how to build curved brick surfaces. So, if you’re an Erindale College alumni from the class of 1985, congrats, you’ve unwittingly created a wall that’s unparalleled throughout the world.
Now the Brick Banks are preserved for posterity alongside other Canberra icons such as the Civic Merry-go-round and Yarralumla Woolshed.
If you’re wondering why a plain brick wall is historically significant, ask vice president of Canberra Skateboarding Association, Woody (Brenden Wood), who nominated the site for heritage listing almost a decade ago.
“Erindale Banks are unparalleled throughout the world in terms of their uniqueness and profile in the skateboarding community,” Woody said.
“They were not purpose-built for skateboarding – they were built by local technical college students who were learning to construct curved brick surfaces, which required a high degree of creative and technical achievement for that period – but by chance they are ideal natural obstacles that could not be accurately replicated in a purpose-built skate facility.”
International skateboarding champs visit Canberra not for Questacon but for the Brick Banks’ unique design in height, angle, and steepness.
The Brick Banks somehow became Canberra’s “defacto” street skateboarding spot at a time when skateboarding’s popularity was in its infancy.
Eventually, the Brick Banks were converted into Erindale Skate Park in the early ‘90s and modern concrete skate park features were added. Today, the Brick Banks are the last remaining curved brick structures from the original Erindale College and library precinct.
“Erindale Banks are unique and iconic enough to have attracted international coverage in skateboarding media,” Woody said. “The Banks are world renowned and considered an Australian Skateboarding landmark. Erindale Banks are still visited today by many Australian and international professional skateboarders that tour the country, including a visit by the world famous Tony Hawk in 1988.”
So move over Old Parliament House and your classical square design, Erindale’s curved bricks and mortar are now permanently listed on the ACT Heritage Register, recognised for their pivotal role in Canberra’s skateboarding history.
Catherine Skippington, chair of the ACT Heritage Council, said the Brick Banks represented generations of creativity, progression, and community.
“Their steepness and angles have inspired innovation and cemented their place as an iconic skateboarding landmark,” she said.
In other news, the ACT Heritage Council has re-worded the heritage‑listed windbreak at the Former CS & IR Experimental Station in Bradfield Street Downer.
Who said Canberra was boring?
The Council has removed references to the windbreak being made up of Monterey Pines because “the heritage significance of the windbreak lies in its planting pattern, rather than the specific tree species”.
Curvy bricks and straight trees have made history.
