For those of you who don’t know, House of Vans London is currently closed to the public while they renovate their street room. This means that you’ll have to dodge inclement March weather and April showers elsewhere for the next few weeks, but also that May will see the park reopening its doors with an entirely new set of obstacles in that room.

Check out their newsletter to be kept updated – plans haven’t been announced yet, but it’s definitely worth keeping an eye out – and read the press release below for further details.

“Following a jubilant and busy two years, House of Vans London temporarily closed its doors to the public this month in order to update and renovate the space, with particular focus on the street area of its skatepark.

Since opening its doors in August 2014, House of Vans London has served as a hub of the UK skate scene, welcoming both novices and seasoned shredders under its arches. To put it into figures they have provided a massive 205 skate school sessions, which equates to over 6,100 people receiving free expert coaching and equipment hire.

In addition to the skate school, the venue has hosted over 500 free skate sessions, providing an essential indoor sanctuary under Waterloo train station for skaters to hone their skills undercover from London’s unpredictable weather. Popular monthly events such as the all-girls skate night, which is accompanied by free cocktails and yoga, and Sk8 Fry-Days, where skaters are treated to free beer and fried chicken, also saw a strong turn out on a monthly basis. The plans for the new street area of the skatepark are still under wraps, but it will contain an all new set of obstacles that have been chosen with the advice from regular park users in mind.

Robert Smith, House of Vans London Venue Manager and professional skateboarder said: “After two and a half years of the current skatepark setup it’s time for a fresh approach, we operate in such a challenging space it’s hard to please everyone’s tastes, taking into consideration the feedback from our regular users, beginners to professionals, we are confident the new plan conjured up by ourselves at HoV, and the good guys over at Gravity Skateparks will be a much better use of the street area.” 

While skating is deeply engrained in Vans’ roots, House of Vans London is much more than just a skatepark. The 3,000 square meter multi-use space aims to foster creativity and culture in an inclusive manner and also houses a gallery, cinema, artist’s studios, music space and a diner. A further 62 art shows, 26 gigs & DJ sets from the likes of Metallica, Dizzee Rascal, Frank Turner and more plus 285 film screenings and 35 film premieres have taken place since the venue opened. All activities are free of charge and open to the public.

The reopening in May is set to live up to the House of Vans legacy, with a jam packed events calendar seeing the return of much loved regular events and a whole host of new ones. Stay tuned for further updates in the coming weeks or sign up to the House of Vans newsletter.”