Sports cluster at VDNH // Kyiv
The Sports cluster project at VDNH was initiated by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with the support of the President's Office and the Ministry of Community and Territorial Development
The concept of the Sports cluster was developed by the Big City Lab urban bureau team in cooperation with the PUPA urban bureau and the Street Culture platform.
Since its opening, more than a million people have visited the Sports cluster each year. We believe that the project’s success is rooted in the fact that our team conducted more than 50 interviews with sports and street culture leaders and surveyed 2,300 people who regularly visit the VDNH complex. This allowed us to understand what kind of space visitors need: what they want to do there, what is important to them. This participatory approach enabled our team to create a place that the locals and all residents and visitors to the capital instantly loved.
The context
VDNH is a 286-hectare area located in the southern part of Kyiv. It is an innovative and vibrant area for recreation, work, creativity and communication, where the entrepreneurial culture is supported, thereby increasing the attractiveness and competitiveness of the city.
VDNH is the most popular park in Kyiv, with 4.5 million visitors annually. The area allows the hold of various events: competitions, festivals, holidays, concerts, and thematic events using both exhibition pavilions and the whole park.
Creating the Sports cluster will allow us to attract new visitors and develop the sports community at VDNH.
The concept
The concept of the Sports cluster is to bring together venues for different sports subcultures in one place, encourage cooperation between sports clubs, and promote sport among the population.
The project’s main goal is to create an environment in Kyiv for healthy recreation, active leisure, and support for youth sports, as well as to promote a healthy lifestyle among children and adolescents.
Basic principles for creating a sports cluster
- Provide active recreation areas for different age groups
- Creating a safe space
- Barrier-free approach
- Durability and anti-vandalism
- Modernity and style
- Provide comfort and service
- Comfort for parents and children
Research
As part of the concept development, we carried out two studies:
- Qualitative research with sports and street culture leaders: 50 in-depth interviews with community representatives
- Quantitative research: a survey of VDNH visitors (2300 respondents)
Design principles
The sports cluster supports two main themes:
- Protecting the natural environment and promoting new green spaces
- Creating a variety of public spaces to fill visitors' leisure time and encourage them to come back more often.
The Sports cluster is made up of four zones:
- Urban Park
- Recreation area
- Events zone
- Water zone
Urban Park
Urban Park is the most active zone of the Sports cluster, located in the northern part of the space and closest to the bustling centre. It is a space for movement, challenge, and self-expression: a skate park, street games, training areas, and bouldering and parkour locations create an atmosphere of freedom and drive.
The mission of the urban park is to create a cultural environment that fosters creative thinking and self-expression. Everyone can become part of a community of people who share the values of professionalism, self-development and constant movement.
The first section
Includes a skate park for skateboarders, BMX bikers, trick scooters and rollerbladers. Nearby is an event area for street dancing, a play area for street ball with 3x3 and 5x5 courts, and street soccer with 3x3 and panna cotta courts.
The main criterion for this location is the possibility of holding spectacular events and contests, the presence of multi-level stands that allow you to watch festivals or events, and elements that provide everyday comfort for visitors.
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The second section: the territory of strength and agility
Has three large areas for climbing, parkour and street workouts. These areas are designed for different types of training, experiments and contests.
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The third section: the children's world of movement
This is a children's urban park aimed at younger users. It includes small bouldering figures, trampolines, and a space for children’s street workouts and parkour.
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All parts of the urban park work in synergy, allowing new users to fully immerse themselves in street culture and try out different styles. An essential part of the urban park is the connecting public space, which acts as a central core to which all the urban locations lookout.
Barrier-free approach
What we have considered in the design and layout of the Urban Park's zones and public spaces:
- All surfaces are at the same height.
- An accessible restroom has been built.
- The height of the stands in the food courts is 1.2 metres.
- There are multi-age physical activity areas for children, teenagers and adults.
- All surfaces are free of bevels, coarse or fine-grained. They are wheelchair accessible and comfortable for tactile navigation.
- A pedestrian walkway and green areas separate all zones to avoid conflicts.
- Sites are identified by the colour of the paving, which makes visual orientation easier.
- Many seating areas are provided in the form of stands at different heights, providing a convenient option for visual inspection of the area at different scales.
- There are facilities for both individual and team sports.
- An accessible swimming pool with exercise equipment for people with disabilities provides a complete cycle of rehabilitation exercises.
- There are zones with different noise levels so visitors can move from a more active zone to a quieter one and take a break.
- Security cameras are located throughout the site to ensure a timely response to crime or first aid.
- Appropriate landscaping provides calm in the quieter areas and shade in the recreational areas.
- There is sufficient lighting in both large open areas and narrower passageways to ensure the safety of all visitors.
- There is exercise equipment for wheelchair users.
The team
Big City Lab is an urban bureau that works on the development of cities and territories.
PUPA urban bureau has experience creating more than 40 public spaces in Europe. The bureau's architects developed the architectural solution for the cluster concept and the design of the public space.
The Street Culture Platform and Urban Reforms NGO’s team created the idea and implemented four city parks in Kharkiv, Ukraine, developed the concept of sports facilities in the Urban Park and involved the street culture community in the development process.
Leaders of the Run Ukraine community helped develop the track route.
Researchers from U Sport NGO studied popular sports at the VDNH.
Mind Work Ramps, which has experience in building more than 100 skateparks and landscape facilities worldwide, developed a concrete skatepark project.
Involved experts and sports communities
CONCRETE SKATE PARK
Janis Kundzins and Gennady Borysov (Latvia, Mind Work Ramps)
Consultants and athletes of extreme street cultures (skateboarding, trick scooter, bmx, rollerblading) Maksym Bulka, Yaroslav Dykan, Dmytro Shabanov, Anton Maslov, Vasya Lukyanenko.
STREET DANCE AND PERFORMANCE SPACE
Street dancers: Andriy Kurnosov, Maksym Orobets, Viktor Chulanovskyy, Valeriy Bychkov, street dance event teams, Breakidz hip-hop festival, Breakin' Federation of Ukraine, Oleksandr Skyba and Konstyantyn Trofimov, UDANCE street dance platform, Vladyslav Saloon, Battle School breakin' festival.
STREETBALL ZONE
Ukrainian Streetball League USL 3x3 under the direction of Stanislav Svitlytskyy, street basketball players Vyacheslav Medvedenko (Lakers), Dmytro Kryvenko (Heroes of the court).
RUNNING
Ihor Kretov, Konstyantyn Bozhko, Danylo Sapunov, Yuriy Pidlisnyi.
CLIMBING AND BOULDERING
Mykola Silevich, Anton Gryshkovyy from Format, climbers from the Space team led by Oleh Pokusaev.
SWIMMING
Andriy Forys, Olha Berseneva, Dmytro Moskat, Dmytro Barandich, Vasyl Leskiv, Andriy Vlaskov (Ukrainian Swimming Federation).
STREET FOOTBALL ZONE
Street football coaches and athletes from Ukrfreestyle led by Andriy Dunayevskyy and Ukrpanna led by Serhiy Savenko.
STREET WORKOUT AND FITNESS
Workout athletes from the Barstylers team, Ivan Krylenko (All-Ukrainian Street Workout Federation), Vadym Humeniuk (Ukrainian Fitness Association) and Serhiy Koniushok (Ukrainian Strongman Federation).
PARKOUR ZONE
Yaroslav Padalka from Prockach, parkour athletes Artur Polych, Oleksandr Titarenko, Anna Hryukach and the Prockach parkour team led by Oleh Malafeev.
