Contact by Midas Skatepark builders?

Hi
We have been contacted by Midas Construction UK who say:

Midas has built some of the most famous skateparks in the UK and we have probably built more freeform parks than any other company in the last two years. I have attached a couple of pictures for you to see our work.
www.midasconstructionuk.com

He has sent in some photos of a park being built - let me know if you want them fwd'ing to you - I can't seem to attach to this message.

Has anyone any feedback about Midas or their parks?

D

From what I can gather, Midas have only been responsible for building one actual skatepark. This is Cantelowes in London. Although the standard of design, construction and finish are generally good, 2 years on, they are still having problems with one of the bowls seeping water in from the surrounding ground. Which is unacceptable.

Jeremy Donaldson who is a local skater, architect and skate park designer was I think entirely responsible for the design and Midas just built what they were told to.

Midas are not specialist skatepark builders, just a construction company who have recently diverged into building skateparks. I don't they will be able to give any meaningful input in to the design process unlike Maverick and Gravity who have skaters on their design teams.

I would say that the project would also need a specialist architect/designer if the intention was to use a company like Midas.

They have also built Whites Grounds, a small plaza type affair which is entirely street based so the quality of design, construction and finish are not as critical as a park with transitions.

Personally I would be extremely reticent to consider a non-specialist builder especially as there seems to be at least three companies in the UK who will be able to translate skaters' ideas into a workable park from their experience of actually skating.

Sorry, it says on their site that they have built 15 skate parks. As I've never heard of the company before, it's unlikely that they are 'many of the UK's premier skateparks' as they claim though.

I'll ask around and find out what else they've built.

It appears that Midas were merely the construction sub-contractors for Cantelowes and Whites Grounds. Wheelscape http://www.wheelscape.co.uk were responsible for the designs. I'll try and get some further info on Wheelscape.

So it would seem that if Midas are going to be in the picture, then it would be better to go via Wheelscape who seem to have plenty of design experience.

I don't really see how Midas could claim to be able take on a skatepark project directly.

Cantelows is fun for an hour or so, the crete has had repairs in several places already and is prone to flooding. Seem to get the idea from the locals they prefered the old one.

Not sure who is responsible for the meanwhile2 (royal oak) revamp in london but they got that pretty much perfect. Its not a big space to start with but has something for most skaters, nice hip, curved 1/4 that can be used to transfer into the original meanwhile 2 spot from the 70's and huge flat blank and a two step mk style block/manny pad.