Spot
Loading spot
Southbank Undercroft
The Long Live Southbank spot. Banks, manuals, and stairs under the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Saved by skaters in 2014.
5.0
1
ROUGH CONCRETE
6.5/10
// ACCESSIBILITY
No accessibility tags yet.
// ADD A TAG →Conditions
The weather service could not be reached. Check back shortly.
When To Skate
| DAY | MORNING | AFTERNOON | EVENING | NIGHT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUN | ||||
| MON | ||||
| TUE | ||||
| WED | ||||
| THU | ||||
| FRI | ||||
| SAT |
History of this spot
Since 1973
JAN 1, 1967
London's most distinctive skateboarding site since 1973. Saved from demolition in 2014 by the Long Live Southbank campaign and granted Asset of Community Value status.
Background. The Queen Elizabeth Hall opened on the Southbank Centre site in 1967, designed in the brutalist style with a large undercroft beneath the foyer. Skaters discovered the undercroft in 1973 — covered from rain, smooth concrete, with sloped banks reminiscent of the empty pools in California — and the site became the focal point of the UK skate scene through the 1980s and 1990s. The undercroft has hosted skateboarding, BMX, graffiti, busking, and informal performance continuously for over five decades. In March 2013 the Southbank Centre announced the Festival Wing plans, a proposed redevelopment that would have closed the undercroft and replaced it with restaurants and retail. The Long Live Southbank campaign launched in April 2013 in response. Through 2013 and 2014 the campaign lobbied Lambeth Council, ultimately securing the undercroft's designation as an Asset of Community Value — effectively blocking the redevelopment. On 18 September 2014 Long Live Southbank signed a Section 106 agreement with the Southbank Centre guaranteeing the space's long-term future. In 2017 a Long Live Southbank crowdfunding campaign raised over £850,000 to restore boarded-up sections of the undercroft. The space is open, free, and continuously used.
- Skaters first identify the undercroft as a usable space.
- Southbank Centre announces the Festival Wing plans, threatening the undercroft with redevelopment.