Cool Meets Custom at Skateboarding Legend Paul Rodriguez's Primitive Skate Park
When skateboarding pro and Primitive Skateboarding founder Paul Rodriguez (AKA P-Rod) set out to create the ultimate private skate park for the Primitive Team’s elite group of competitive skateboarders, he knew the park’s audio system would need to match the team’s unrivaled commitment to performance and style.
Rodriguez and Futronix integrator Brian Brett worked closely with Leon’s team of designers, engineers, and craftspeople to custom-design several custom AV pieces that fit with Rodriguez’s renowned accomplishments and classic California hip-hop style.
Rodriguez, an eight-time X Game medal winner and musician, was involved in the park’s design down to the last detail. “We wanted to do something real clean, maybe a little bit modern,” he says. “Brian from Futronix introduced me to Leon and he was giving me some ideas of what could be done.”
One of the first pieces to be designed? A one-of-a-kind Sound Sculpture that would look and sound great both in-person and on-camera when filming tricks. The sculpture is made up of 30 retired Primitive skateboard decks—each coated in a metallic gold underneath to highlight the form of each board.
From its spot over the pool table just outside the park’s main landing, the sculpture complements Primitive’s luxe-meets-clean aesthetic while its modified Terra FIVE series speakers provide next-level audio for the team both on and off their boards.
Leon’s Head of Global Design, Rob Waissi, headed up the sculpture’s final design. “Paul came up with a unique idea to integrate not only audio—but also lighting, in the form of a kind of chandelier concept above a pool table,” he says. “We partnered with American Lighting to create a custom LED bar with adjustable coloring and brightness. We wanted the light to be reflected between the red and gold sides of the skateboards, and the result looked so cool—it had this totally unique glow.”
Brett and Rodriguez also landed on two custom versions of Leon’s iconic Edge Media Frame to integrate their TVs and soundbars into the park’s high-end, design-oriented interiors. Installed in the vertical wood slat wall of the main rec room, an Edge Frame made entirely of repurposed wood from decommissioned skateboards pays tribute to the sport’s rich history.
Leon craftsman and lifelong skateboarder Rhett Smith, who had experience building his own speaker cabinets out of scraps from local board shops, was excited to share a process he had previously developed when Brett and Rodriguez approached the team.
“Skateboarding is a big part of my life,” says Smith, who runs his own skateboard business during his off time. “I got super excited to be a part of the team to work on the project for P-Rod. I had 75 cut-up skateboards for a different project, but then I realized that I had just enough to do this Edge Frame! It took about three weeks to finish the whole project.”
The final result is a one-of-a-kind layered multicolor frame that matches the park’s bold, retro style and evokes both the creativity and history of skateboarding itself.
The second Edge TV Frame, designed by Leon’s team to evoke the classic dimensional look of a 1960s Philco Predicta tv, continues the park’s retro-modern feel. Custom gold-colored beveling creates the illusion of a retro rounded screen inside of Edge’s sleek hardwood frame, while metallic grille fabric provides the finishing touch for an elegant and iconic look that contrasts beautifully with the dark forest green of the room’s paneled walls.
Rodriguez was stoked about the park’s final look and how well each of Leon’s custom pieces fit with the park’s overall vibe. “I think it's a perfect match” he says.
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Park Photos by David Waldorf
Photos of P-Rod Courtesy of Oliver Barton
