Even disused, a church is a large-volume public space. So it’s relatively easy to convert them into restaurants, bookstores, even brewpubs — there’s Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh. But this one is creative. The church of Santa Barbara in Llanera, Spain was built in 1912. Slumping into ruin, it was due for demolition until a coalition of citizens raised the money to redo it as a skateboarding facility.

A notable artist, Okuda San Miguel, was hired to paint the interior. (I have to assume that some serious money went into making the roofs and walls sound. Everything begins with a decent roof.) And wow, it looks fabulous! The rainbow color scheme isn’t in the least ecclesiastical but tips a hat to the long-gone stained glass windows. And the artist really worked with the architecture.

I don’t know enough about skateboarding to say how good a church is for this, but you gotta give them points for originality here. Click through on the links to see the painting process and some video of skateboarders swooping back and forth.