F51

Hollaway Studio has designed the world’s first multi-storey skatepark in Folkestone, Kent, which sees a trio of timber and concrete bowls stacked alongside a climbing wall and boxing ring.

Words
Jessica Mairs
Photos
Hufton + Crow

Originally designed as a multi-storey carpark for the site of an old bingo hall, the F51 skatepark quickly emerged from the need to provide better resources for the area’s youngest generations in the centre of the regenerating coastal town.

The skatepark is the vision of architect Guy Hollaway, the founder of Hythe- and London-based practice Hollaway Studio, and The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, which was set of by former Saga group owner Roger De Haan. De Haan has steadily been investing in his hometown since selling the holiday and insurance group in 2004. He bought a chunk of the seafront for £11million later that year and commissioned a masterplan by Terry Farrell to reimagine the down-at-heel harbour.

“This isn’t a stand alone project,” says Hollaway, who has now designed a number of projects in Folkestone, including the Rocksalt restaurant and a fountain square at the harbour. “When De Haan left Saga, he made Folkestone his project. His vision is to make Folkestone a really great place to live, work and play.”

F51 is set just a stone’s throw back from the sea on the edge of the Folkestone’s new Creative Quarter with the intention of bringing skating in from the perimeter of the town to the centre. “Normally it would be out of town and it wouldn’t be part of the community, whereas this is really encouraging young people to come and to say to them ‘you’re the most important customer in town because you are the future’,” says Hollaway.

The concrete building, shrouded in a layer of crushed metal that reflect its “urban” nature, widens out from its glazed base to accommodate large skating floors punctured by the occasional triangular window – netted over on the inside to protect against flying skateboards – a 15-metre climbing wall and an area dedicated to boxing. The under side of the first concrete bowl scoops down into the ceiling of a cafe set alongside a ticket desk and medical room within the glazed ground floor.

While moving away from original plans to leave the floors open to the elements, Hollaway retained the idea of creating F51 as as a “cold building” with no insulation in the facades so as to keep the interior of the “adrenaline building” cool for high intensity sports like skating, BMXing, boxing and climbing.

Hollaway worked with skatepark specialists Maverick Skateparks and Cambian Action Sports to design and build the three bowls to suit beginners as well as professionals. One floor emulates a streetscape with steps, railings and ledges, while another pays homage to the empty swimming pools used for skating in Dogtown, Southern California in the 1970s. “What we didn’t want to do was design a building that skate community weren’t going to accept or think was cool,” says Hollaway.

F51 is keen to start its next generation of customers young, and a programme giving children membership for just £1 each month has been rolled out in local schools. The prices rises to £9 for a two-hour session for over 16s and at weekends to finance the running of the building.