As the high-end residential flagship of an ongoing project to rejuvenate Folkestone’s seafront and harbour, Shoreline represents a complex, curvaceous success for a collaborative project team, as Roseanne Field found out.
Like many UK seaside towns, Folkestone has seen times change since the heyday of British seaside resort holidays being the getaway of choice. Along with the busy ferry port and harbour station, its array of nightclubs, amusement arcades and bathing establishments tell the story of a popular holiday destination. However, as holidaying abroad became more affordable, seaside towns suffered and Folkestone had the double whammy of losing the monopoly to Dover for Channel ferry crossings.
With the port redundant, the area around it also gradually became run down, with the adjacent fairground and flea market closing in 2003. However, the town – and in particular the seafront and harbour area – is now undergoing a period of resurrection and rejuvenation at the hands of local philanthropist Sir Roger De Haan.
The former chairman of package holiday provider SAGA plc, which is based in Folkestone, felt that he owed a debt to the people of the town following his sale of the company to a private equity firm in 2004. Having become a place with little to offer the younger generation, De Haan was determined to make it somewhere people wanted to remain and build their lives in.
He purchased the harbour for £11m in 2004, setting up the Folkestone Harbour and Seafront Development Company with the aim of regenerating what was a dilapidated area. After years of investigation into the best way forward, in 2016 the company invited architecture practices to reimagine the seafront. ACME won the competition with their design for a mixed-use development including up to 1,000 new homes, as well as a variety of public spaces and amenities.
The first parts of the project have now been completed, with the Harbour Arm transformed into a social hub, home to a mix of independent bars and food outlets – including a champagne bar in the Grade II listed lighthouse. The Boardwalk – a new pedestrian route constructed from reconditioned railway sleepers, trails along the cleared and reconditioned beach, and links the Harbour Arm to the Lower Leas Coastal Park. The former harbour station has been refurbished to provide a further route between the Harbour Arm and Boardwalk, as well as providing a space for community events.
The masterplan also includes provisions for several types of residential accommodation, stretching west along the beach from the Harbour Arm behind the boardwalk. Those closest to the harbour are earmarked for affordable housing, while those further along offer a more high-end style of living.
Shoreline is the first of these residential buildings to be completed, sitting impressively at the far end of the site at the foot of the Grade II* listed Leas Lift, one of the UK’s oldest water lifts. It comprises a total of 84 units, made up of 54 one- and two-bedroom apartments, each with a balcony or terrace. In addition there are four duplexes facing the beach, six three-bedroom penthouses each featuring two balconies and a roof terrace, and 20 five storey beach houses boasting direct access onto the beach. The beach houses and duplexes occupy the central portion of the building, with the apartments and penthouses in the two ‘bookends’ on either side. Every unit has its own private outdoor space, either balcony or terrace, with the beach houses having private front and rear gardens and roof terraces.
Since Shoreline’s early planning stages it’s faced mixed reviews from locals. Concerns have been expressed over its beachfront location, as well as the fact that it’s only offering high-end options, with the one-bedroom apartments starting from £395,000 and beach houses north of a million. However, director at ACME James Denner asserts that the luxury nature of the apartments was a natural result of the “exclusive beachfront location; a suitable choice.” Although another controversial part of the plans, the variety on offer within the scheme from one-bed apartments to beach houses was an intentional way to “approach different ways to live by the sea,” says Denner.
Planning & design
The building’s design puts the emphasis on curves, from its balconies to curved walls throughout; the entire building’s facade curves from one end to the other. This is a “contemporary take on the traditional Edwardian curved terrace,” referencing Marine Crescent which sits just behind Shoreline. The form has the benefit of maximising the sea views from every unit, explains Denner. A communal garden sits at the rear of the building at podium level above the undercroft car park, and framed within the curve of the building, this is sheltered from coastal breezes.
Planning constraints included the fact the building needed to sit within the consented masterplan envelope, explains Denner, however this facilitated the height variations and variety of units which contribute to the building’s character. “From a planning perspective, it had to offer exciting features visible from the public realm, such as the facade or the communal garden; although fully private, the latter can be seen from the street, too,” he explains.
The curvaceous forms of the facade were also intended to echo the flow of water and shape of waves, pebbles and the coast, Denner explains. The materials used have been chosen to reflect the historic location but also serve the stringent durability requirements of a seafront – white glazed bricks, from La Paloma in Spain, refer to the “white stucco Regency houses at the top of the Leas,” he says. Tying into this aesthetic was fundamental for the project’s success, with the team wanting to design something that “belonged to Folkestone.” He continues: the “crafted” facade acts as a hard shell with all external elements being of the highest specification possible to endure the marine environment.”
In total over 28 brick ‘specials’ were used, individually cut to fit the curves and contours of the building. The result is a glistening facade that “reflects the sun and sea in sync with local weather patterns,” says Denner. In addition, he says, “a playful interpretation of clinker brick sits within the concave rhythms of the south facade, where individual shaped bricks are pulled forward to create interest and animation.”
Other facade finishes were considered during the design process on their potential aesthetic merits, but disregarded when they were shown to fall short on durability credentials in this location. “Materiality was explored thoroughly, always considering solutions that would adapt to curved geometry while also considering costs and the installation and application process,” says Denner. “Pebbledash and crushed glass render were considered but a mock-up onsite showed they weren’t as enduring to the strong winds and salt in the air.” He adds however that as a “tectonic element,” the bricks’ glazed finish “is efficient in repelling the moisture and salt, ageing much better over time and requiring very little maintenance.”
A pile of challenges
Shoreline was constructed using a reinforced concrete frame, which sits upon foundations consisting of over 200 piles, and there are also marine grade wall ties and stainless steel frame elements. The reinforced masonry frame is “the same material used on deep sea oil rigs for longevity and sustainability,” explains Martin Sandall, managing director of contractor Jenner, who also built the exciting F51 project for De Haan nearby – a multi-storey concrete and steel skate park and gym designed by Guy Hollaway.
The steel for Shoreline was specially designed for the curved facades, and all metal used externally is stainless. The building’s flat roofs are covered in shingle pebbles to not only provide a visual connection to the beach but also deter seagulls from nesting. This has been taken a step further by the regular flying of hawks from the penthouse terraces to scare them off.
The foundation piles were driven to a depth of 27 metres which, explains Sandall, makes the building almost as deep as it is high. These works began just before Covid hit, which naturally brought challenges but also some unexpected benefits for the team. Because construction was in the early stages and still outdoors, work was able to continue uninterrupted, in line with lockdown rules. However, it wasn’t long until the project team began to find huge boulders beneath the site. “Some were as large as double decker buses, which the original piling rig couldn’t handle,” explains Sandall. In a stroke of luck, the largest piling rig in Europe – “typically booked months in advance” – was immediately available due to reduced demand during the pandemic. This enabled what could have been an insurmountable obstacle to the schedule to be removed.
Alongside piling issues, the curved design of the building meant construction was always going to be more complex than many other high-end residential developments. “‘Standardised’ was never going to be an option,” says Sandall. Each brick had to be cut in half in order to create the curve, ultimately doubling the number of bricks to be laid; in the end there were over two million on the project.
The balconies also proved somewhat complicated. Originally white precast concrete was planned, but weighing up to nine tonnes each, the risk associated with crane lifting in this location “effectively ruled this design feature out,” Sandall explains. Jenner explored many different balcony options, eventually settling on a lighter weight aluminium solution that “seamlessly integrated into the building’s curved design.”
The building’s complex geometry also meant installing the balconies and other elements wasn’t straightforward. “The curvature could have led to slab edge congestion and clashes between reinforcement and balcony brackets,” says Sandall. While some of the balconies were standard, with others being of differing sizes and shapes, bespoke balcony arms had to be manufactured. “This involved designing and manufacturing them for fixing to a curved concrete frame while carefully working around the clashes in the reinforcement of that frame,” he explains. A total of five different balcony designs were created to mirror the curves of the building.
Parapet walls feature coping stones that are each individual in both size and shape, meaning special moulds were required, and bespoke window sills were created, with each unit being scanned as a 3D image.
Sustainability & internal comfort
High thermal and environmental standards were imposed, and as well as the double and triple glazing specified to apartments depending on the overheating modelling, mineral wool insulation was included. “The building envelope is designed to high thermal standards to minimise heating and cooling requirements,” says Denner.
Many of the units have floor to ceiling glazing, which given the location meant there were potential overheating issues. To combat this, a full analysis of the potential for overheating was undertaken, and depending on rooms’ orientation, windows are either double or triple glazed, and include a solar control coating. The energy analysis done by the team also helped to achieve the “right balance being struck between solid walls and glazing.”
Internally, the communal areas are clad with timber acoustic walls and feature shingle terrazzo tiles. The apartments and beach houses feature a mixture of natural wood floors and woven carpet to “continue the sense of the beach,” says James Denner.
In the townhouses, the staircase soffits have been left exposed to act as a thermal mass to moderate temperatures, and all homes have an MVHR system installed, as well as openable windows. All parking spaces feature EV charging points, though storage units and cycle parking are also included to encourage bike use. All apartments and common areas feature LED lighting and a communal boiler provides more efficient heating. Shingle gardens have been designed to provide an “ecological habitat,” and rainwater harvesting systems are also in place.
Construction was completed on Shoreline earlier this year. Despite its controversial nature locally, the units have been selling well, and the project team couldn’t be prouder of the finished building. Sandall credits the overall collaboration and coordination achieved by the team as the reason for the success of this complex project: “It demanded a truly customised approach necessitating close coordination between design engineers, from both the masonry and structural connection teams, and the Jenner production team,” he says. “The exceptional quality stands as testament to the remarkable work of the entire project team.”