Hollaway Studio Opens the World's First Multi-Floor Skatepark
A four-story building featuring a boxing gym, cafe, climbing wall, and three skateparks.
British architecture firm, Hollaway Studio, has completed the world’s first purpose-built multi-floor skatepark in Folkestone, a port town situated on the Southeast coast of England. The three-story building dubbed, F51, is described as an “adrenaline building” housing three skateparks, a climbing wall, a café/workspace, and a boxing gym featuring a competition-sized ring.
The skate park consists of three levels stacked on top of each other — level one features a suspended concrete bowl floor inspired by the iconic empty swimming pools from Dogtown, Southern California, floor two features a plywood timber street park fitted with rails, stairs, and benches, and the top level is a “Flow” park incorporating quarter pipes, curved walls, and pump bumps. Tying all three floors together is a 15-meter climbing wall appropriate for Olympic speed wall training with nearly 600 square meters of climbable surface area.
“F51 is all about young people. It’s about the next generation and it’s about regenerating a town for the next generation. It’s really putting young people at the center of the town,” architect Guy Hollaway explains. “Ordinarily, you wouldn’t expect a skatepark to be in the town center. 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.’”
Located in one of the most underserved wards of Kent, the new attraction offers young locals the opportunity to explore an active lifestyle within a safe space away from screens. Membership for youth in the area will be offered at a heavily discounted rate of just £1 GBP (approximately $1.30 USD) per month to ensure accessibility.
“F51 opens at a pivotal time for many of the local youth. The aim will be to invest in this generation, with the aim that it will go on to invest in the one that follows – generational regeneration,” Hollaway Studios writes in a press release.
The building is clad in crushed metal, with concrete bowls seen extending outwards downwards through the facade for a unique UFO-like look. Designed by local architects, F51 also calls in a number of both native and international artists to create a number of murals and site-specific graphics, brightening up the area to complete the labor of love. Folkestone 51 will be managed by the Folkestone independent not-for-profit sports charity which will use the facility as a base to support local clubs and to build connections with primary and secondary schools to encourage a more active lifestyle.
The building is hosting its first pre-launch event on Saturday, April 2 and more information can be found on the F51 website.
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Architect – Hollaway Studio – hollawaystudio.co.uk
Construction – Jenner Group – jenner-group.co.uk
Concrete Skatepark Design – Maverick Skateparks – maverickskateparks.co.uk
Timber Skatepark Design – Cambian Action – cambian-action.com
Engineers – Ramboll – ramboll.com
Operator – The Sports Trust – shepwaysportstrust.org
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