World’s first multi-storey skatepark opens in Folkestone
Hollaway Studio has recently completed the world’s first multi-story skatepark. The building’s design is very practical and its layered interior squeezes three skateparks, a climbing wall, and a boxing ring into a relatively compact inner-city site. It is without a doubt a very pleasant architecture.
The building is called F51 and is in Folkestone, England. It was commissioned by philanthropist Sir Roger De Haan and the original plan was that it would be a multi-story carpark. It then changed to a mixture of carpark and skatepark before the team finally settled on a skatepark set on multiple floors. The kids will only have to pay a nominal £1 (US$1.30) a month membership to use it.
Visitors enter a first-floor café space, which has the shape of the underside of a concrete skating bowl protruding out of the ceiling.
Three skateparks are stacked on top of each other in F51, a major new attraction in Kent, England, designed by Hollaway Studio.
The building, which claims to be the first multi-storey skatepark in the world, is located in the seaside town of Folkestone in Kent.
The second floor has two classic concrete skate bowls situated side by side, while the third floor is made up of plywood and contains obstacles like stairs, railings, and benches for skaters to do tricks on. Finally, the fourth floor is also constructed from ply and configured with yet more obstacles, including quarter pipes, that are arranged on slopes so that the skater doesn’t have to take their feet off the board to push.
“It’s an incredible building,” said architect Guy Hollaway. “It’s extremely complicated in terms of its construction because it’s a world first. It’s the world’s first multi-story skatepark. We’re going to have skaters skating above your head and you’ll be able to hear the wheels of the skateboard going into the bowl right above you. How often does somebody come along in your career as an architect and say ‘Build me the world’s first multi-story skatepark’? It doesn’t happen so much. So I understand the opportunity and the responsibility that comes with that and the opportunity to really make positive long-term change.”
The building also contains a 15-metre-high climbing wall, a boxing ring and a ground-floor cafe.
Making the most of its comparatively small site area, F51 grows and expands as it towers upwards. The main event of F51 is the bowl floor, which features huge concrete bowls that appear to defy gravity as they hang in the air, above the ground floor. These bowls dictate the shape of the building and make for a spectacular focal point as visitors look up at them and hear the sound of skaters dropping in overhead.
Whereas the bowl floor is made entirely from spray concrete, the remaining levels rely on timber. A wooden support meets the demands of durability, but it is also flexible enough to be modified and upgraded as skating trends evolve.
Project credits
Architect: Hollaway Studio
Construction: Jenner Group
Concrete skatepark design: Maverick Skateparks
Timber skatepark design: Cambian Action
Engineers: Ramboll
Operator: The Sports Trust