F51 Sports Park
Hollaway Studio, the award-winning London and Kent-based design practice has been shortlisted for three of its projects for the RIBA 2023 South East Awards.
The trio of projects includes the world’s first purpose-built multi-storey skate park in Folkestone, and two substantial residential extensions in Kent.
Guy Hollaway, Principal Partner at Hollaway, says of the shortlisting: “We are especially pleased that all three shortlisted RIBA projects for the South East region are within the Folkestone & Hythe District. This has only come about through engaging with the community and through our close collaboration with the planning authority and elected members who have supported high-quality design and sustainable architecture.”
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Describing it as an ‘adrenaline building’, Hollaway Studio’s design for F51, features three skateparks, climbing wall (the tallest in the South East of England), and boxing ring.
The landmark building appears as an imposing concrete beacon shrouded in mesh rising out of the Folkestone Creative Quarter and has transformed the landscape of Folkestone both architecturally and for the local community.
Part of a major ongoing programme to regenerate the seaside town, F51, reflects Hollaway Studio’s ongoing commitment to placing community firmly at the very heart of its work.
F51’s design has already received a number of awards and was selected in The Guardian’s best architecture of 2022 where it was described as ‘immaculately crafted.’
Upper Maxted
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Hollaway Studio’s design for Upper Maxted, the first of the two shortlisted residential projects, can be regarded as their client’s paean to architecture and has been inspired by the very ground it sits on.
The extension acts as a surprisingly complimentary addition to the more traditional 18th-century Grade 2 listed farmhouse and setting while the design represents a very different architectural aesthetic in this idyllic pastoral setting.
The intricate extension is almost invisible from the front of the original house, with only small glimpses of the Corten roof line suggesting that a contemporary element exists hidden behind. The Corten constructing the façades of the extension perfectly match the existing house brick and tiles.
This use of Corten has been inspired, rather uniquely, by the natural iron ore deposits found in the meadow grassed field right beside the house. Iron ore stone has been used at the foot of the Corten walls bordering the extension and meadow grass which grows all the way up to the concrete path around the extension, therefore, unifying the building and the landscape.
Hollaway Studio worked closely throughout with the clients who had well-formulated ideas of how they wanted the extension to look in terms of clarity and boldness while retaining the historical integrity of the original site. As they describe it, the practice ‘turned their ideas into fireworks’.
Vicarage Farm
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For the design of Vicarage Farm, the new facilitates the old on an early Victorian building in the middle of nine acres in the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
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Hollaway Studio has created a substantial extension that is both timeless and sympathetic to the original vicarage, which dates from the 1830s while being of a scale and design dramatic enough to sit within this grand context.
Subtly announcing itself on arrival to the property from the long driveway, the extension’s floating roof sits behind the primary brick façade on one side with the crittall style orangery resting beneath.
On following the driveway around, the full extent of the matt black feather edge timber-clad extension reveals itself.
A significant two-storey rear extension folds around the main house, encompassing new living, dining and utility spaces; a swimming pool; carport and garage; and a master suite on the first floor.
The new extension connects with the original building so that it is all joined together. Vicarage Farm marks another example of Hollaway Studio’s dedication in bringing together the contemporary with the traditional to co-exist in both a complementary and elevated aesthetic.
Hollaway Studio’s remarkable shortlisting by RIBA for this trio of projects reflects the diversity this innovative practice is capable of and its ongoing commitment to transforming the architectural landscape of the South East of England.