Folkestone Day Tour – FULLY BOOKED
Folkestone Day Tour
Saturday 28 June 2025
Start time/place: 11am/Folkestone Civic Centre, CT20 2QY
Finish time/place: 4.30pm/Old High Street, Folkestone
Caroline Martin and Polly Schlesinger lead a day exploring Folkstone - a coastal town witnessing a vibrant arts-led regeneration. We will see work by Chamberlin Powell & Bon, McMorran & Whitby and the recent Shoreline, and Creative Quarter.
Barbican architects Chamberlin Powell and Bon designed a number of developments in Folkestone in the 1960s and 70s – we will see 1 The Leas – initially a mixed office, retail and residential development (1969-75) and Whitecliffs (1972) a residential scheme maximising sea views seen by many as ‘coastal brutalism’.
There will, of course, be plenty of seaside architecture: J L Seaton Dahl’s The Leas Cliff Hall (1925-7); the Grade II listed Pulhamite Caves (1921); and A T Bacon’s imposing 500 bedroomed Grand Burstin Hotel (1975). There is plenty of recent work including Pablo Bronstein’s Beach Hut (2014). Also, the major redevelopment of the former Rotunda leisure site and the disused Folkestone Harbour Station area to create new homes and leisure opportunities including: Acme Architects Shoreline (2020s) development of 84 houses and flats; and Guy Hollaway’s Rocksalt restaurant (2011).
We spend the afternoon in the Creative Quarter - an area central to the arts led regeneration of the town. Here we will be joined by ‘Creative Folkestone’ and see work by Stirling Prize Winner Alison Brooks’ – The Quarterhouse (2007-9) and Guy Hollaway’s Skatepark (2017). Throughout the day we will come across the public art works on permanent display linked to the Folkestone Triennial initiative to treat the town as a gallery.
Caroline Martin has led C20 tours to Stuttgart, Southampton and Bournemouth, Poole and Swanage.
Polly Schlesinger is a C20 event volunteer and a recently qualified tour guide.
C20 Members £45 Non-members £55
(Includes a contribution to the casework and campaigning activities of the society)
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The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider.
Twentieth Century Society is a registered charity, no 1110244
Above: Richard Woods, Holiday Home - commissioned by the Creative Foundation for Folkestone Triennial 2017. Image by Thierry Bal.