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Shoreline

Folkestone, UK

º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s multidisciplinary team helped to deliver a striking, highly sustainable new housing development for Folkestone’s revitalised seafront.

Shoreline is an award winning, landmark seafront residential block of apartments, duplexes and town houses, which forms an elegant terrace along the coastline. Our team advised on everything from structural engineering to building services engineering (MEP), providing insight from most of our specialist teams.

We worked with ACME to develop its take on an Edwardian terrace, considering sustainability, efficiency & resilience to coastal environment.

Our multidisciplinary team advised on everything from structural engineering to building services engineering (MEP), providing insight from most of our specialist teams. 

We informed on the flood-resilient design, including support to the Environment Agency in adopting new methodology and wave modelling techniques.

The interlocking over-sail structure allows the town house living spaces overlap with their neighbour’s, doubling the width of each living room providing panoramic sea views.

Challenge

Folkestone Harbour and Seafront Development Company is leading a comprehensive redevelopment of Folkestone’s harbour area create a vibrant new seafront for the town. Sir Roger De Haan purchased the harbour in 2004. His vision was to develop the area into a high-quality residential and commercial development that will serve as both a legacy and a catalyst for further regeneration of the town where he was born.

º£½ÇÊÓƵ has provided a full spectrum of technical services for this exciting development. Our team has been the only constant presence throughout the enterprise – a technically excellent, provoking, and collaborative partner, enabling the Folkestone Harbour vision to come to life. Read more about our work on the wider regeneration project.

Shoreline represents the first major housing development as part of the 1000 home 10,000 m² masterplan. Shoreline includes the first 84 homes across a variety of typologies, within an eye-catching seafront terrace. We worked closely with architect ACME to develop its take on an Edwardian terrace, with all the modern conveniences as well as careful considerations around sustainability, efficiency and resilience – with robust flood defences factored into the design from the earliest stages.

Built on a beach, the project required significant piled foundations. We provided all the pre-planning consultancy support for the concrete frame structure, as well as delivering a range of engineering and ongoing advisory insight throughout the site’s design development and construction phases.

Solution

Our experts worked closely with the wider design team to inform the flood-resilient design, particularly for the basement parking. This is sited on the town side, just half a floor below ground level, beneath a raised garden, which sits at the centre of the crescent arrangement.

The levels were carefully designed to maintain thresholds and entrances above a 1 in 250 year storm event, modelled 100 years from now, including the effects of sea level rise brought about by climate change. The design was successfully negotiated with the Environment Agency.

The crescent design maximises sea views for residents, supported by an intricate interlocking over-sail structure to the town houses, which allows their main living spaces to overlap with their neighbour’s house, expanding the views towards the sea. As well as being an unusual structural challenge, this also required complex MEP servicing strategies.

The development has underfloor heating throughout, mechanical ventilation, and heat recovery systems to ensure maximum efficiency. It has its own, on-site energy centre, which uses the latest in heat pump technology to maximise efficiency and minimise the operational carbon of the complex.

Our energy team conducted detailed thermal modelling to ensure the comfort and wellbeing of occupants – balancing daylighting with solar gain. We looked at the impact of exposed thermal mass on internal structures, as well as developing a range of analyses around energy and carbon options for the heating and cooling of the spaces.

Careful consideration also had to be given to materiality, to maximise the life of the development in the face of caustic sea air, marine conditions. A ceramic facade provides an extra layer of protection to the outer walls. The masonry wall ties are made from the same marine-grade stainless steel used on oil rigs, while railings and balustrades are fabricated from marine-grade anodised aluminium.

The drainage strategy for the site focused on utilising the high infiltration rates along the southern side with a soakaway and having permeable paving to make up the surface of southern service road. The soakaway, placed below the surface, will discharge 83% of the roof water run-off from the development, as well as the rainfall on the permeable paving above it.

Other sustainable features include: shingle gardens to provide an ecologically-focused mosaic habitat and increase species diversity; rainwater harvesting; storage units and cycle parking provided within the car park to encourage bike use; electric vehicle charging points for every parking space; and LED lighting throughout the apartments and common areas.

The development incorporates a range of high-performance facade engineering specifications. The bricks used in the construction were carefully crafted and cut to help curve the gentle contours of the buildings, with more than two-dozen specially designed brick shapes utilised to achieve the desired effect. The result is a glistening facade that reflects the sun and sea.

Value

Within the context of the Folkestone Harbour and Seafront masterplan, Shoreline is the first residential building to be completed. Located at the foot of the Grade II listed Leas Lift, one of the oldest water lifts in the UK and on the edge of Lower Leas Coastal Park. Its 84 homes benefit from uninterrupted beach views across the seashore to France to the South, Dover to the East and Dungeness to the West.

Designed to BREEAM certification standards, as well as a client-bespoke brief aligned to Homes Quality Mark rating, we helped to deliver a highly sustainable, comfortable and prestigious development.