HIGHLY COMMENDED
Thorp Precast - Dover Esplande
The judges really liked this attractive and innovative project on Dover seafront which will certainly help to regenerate the town. The crisp white precast ramps and stair units showed excellent attention to detail and were pushing the use of self-compacting concrete to new architectural standards.
Lifting Wave, Resting Wave, Lighting Wave was the winning scheme in an international design competition for the regeneration of Dover Esplanade, designed by Tonkin Lui, and with units made by Thorp Precast. The competition brief was prepared by the Landscape Institute on behalf of a partnership comprising Kent County Council, Dover Harbour Board, Dover District Council, SEEDA and English Heritage. The competition brief stated the main aims of the project; ‘to create a modern, attractive new seafront that connects the Eastern and Western Docks. The esplanade should become a major attraction in itself, a place to see and be seen, a place where arts and culture can be encouraged to thrive, and a key setting for a variety of creative activities, temporary and permanent’.
As with all of Tonkin Lui’s projects, when designing the Esplanade, they searched for a solution that was particular to the place, time, and people. Through a unique design methodology called asking, looking, playing, making they investigated the character and potential of the place and made propositions that were particular to that place and the people that will use it. |