The Creative Quarter Masterplan

The Creative Quarter is an initiative of the Creative Foundation - a charity founded by Sir Roger De Haan aimed specifically at the arts led regeneration of The Old Town, the historic heart of Folkestone.

In 2003 Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects were commissioned to draw up a masterplan for the complex of sites and empty buildings that had been assembled by the Foundation.

Since that initial commission the masterplan has flexed and evolved and the practice has been commissioned to provide a number of these unused properties with a new lease of life, restoring them into contemporary spaces that now house a diverse range of galleries, shops, cafés and accommodation for the creative industries and local education bodies, together with affordable studio and living accommodation for artists.

Working closely with the local planning department, care has been taken to retain the historic character of the area by working with the texture and grain of the existing buildings and the street pattern as it winds its way from the upper town to the harbour area – a townscape initiative supported by HLF.

The Creative Quarter is now home to a thriving community of artists and creative businesses which, together with a renowned Triennial Arts Festival, demonstrates a unique and successful approach to the regeneration of a hitherto declining town.