Leas Cliff Hall

Leas Cliff Hall is a seaside pavilion and concert/dance hall designed in 1913 by J L Seaton Dahl, but constructed between 1925 and 1927. It underwent refurbishment and alterations in the 1980s. The building is built directly into the cliff face in a Neo-Grec style. It employs concrete pier construction, with a ferro-concrete main floor supported by steel columns and girders, filled in with brick where required. The lower two floors are finished in sand-faced stucco and colourwashed, while the upper two floors are clad in faience. There are three balconies, the lower one being cantilevered, all with metal balustrading. The flat roof has a terrace and a 1980 octagonal pagoda-style entrance, replacing the original neo-Grec entrance.

The hall is four storeys high, with 15 bays on the three lower floors and 10 bays on the top floor. It features metal-framed windows, some original, others of a similar design, with much of the glass replaced by bronze-tinted glass around 1980. The third floor is recessed and projects slightly above The Leas, featuring ornate metal balustrading with piers at regular intervals on three sides and steps down to the balcony above the second floor. The building has an elaborate cornice with modillions, brackets and lions' head masks. Triple windows incorporate circular motifs above. A central semi-circular dome tops the structure.

The second floor has a wide cantilevered concrete balcony with metal balustrading. The central 13 window bays include a 3-light curved bay; the end bays feature paired columns, whilst the sides have pilasters and pedimented entrances with panels bearing the emblem of Folkestone, crowned by an acroterion and flanked by dolphins, pilasters, a cornice and double doors. Wreaths decorate the cornice. The first floor has windows in two tiers, with a small cantilevered balcony and metal balustrading above a round-headed bay containing three windows. The ground floor is set back with a colonnade of square piers.

The interior features a grand terrazzo staircase with Carborundum inlay to the treads, which has since been carpeted, and metal balustrading. The main hall measures 122 feet by 67 feet and is 28 feet high, featuring a coffered ceiling, Composite columns, a semi-circular recess for the orchestra, and balconies with metal balustrading. There was also a smaller reading room.