The design, which is backed by local campaigners, aims to demonstrate how the site below Dover Castle could instead be used for new housing. The practice also claims the L-shape apartment block would be a better fit for the corner plot and more beneficial for the local community.
The location is less than 200m from a primary school, a fact campaigners point out runs contrary to the planning policy of not building fast food restaurants in easy reach of young children.
CHA’s scheme includes studio space and a new public area alongside the housing, in a location where ‘more innovative, efficient and ambitious forms of housing are urgently needed’, according to the practice.
Two rows of flats would be laid out in an L-shape, giving residents access to a view of Dover harbour and the new public gardens.
The buildings would be constructed from mass timber and CLT slabs, and clad in a mix of timber boarding and white brick slips, which are intended to echo the iconic white cliffs that overlook the site.
CHA argued that its proposal would be a ‘better use of the site’ which, it said, ‘demands better than a sea of tarmac and an off-the-peg commercial restaurant building’.
The practice continued: ‘Here, ideas of communality, conviviality and urban living can be explored to tackle loneliness, social atomisation, the liveability of our town centres and housing affordability as well as providing more energy efficient and sustainable models of construction.’
Dover District Council approved the proposed McDonald’s outlet in December 2024, despite more than 300 objections (now 500) and opposition coordinated by the Friends of the Castle Conservation Area group.
The local backlash resulted in legal action against the development, which could yet overturn the council’s decision.
The individual names of the client group behind the CHA project have not yet been made public.
Project data
Location Townwall Street, Dover
Local authority Dover District Council
Type of project Residential apartment
Client Confidential
Architect Charles Holland Architects
Gross internal floor area 4881m²
Visuals CHA