Dartford Westgate Quarter
Reimaging Dartford as a destination, the masterplan develops a new cultural quarter
Client
Muse Developments Ltd
Location
Dartford, UK
Status
Feasibility
Discipline
Architecture
Sector
Masterplanning
Size
140 apartments, restaurants, bars, 80-bed hotel, 6 screen cinema, health centre clinic and public square
Solution
With the aim to reimagine Dartford as a destination and revive its centre, Dartford Borough Council approved Muse Development’s proposal to create a tp bennett-designed masterplan for a £75m regeneration of the Westgate area of the town centre.
The practice has made more of Dartford’s connectivity, attracting London commuters and drawing visitors seeking culture, shopping and entertainment. The plan re-establishes a north-south connection through the town, linking the centre with the train station and develops a new ‘cultural quarter’, building on the success of the town’s Orchard Theatre with a new six-screen cinema. A potential ‘super surgery’ is set to offer town centre medical care for the community.
Westgate’s core will be a new public square, flanked by 140 new apartments, restaurants and bars and an 80-bed hotel housed behind the mid-century Co-op building façade. Brick and precast stone are proposed as materials, creating a visual link with the past and re-asserting Dartford’s identity.
