Responding to Landscape - Dover - Concept

This project explores how architecture can respond to landscape through the political and cultural context of Brexit and the Coronavirus pandemic. Located on the White Cliffs of Dover, a National Trust site overlooking the English Channel towards the French coast, the proposal investigates how development within this sensitive landscape could become self sufficient while providing key worker housing, fostering community, and expressing the identity of place.

The scheme was conceived as a physical connection to Europe, acting as the final marker of England. A structural framework establishes order and rhythm across the landscape through a series of plinths that protect the new ground while forming foundations for future development. Within this framework, a vineyard was proposed to extend the site’s agricultural character while generating local employment and income. Supporting this are a winery and key worker housing, responding to the decline in agricultural labour caused by the economic conditions of the time. Constructed from unfinished chalk blocks, the framework retains the material’s natural texture and appearance, allowing the architecture to read as an extension of the cliffs.

Two primary axes organise the site and define boundaries for future growth. As an extension of St Margaret’s, development is limited to the eastern quarter of the framework in order to preserve and protect the surrounding landscape. Buildings respond directly to the geometry of the plinths and follow a hierarchy determined by function: the primary building occupies the centre and rises above the surrounding structures, while secondary buildings frame the edges.

Terraces, courtyards, and gardens create moments of retreat between the winery and public spaces. The proposed housing is divided into two flexible typologies that can accommodate apartments or key worker housing. Shared kitchens and communal spaces encourage collective living and support a stronger sense of community for residents and workers on the site. A pub acts as a social anchor, mediating between the workplace and residential areas. All buildings are constructed from smaller chalk blocks with a lime-render finish, creating a clear material hierarchy between the rough plinth base and the smoother upper volumes.