Dover’s new Bench Street hub opens with education, arts and business space under one roof

Dover District Council has officially opened The Bench, a four-storey building on Bench Street designed to house a college campus, creative studios and a start-up business centre as part of the £22m Dover Beacon regeneration project.

Residents of central Dover now have a new mixed-use building on their doorstep — one that the council says will bring training, creative workspace and support for new businesses to a site that previously sat largely vacant close to Market Square and the A20. Dover District Council posted the announcement on social media, describing the opening as the launch of “a state-of-the-art education, creative arts and business centre” on Bench Street.

The Bench is built on brownfield land at a prominent junction between the town centre and the seafront — a spot many residents will know as a gateway they pass through daily. Designed by Lee Evans Partnership and built by Jenner Group, the four-storey building timed its opening to coincide with the start of a college term in early September 2026, after the contractor handed the finished structure to Dover District Council earlier in the summer.

Three anchor tenants are lined up to fill the building. EKC Group — the East Kent College Group — takes on the education campus, targeting young people aged 16 to 24 and adult learners wanting skills in creative and digital industries. Screen South moves into the creative centre, offering studio, gallery and exhibition space for local artists and cultural organisations. The East Kent Spatial Development Company runs the business start-up centre, providing flexible co-working and office space for freelancers and new firms across the district.

The money behind the project comes from several sources:

• £18.1m from the UK Government’s Levelling Up Fund — a national programme directing capital investment into towns facing economic challenges
• £3.2m from the Future High Streets Fund, aimed at improving town centres
• Around £3.5m in Dover District Council match funding
• Total building cost: close to £22m
• Projected economic benefit from the wider Dover Beacon project: over £90m

What the council says

According to Dover District Council’s project documentation, The Bench is the central physical piece of the Dover Beacon scheme — a council-led effort to bring under-used land back into productive use and broaden employment and skills opportunities in the town. The council argues that concentrating education, creative industries and business support in one building creates a hub where collaboration can happen naturally, and that the Government funding secured represents investment Dover might not otherwise have attracted.

Public realm works tied to Dover Beacon — including improvements around the A20 underpass near Bench Street — are also intended to make the area safer and more welcoming for pedestrians and cyclists, according to project documents.

Concerns and criticism

Not everyone is convinced. Some local criticism has focused on the capital cost and whether public money should have gone instead to housing, social care or maintaining existing town centre services. Questions have also been raised about whether the building’s contemporary design sits comfortably alongside Dover’s historic townscape, and whether the projected £90m economic benefit will actually reach local residents rather than businesses based elsewhere.

There are also practical worries. Workspace and creative facilities are only useful if they’re affordable — and some residents have questioned whether rents or membership fees might price out smaller community groups and lower-income users. Urban regeneration specialists generally note that headline benefit figures depend on sustained occupancy and genuine progression from training into employment, not simply on opening a building.

What it means day to day

For people living and working near Bench Street and Market Square, the immediate changes are straightforward: more foot traffic, more students and creative workers in the area, and potential knock-on trade for nearby cafés and shops. Bus and rail access means the building is reachable from across the district, though anyone driving should expect pressure on nearby car parks. Some on-going external landscaping and wayfinding work may still affect pedestrian routes around the A20 underpass in the short term.

A topping-out ceremony — the construction milestone marking completion of the main structure — was held on 8 September 2025, with the full opening following almost a year later once tenants had fitted out their spaces.

Key information

• Education enrolment: EKC Group’s campus follows standard academic year cycles — contact EKC Group directly for course start dates and application deadlines
• Creative space: Screen South can be contacted for information on studio and gallery availability within The Bench
• Business start-up space: The East Kent Spatial Development Company handles enquiries about co-working and office space in the building
• Location: The Bench, Bench Street, Dover town centre — near Market Square and the A20