Plans have been unveiled for a “temporary” visitor centre to be built as part of this year’s Folkestone Triennial.

The Creative Foundation has submitted a formal planning application to construct the building in Tontine Street, at the memorial garden next to the Brewery Tap.

It will be the first purpose-built centre for the town-wide exhibition, which started in 2008 and attracts thousands of tourists to the area every three years.

If approved, the centre will provide a central spot for people to find out about the triennial, which takes place between Saturday September 2 and Sunday November 5.

It is set to remain for up to three years, to host other exhibitions by the Creative Foundation.

The design has been labelled as “abstract”, and the planning document says it will be given a textured finish in line with other 19th century buildings in the stretch.

Folkestone Triennial curator Lewis Biggs described the building as looking like a “wedge of cheese” and having a “blank facade” when he presented this year’s artistic plans to the public earlier this month.

It has been designed by London architecture practice Carmody Groarke.

Historically, the site housed Stokes Brothers’ greengrocers until it was destroyed in an air raid in May 1917. The bombing is commemorated with a plaque at the site,

Despite the plans to redevelop the site, the Creative Foundation and Shepway District Council (SDC) have confirmed that the plaque will be refurbished and unveiled again in a special ceremony this May.

Planning officers at SDC say they will try to make a decision about the visitor-centre plans by Tuesday April 25, leaving five months before the triennial begins.

The artists taking part in this year’s festival include Antony Gormley, the man behind the famous Angel of the North sculpture near Newcastle.

A version of his sculpture Another Time, which features cast-iron figures on Crosby Beach near Liverpool, is set to be positioned in the half-tide loading bay next to the Harbour Arm.