The fast food restaurant at Shaw Ridge Leisure Park is rumoured to open on Wednesday 11th November, with the steel frame of the building now standing.
Construction is taking place on the former Pizza Hut site at 7 Shaw Ridge Leisure Park, opposite an existing McDonald’s at the West Swindon District Centre.
Photographs taken by Swindon24 photographer Jason Spickett show significant progress on the redevelopment, with the former Pizza Hut building extensively stripped back and rebuilt.
Planning permission for the restaurant, takeaway and drive-thru was granted by Swindon Borough Council in February.
Pizza Hut closed at the site in January 2025, leaving the prominent building vacant before work began on its transformation.
Jason Spickett said:
“It’s surprising just how quickly it’s going up. It wasn’t long ago that you could still clearly recognise the old Pizza Hut, but now the frame of the new building is already there and you can really start to see what the McDonald’s is going to look like.”
The development attracted attention because McDonald’s already operates a restaurant next to Asda at the West Swindon District Centre, immediately across the main road.
Concerns about traffic, litter and noise were also raised after proposals for the Shaw Ridge restaurant emerged. McDonald’s originally proposed operating the new restaurant 24 hours a day, but planning permission initially restricted opening hours to 7am until 11pm.
An updated noise assessment was later submitted in support of round-the-clock trading, arguing that it could operate without adverse noise impacts.
Councillors approved a separate application in July to remove the planning condition restricting the restaurant’s operating hours. McDonald’s has also applied for a premises licence allowing hot food and drink to be sold between 11pm and 5am seven days a week.
That application attracted eight formal objections, including concerns about traffic, anti-social behaviour and litter. The Shaw Ridge restaurant is set to open on Wednesday 11th November.
