# The Panorama Phase 2, Somerset Heights and Stour Heights. Sto Rotofix Plus brick slip. Ashford, Kent TN24.

> Sto Rotofix Plus brick-slip facades for Hyper Construction on Somerset Heights and Stour Heights, the two new wings of The Panorama in Ashford.
> HTML version: https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/

An insulated, mechanically fixed brick-slip envelope on two new apartment wings, installed by the team behind Dmitro Development.

![Buff brick-slip elevations with dark window bands and a rendered balcony recess on a new apartment wing of The Panorama, Ashford](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-buff-brick-slip-elevations-dark-window-fallback.jpg)

01 · Buff brick slip, dark window bands and a white-rendered balcony recess on a finished wing.

Residential

One of the two new apartment wings of The Panorama Phase 2 in Ashford, finished in buff StoCleyer B brick slips on the Sto Rotofix Plus system, with dark window bands and a white-rendered balcony recess between the brick volumes. The team behind Dmitro Development installed the brick-slip facades on both wings.

## At a glance

- **Package**: Sto Rotofix Plus brick slip
- **Main contractor**: Hyper Construction Ltd
- **Location**: Park Street and Wellesley Road, Ashford
- **Homes**: 109 across two wings

The team behind Dmitro Development supplied and installed the Sto Rotofix Plus brick-slip facades on both new apartment wings of The Panorama Phase 2, built either side of the original tower beside Ashford town centre.

[Part of: Brick slip and facade packages across the South East](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/facade-cladding/)

## The team’s package

- Design development of the brick-slip facades
- Brick-slip setting-out
- Coordination between the architect, the main contractor and the team

![Close view of buff brick slips turning a corner around a dark-framed bay window, a brown rendered band above](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-buff-brick-slips-turning-corner-dark-fallback.jpg)

02 · Brick slips turn the corner around a dark-framed bay window.

A corner bay window on one of the Phase 2 wings. The StoCleyer B brick slips run around the return and meet the window head and cill on the same courses, with a rendered band above the frame, so the insulated facade reads as solid masonry.

## 03 · Stour Heights on Wellesley Road, the taller east wing.

![Stour Heights, a six-storey buff brick-slip block with a white-rendered ground floor and a glazed stair core in a brown frame](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-stour-heights-six-storey-buff-brick-fallback.jpg)

Stour Heights, the east wing of The Panorama Phase 2 on Wellesley Road, Ashford, finished in buff brick slip above a white-rendered ground floor, with a glazed stair core set in a brown rendered frame. The original Panorama tower rises behind.

## 04 · A street frontage of stepped brick-slip volumes between balconies and rendered bays.

![A street of stepped buff brick-slip apartment blocks with balconies, rendered bays and garage doors, the Panorama tower behind](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-street-stepped-buff-brick-slip-apartment-fallback.jpg)

A street elevation of the Phase 2 wings in Ashford, its brick-slip volumes stepping forward and back between balconies and white-rendered bays, with garage doors at street level and the Panorama tower behind.

## Either side of the tower

Phase 2 fills the two plots flanking the Panorama tower on the edge of Ashford town centre: Somerset Heights on Park Street to the west, Stour Heights on Wellesley Road to the east.

![Annotated aerial site plan of The Panorama, Ashford, with two areas of development outlined in red either side of the tower](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-annotated-aerial-site-plan-areas-development-fallback.jpg)

05 · The two development plots either side of the Panorama tower.

Annotated aerial site plan of The Panorama in Ashford, marking the two Phase 2 plots either side of the existing tower, bounded by Somerset Road, Edinburgh Road, Park Street and Wellesley Road. Base imagery Google Earth/Landsat.

![Aerial photograph of the curved Panorama tower in Ashford with two new apartment wings under construction either side](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-aerial-photograph-curved-tower-new-apartment-fallback.jpg)

06 · From the air, both new wings under construction beside the tower.

Aerial photograph of The Panorama in Ashford with both Phase 2 wings under construction either side of the tower, one standing several storeys high and the other at an earlier stage with a tower crane on site, among the streets and car parks on the edge of the town centre.

![A cobbled street with old brick walls leading towards the Panorama tower, scaffolding on its upper floors](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-cobbled-street-old-brick-walls-fallback.jpg)

07 · The Panorama tower from a cobbled street nearby.

The original Panorama tower in Ashford, seen down a cobbled street with scaffolding on its upper floors.

The wider scheme

## Two new wings that complete the Panorama.

The Panorama began as Charter House, an office complex beside Ashford town centre. Its first phase converted the office tower into apartments, completed in 2015. Phase 2 added a purpose-built wing of one- and two-bedroom homes on each side: 44 in Somerset Heights over three floors and 65 in Stour Heights over five.

Holder Mathias Architects designed the original scheme, marketed as Vista when construction began in 2017; J Mahoney Architects worked on the later delivery and facade-specification stage.

Somerset Heights was handed over on 24 November 2020 and Stour Heights on 6 May 2021, and the two buildings officially opened on 13 July 2021. Ashford Borough Council acquired every home and let them as professionally managed rented housing, with priority first given to key workers in the NHS, social care, the emergency services and education.

## 08 · Design visual of a new wing on the street corner, in a coloured-panel scheme.

![Design visual of a white and orange-panelled apartment wing on a street corner, the Panorama tower behind](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-design-visual-white-orange-panelled-apartment-fallback.jpg)

A 3D design visual, not a photograph, of a Phase 2 wing on its street corner beside the Panorama tower. Its orange and white panels differ from the buff brick slip and render that were built.

## 09 · Design visual of a wing on its roadside frontage, the tower behind.

![Design visual of an apartment wing with orange-framed bays and stone-toned panels along a road, the white Panorama tower behind](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-design-visual-apartment-wing-orange-framed-fallback.jpg)

A 3D design visual, not a photograph, of a Phase 2 wing along the road, with orange-framed bays and stone-toned panels in front of the Panorama tower. The built elevations are buff brick slip and render.

## The frame beneath the brick slip

In 2019 the wings rose as Masonry Frame Systems’ i-Form structure: Xella Silka block walls on precast floor planks, with precast stairs and balconies. The brick-slip envelope was later fixed over these walls.

![Aerial view of white block walls standing on a precast floor deck inside scaffolding, a red tower crane at the right](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-panorama-june19a-fallback.jpg)

10 · Silka block walls rising on a precast deck, the tower crane alongside.

Construction in progress on The Panorama Phase 2, 2019: Masonry Frame Systems’ i-Form structure going up, with Xella Silka block walls standing on a precast floor deck and materials stacked for the next lift.

![Aerial view of propped white block walls along a street edge, with block pallets and timber stacked on the site below](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-panorama-june19b-fallback.jpg)

11 · Walls propped along the street edge, blocks and planks staged below.

Construction in progress on The Panorama Phase 2, 2019: propped Silka block walls along the street edge of a wing, with block pallets, precast planks and scaffold staged on the site below.

![A floor of propped white block walls on a deck wrapped in scaffolding, a road and trees beyond](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-panorama-june19c-fallback.jpg)

12 · A full floor of block walls propped on the deck, the road beyond.

Construction in progress on The Panorama Phase 2, 2019: a full floor of Silka block walls propped on the precast deck of a wing, scaffold around its edge and the road running past beyond the site.

## 13 · Brick slip finished above, scaffold still round the lower floors.

![Upper storeys of a new wing finished in buff brick slip with brown bands, blue-netted scaffolding around the lower floors, a concrete tower behind](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-upper-storeys-new-wing-finished-buff-fallback.jpg)

One of the Phase 2 wings with its upper storeys finished while scaffold and netting still wrap the lower floors. The buff courses are StoCleyer B brick slips over insulation and the brown bands are render; the original Panorama tower stands behind.

The wall build-up

## Insulated, mechanically fixed, coursed like brick.

The external walls were specified as a Sto system over the reinforced-concrete and blockwork structure: mineral insulation, mechanical fixings and mineral brick slips, with areas of render. The result is a thermally insulated envelope with a brick finish that keeps the look and coursing of traditional masonry.

Sto Ltd supplied system design and technical support. Structure, glazing, balconies and roofing were separate packages held by others.

- Insulation: StoTherm Mineral
- Fixings: Sto Rotofix Plus
- Brick slips: StoCleyer B
- Render, in areas: StoSilco

## 14 · A wing’s corner in buff brick slip above a white-rendered ground floor.

![Corner of a six-storey apartment block in buff brick slip over a white-rendered ground floor, balconies stacked up one side, a tree in front](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-corner-six-storey-apartment-block-buff-fallback.jpg)

The corner of a Phase 2 wing in Ashford, buff brick slip running up the full height above a white-rendered ground floor, with balconies stacked up the return and the Panorama tower to the left.

## Brick slip against render

On this wing the balconies sit in a white-rendered recess between two brick-slip volumes. The slips stop on a clean vertical line at the render on every floor, with brown panels set into the brick beneath the windows.

![A four-storey buff brick-slip apartment wing with a white-rendered balcony recess, seen across a curving road](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-four-storey-buff-brick-slip-apartment-fallback.jpg)

15 · A wing from the street, its balconies set into a white-rendered recess.

A Phase 2 wing seen from the street, brick-slip volumes either side of a white-rendered balcony recess, with the Panorama tower behind.

![Buff brick slip beside a white-rendered balcony recess with black railings, a tree in the foreground](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-buff-brick-slip-white-rendered-balcony-fallback.jpg)

16 · Brick slip meets the rendered balcony recess at first floor.

Closer view of a Phase 2 elevation where the brick-slip volumes meet the white-rendered balcony recess, with dark window frames and brown panels set flush in the brick.

## 17 · A projecting brick-slip bay, its narrow windows set into deep reveals.

![A tall projecting bay in buff brick slip with narrow deep-set windows, beside a white-rendered block with timber-screened balconies](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-tall-projecting-bay-buff-brick-slip-fallback.jpg)

A projecting brick-slip bay on a Phase 2 wing, its narrow windows set into deep reveals where the slips return into the opening, beside a white-rendered block with timber-screened balconies.

## 18 · A glazed stair core in a brown rendered frame, screened balconies beside.

![Looking up a tall glazed stair core in a brown rendered frame, brick slip to the left and timber-screened balconies to the right](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-tall-glazed-stair-core-brown-rendered-fallback.jpg)

Looking up the glazed stair core of a Phase 2 wing, set in a brown rendered frame between brick-slip and white-rendered elevations, with timber-screened balconies alongside.

## 19 · The roadside frontage behind a mature tree, brick slip between brown balconies.

![A buff brick-slip apartment wing with brown balcony surrounds and a glazed stair core along a road, a bare tree and a play area in front](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-buff-brick-slip-apartment-wing-brown-fallback.jpg)

A Phase 2 wing along the road, brick-slip bays framed by brown rendered balcony surrounds and a tall glazed stair core, with a mature tree and a play area at the corner.

## 20 · The courtyard side, white render and balconies facing the shared lawn.

![A white-rendered courtyard elevation with stacked balconies above a green lawn](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-white-rendered-courtyard-elevation-stacked-balconies-fallback.jpg)

The courtyard elevation of a Phase 2 wing, mostly white render with stacked balconies above a shared lawn, the rendered areas held between brick-slip bays at either end of the block.

## 21 · A brick-slip corner block, white-rendered floors stepping up behind.

![A courtyard elevation stepping from a brick-slip block to white-rendered upper floors with balconies, a lawn in front](https://dmitrodevelopment.co.uk/assets/projects/panorama-phase-2-ashford/panorama-phase-2-ashford-courtyard-elevation-stepping-brick-slip-block-fallback.jpg)

Another courtyard elevation of the Phase 2 wings, stepping up from a brick-slip block to white-rendered upper floors, balconies facing the shared lawn.

## The Panorama Phase 2, finished in brick slip by the team.

Park Street and Wellesley Road, Ashford, Kent TN24

- **Architect**: Holder Mathias Architects
- **Facade-specification stage**: J Mahoney Architects
- **Structural frame**: Masonry Frame Systems
- **Developer**: Dukelease Properties Ltd

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