Latest unit completes at sought-after Kent industrial park

Stephen George + Partners (SGP) is delighted to announce the completion of a 621,138 sqft temperature-controlled warehouse for high profile supermarket chain, on the popular 90-acre Panattoni Park Aylesford in Kent.

Having delivered several other units on site, SGP has again worked closely with developer Panattoni and contractor Winvic to deliver Unit 2 Newsprint Avenue, a quality unit, with frozen, chilled and ambient temperature sections, associated ancillary structures, parking, drainage, and significant areas of landscaping.

Comments Arshad Khan, Studio Director at SGP: “We worked within the existing hybrid planning permission to comply with the established parameters, designing a unit that blends with the surrounding urban and rural landscape and helps deliver a sense of place. We paid particular attention to the massing and external envelope design to reduce the visual appearance of the building from the Kent Downs AONB to the south of the site.”

The warehouse reflects a clean and functional design aesthetic, with the mass broken down by distinct roof and external treatments mirroring the three temperature-controlled sections. The illusion of more than one unit is continued with a colour palette that incorporates lighter cladding with smaller and darker sections and wide and dark vertical strips up to the roof line to break up the mass while also blending the whole unit into the surrounding context. Elements of profiled cladding laid both horizontally and vertically add variety and texture to the elevation and curtain walling emphasises the main entrances.

As well as improving biodiversity, the landscaping will create a sense of arrival at the site, with a series of native trees, a mix of maple, birch, lime and oak, grouped along the main entrance drive. Reinforced with native hedgerows and underplanted with groundcover shrubs, the generous greenery will provide visual interest throughout the seasons as well as providing food and winter cover for wildlife.

The unit has achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’.

The redevelopment and regeneration of the vacant Aylesford Newsprint site by Panattoni, Europe’s largest privately-owned industrial developer, has created the biggest single employment site in the Borough. It offers a significant opportunity for prime, modern and attractive industrial and storage development space in the heart of a key employment area. In addition to TESCO, it has seen great success with lets to other household names such as DHL, Fowler Welch and Evri. The park has good public transport links and is conveniently situated on the M20, 64 miles from London, with excellent connections to both Felixstowe and Dover Ports for European trade.