“When we won the competition to design Gloucester Services 12 years ago I had no idea how significant this project would be for us, for the people of Gloucestershire and for the perception of motorway service stations in the UK.
Our pitch to Westmorland, led by the inspired Dunning Family, was simple. The idea was to create a service station that was a natural oasis that gave motorists not just food and drink but an opportunity to relax and enjoy nature and views over the rolling Gloucestershire hills that rise around the site.
The design process was an amazing collaborative journey with the Westmorland family alongside engineers, landscape architects and experts on different aspects of nature from animals to trees. We tested a wide range of construction approaches using drawings and models to achieve the gently undulating landscaped roof forms whilst at the same time delivering the warmth and solidity we were all striving for.
Ten years after opening, Gloucester Services has become the country’s favourite service station, regularly awarded first place in annual awards, and returning over £2m of benefits to local communities through a unique charitable partnership with the Gloucestershire Gateway Trust and has supported 100’s of local suppliers.
It has indeed become a much-loved oasis, and even after 10 years it looks and feels better than when it opened, thanks largely to the care and attention of the Westmorland Family, who keep the services and landscape maintained to an exceptional standard. Vegetation and trees have become established alongside Mallard ducks and Moorhens who have chosen to raise their young here.
I believe it has changed people’s view of a motorway service station. Apart from Tebay (the Westmorland sister of Gloucester) motorway service stations in UK had become a necessity rather than a pleasure; a place to sell hard with an array of fast-food concessions, gaming machines and the same products from Scotland to Cornwall arranged in a maze, with poor quality toilets hidden in the centre.
Gloucester Services has changed this perception, with its generous welcoming entrance, easy to find lovely toilets, total absence of fast-food brands and amazing array of local delicious things. The ever-smiling team that work have transformed people’s relationship to the service station. It’s above transactional – it’s truly about providing a life enriching experience.
If I were to pick one aspect that stands out as special to me after 10 years it would still be the experience of passing through a wooden gateway from cars to nature, where you are met with the view of the beautifully rolling Gloucestershire landscape.
When I meet people and they find out I’m an architect despite all the big and famous projects we have built the one they are impressed with is guess what? Gloucester Services.
We are hugely proud to have been part of this truly inspiring project. Happy Birthday Gloucester Services!”
By Glenn Howells, Partner, Howells