Contemporary landscapes and buildings of motorway service areas

Booth, Colin A; McLaughlin, Anne�Marie

Abstract

Motorway Service Areas (MSAs) or Highway Rest Areas provide an essential 24–hour, 365–day service for road traffic users, presenting them with somewhere to rest, relax and recharge. The range of provisions MSAs offer, such as truck and car parking, toilets, food outlets, shops, picnic areas and refuelling stations, is similar in most countries (e.g. Evgenikos and Strogyloudis, 2006). However, public expectations and standards of MSAs vary between nations (Tunusa, 2015), with Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Spain reported to have the best rated MSAs in Europe (The AA Motoring Trust, 2004).

Most modern architecture and new infrastructure developments are now designed and built to be more sustainable standards than their predecessors (Beddoes and Booth, 2012; Khatib, 2012). Buildings have previously been built and used as a wasteful enterprise of a throwaway society. With greater awareness of environmental issues and the impacts caused by the built environment (Lamond et al., 2011; Booth et al., 2012), sustainable buildings, sustainable businesses and sustainable behaviours are becoming commonplace (Baird, 2010; Martin and Thompson, 2010; Crocker and Lehmann, 2013). These types of expectations and standards now extend to modern–day MSAs.

This chapter describes a recent shift in the archetype of contemporary MSAs in the UK, towards sustainability–driven businesses, operating in eco–designed buildings that give greater consideration to the natural environment and attention to sustainable drainage as a site precedence.

• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Sustainable Surface Water Management: A Handbook for SuDS
• ISBN: 9781118897706
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/906620