Thinking Buildings were part of the design team that helped secure outline planning consent, and subsequently detailed reserved matters consent, for a mix of roadside services on a derelict site adjacent to Milton Interchange and within the Science Vale UK Enterprise Zone.
The scheme delivers five buildings across the site; two drive-too and two drive-thru restaurants are situated along the main road establishing a positive and active street frontage, while a three storey hotel with a mix of retail (food and non-food) and take-away operators at ground floor, sits to the rear of the site creating a gateway marker to the sites entrance.
The design of the buildings considers the wider vernacular, while delivering architecture that reflects the intended use and promotes a high quality environment. The external material palette is simple, selected to provide a crisp and attractive architecture with common materials to unify the entire development. Colonnades deliver a very strong architectural form, integrating and controlling the signage zones, while reinforcing the civic spaces that promote activity and active street frontages.
The core landscaping principles reflect existing site features, while soft landscaping zones lessen the dominance of hard standing car parks and soften the built form. A legible network of pedestrian routes link the amenity spaces and the wider context to create high quality attractive external spaces.