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Architects: Peddle Thorp Architects
- Area: 1650 m²
- Year: 2016
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Photographs:Jaime Diaz-Berrio
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Manufacturers: Alucoil
Text description provided by the architects. United Petroleum’s new petrol (gas) station at Corio is the first in a series of innovative fuel and convenience retailing outlets that creates a bold new image for the company. The design by Peddle Thorp Architects and concept design by Antoine Damery is a dramatic exploration of sculptural form to create eye-catching imagery amidst highway, industrial architecture.
The design geometry is defined by two unfolding wings that form the canopy to the petrol bowsers with one canopy soaring up to create the sky-sign for the corporate logo. By contrast to other service station designs, the dominant visual form is the building itself, not the signage and graphics.
The retail outlets and functional areas sit behind the sculptural form of the composition with folding and curved forms and a second corporate mast.
We believe that the design ‘raises the bar’ for highway architecture and reignites the debate started in the 1970’s by the iconic book ‘Learning from Las Vegas’ by Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour. Industrial architecture has as much importance and design potential as every other part of our built environment. United petroleum has had the vision to explore new architectural possibilities and is now seeing the reward in further commercial success.
The canopy design is intended to become an icon and signature for the site and precinct, reproducing the notion of speed and sculpted automotive engineering. This ‘feel’ of movement and height creates a dynamic and highly visual sculptural form. The upper wing becomes a clear marker and signature as you enter the site. The canopy also reads as a lightweight sculptured geometric form, through its slim faceted edges and a visually tilted and ‘dissolved’ grid of columns. The selected materials and design elements will provide the user with an unprecedented service station experience.
In contrast to the harsh urban and industrial surrounds, the design introduces the extensive use of ‘natural’ materials. The warm colour and soft environmental textures of the materials, in conjunction with landscape design creates an ambient and natural atmosphere, softening the dominance of the surrounding area. The middle vertical face also splits the truck and car service areas, providing a visual and acoustic buffer between users.
Centred on the wellbeing of motorists, the building design crystallises the idea of comfort and information offering an internal space for service and convenience. Extensive use of selected materials will provide a warm and soft internal space contrasting with the industrial context of the area. The facility houses the United Petroleum store, connecting through to convenience food outlets and seating.
Other key elements of the building are the protected spaces, designed to enhance motorists refuelling, purchasing and ‘resting’ experience. The building façade interconnects its design typology with the flow of the canopy and freeway traffic by the introduction of dynamic tilted cladding lines. Those lines also further define the United Petroleum branding – which has been integrated into the Architecture.
Product Description. The grey aluminium and timber finished composite panels were used externally on the canopy, to read as a floating lightweight sculptured geometric form, through its slim faceted edges and a visually titled and “dissolved” grid of columns.
