Anyone who drives the 400-series highways around this province knows that over the last couple of years most of the service centres that provide gas, food, and washrooms, have been torn down. Toronto's Quadrangle Architects was tasked with creating modern facilities in their place, and now they are celebrating the opening of the first seven new service centres along the 400 and 401. 13 more service centres are to come. Built by EllisDon Corporation and operated by Host Kilmer Service Centres Inc., the fully functional service centres offer enhanced services and an aesthetically pleasing experience to the travelling public.

Quadrangle’s inspiration for the Ontario Highway Service Centres is rooted in the imagery of rock outcroppings in Ontario’s landscape, while each centre’s unique locality is represented through mounted screens in the local seating area which showcase picturesque regional images. The designs for all three sizes of centres incorporate three distinct elements – a glass atrium with sloped glass walls covered by a sloped metal roof; traditional indigenous stone walls; and wood trellises and canopies.

In addition to designing the centres to target Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification standards, Quadrangle created and implemented a durability plan to ensure that the buildings are designed and built to last the intended service life of 50 years. Environmentally responsible and sustainable design features can be found all through each of the service centres. Water usage is reduced by more than 40 per cent over the previous centres, and energy performance is optimized though many technologies. Natural daylight floods 75 per cent of occupied spaces through skylights and by expanses of fritted glazing in the main public area. Each centre has a continuous route from the accessible parking area and passenger drop-off area to all spaces within the facility. To avoid trip and slip hazards, there are no stairs in any of the centres, and a matte finish porcelain tile with a high coefficient of friction is used throughout. To enhance mobility, all corridors are a minimum of 1,370mm wide and there are turning areas with a 2,000mm diameter to cater to people using wheelchairs, scooters or other assistive devices. All service counters are designed with one 1,100mm-wide counter at a height useable by persons in wheelchairs. Universally accessible drinking fountains and telephones are also provided. Telephones include a teletypewriter (TTY), a longer cord and an added shelf to support a telecommunications device (TTD) for the deaf. Signage, designed by Bruce Mau Design, uses sans-serif font with simple, uncluttered language and graphics. All signage has sharp colour contrast for easier reading as well as universal cultural symbols, raised tactile lettering and Braille. The recently opened centres are along the 401 from west to east at Tilbury (North and South), West Lorne, Dutton, Trenton North, Morrisburg, and Bainsville.

You can read the full press release from Quadrangle Architects in UrbanToronto's thread for this topic.