I had the opportunity to drop by a beautiful new gas station on Saturday night. It stands at the corner of Olympic and Robertson in LA. This sight is new to this native, but for local Angelenos this version of the station has been around for a couple months already.
Visually it looks like something Frank Gehry might have designed. But what’s more incredible is that it is a living testament to how a brand can extend itself so far outside of it’s own milieu and actually force a sense of recognition and applause for the guts to make such a leap of faith.
Only one other type of firm comes to mind in this experimental arena. That would be big Philip Morris’ attempt to launch various anti-smoking programs aimed at kids.
At any rate, this new BP station is as green as purchasing gas in a car-obsessed city can get. The site was the former value driven "Gas" station (no name). BP razed the station, recycled all the materials and constructed its new replacement comprised of recycled, renewable and sustainable materials.
This monument to sustainable architecture is also a case study in design practice (read: extremely thorough), experience, and branding.
To convey a sense of how thoughtfully designed this gas station is, here’s a list of some of the architectural components:
- Farmed Wood: The facade of the back building and the trellis are made from farm-raised, renewable cedar
- CO2 – Reducing Landscaping: The green wall behind the station is wrapped with trumpet vines that require minimal maintenance in a local climate
- Motion Sensor Lights: Motion sensitive lighting in the back building reduces energy waste when not in use
- Recycled Aluminum Shavings: The material used in the basin of the bathroom sinks is made from recycled aluminum shavings
- Recycled Glass Tile: The bathroom tile is made from 100% recycled glass
- Farmed Wood: The wood interior in the restrooms is made from farm-raised, rapidly renewable bamboo
- LED Lighting: LED lighting is used throughout this site, focusing light just where it’s needed and using less energy to get the same brightness
- Cradle to Cradle Stainless Steel: The highly durable uncoated stainless steel canopy, a key design feature of this site, is completely recyclable with no degradation of steel quality
- Solar Panels: 90 solar panels on the BP canopy produce the amount of annual energy needed to power 2-3 average American homes
- Rainwater-Collecting Canopy: Rainwater from the canopy is collected, filtered and reused for onsite irrigation of landscaping
The list goes on. Check out more at thegreencurve.com.
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