Before interstates and rest areas, there were minor roadside stops for drivers. These roadside stops provided drivers with minimal amenities, most just including shade, water, and picnic shelters.

Rest areas were constructed as part of the interstate highway system and legislature required that rest areas be built on the same basis, quality, and importance of the highway system and match its modernity. Being a prominent part of the interstate system and being deemed a necessity by the Policy on Safety Rest Areas for the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, most states established roadside development programs that constructed and maintained roadside rest areas. These development programs are managed and operated by the Department of Transportation, and in-house landscape architects and architects design the landscaping, site circulation, and building structures. (Dowling) The overall design criteria for rest areas set standards for site selection, lighting, building design and layout, plumbing fixtures and accessories, and interior building specifications that prioritize the safety of the rest area users.

The goal of rest areas is to provide particular points for stopping along the interstate, so the number of automobiles parked along the road is reduced. Rest areas offer drivers locations to stop and be a safe and comfortable distance from traffic. The excerpt below from the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways gives an in-depth description of rest areas’ intended use.

“Rest areas are to be provided on Interstate highways as a safety measure. Safety rest areas are off-road spaces with provisions for emergency stopping and resting by motorists for short periods. They have freeway type entrances and exit connections, parking areas, benches and tables and may have toilets and water supply where proper maintenance and supervision are assured. They may be designed for short-time picnic use in addition to parking of vehicles for short periods. They are not to be planned as local parks.”

A Policy on Safety Rest Areas for the National

System of Interstate and Defense Highways, 1958

According to CalTrans, rest areas provide travelers with a chance to stop and stretch safely, take a nap, use the restroom, get water, check maps, place telephone calls, switch drivers, check vehicle loads, and exercise pets (Safety Roadside Rest Areas | Caltrans). Having the opportunity to stop at a rest area frequently allows for the reduction of drowsy and distracted drivers and eliminates the need for unsafe parking along the roadside. Rest areas are essential to highway safety.

As interstate travel becomes more popular, the need for rest areas becomes more prevalent. Many state standards suggest that rest areas are spaced 30 miles apart or 30 minutes driving time (Fowler et al.) With this standard, many states began designing and constructing rest areas to meet the demands of interstate travel and promote highway safety.

Rest Area Vernacular in the 20th Century

Not only do rest areas provide basic service amenities for travelers, but they also use architecture to create a context of place and showcase the identity of the region the rest area is located in. Many travelers who utilize rest areas are just passing through and are unfamiliar with the region. Rest areas use architecture to express the unique cultural and aesthetic qualities of the region. The rest areas’ design is often the responsibility of landscape architects who work for the department of transportation services. The intent of the rest area designer is to include an appropriate architectural theme, environmentally friendly site design, and a thoughtful selection of materials, colors, and plantings. Appropriate architectural themes are often based on the local culture, history, terrain, geology, or vegetation (Safety Roadside Rest Areas | Caltrans).

Rest areas are intentionally designed with unique and colorful expressions of the historical and regional locale to connect people with their passing regions. It is standard for rest areas to have a central theme implemented throughout the site. The toilet building is often the most prominent building on the site and is designed to serve as the rest area’s centerpiece expressing a specific theme. Picnic areas scattered around the toilet building are designed to support the theme of the rest area. Often, the material or design qualities of these structures are exaggerated to create unique and exciting structures. (Dowling)

Many travelers may overlook these rest areas’ unique regional architecture, and others may be fascinated by it. Either way, the vernacular of rest areas are created with specific intent. Starting with the establishment of rest areas in the late 1950s and until today, many of these buildings were designed in a range of different styles. These styles range from traditional, modern, regional, rustic, free form, and funk revival styles, using different materials and forms.

In research by the architecture historian, Joanna Dowling, provides a breadth of knowledge on each of the styles mentioned above and how they are implemented in rest area design. These styles are based on different decades, different construction materials, and various building and roof forms.

Each of these categories shows the qualities of a specific decade and has defining material and form features. Dowling identifies a first-generation toilet building that gives a great starting point to look at how rest area architecture has evolved throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries. This toilet building was built in Wisconsin in 1960 and is constructed of wood and stone. The structure is rectangular with a gable roof that also provides a covered walkway for the entrance and along the walkway. This first-generation toilet building is a relatively small structure, and from looking at the picture, I would say that there is an entrance on both sides of this building leading into either a single or double stalled restroom. I would agree with Dowling that this first-generation toilet building is of a basic traditional style given its scale and materiality.

First-generation toilet building built in Wisconsin in 1960. This rest area building is of the basic traditional style. Photo by Joanna Dowling.

Some of the most iconic rest areas are built in a regional style. These styles often use direct iconography and structures from the region the rest area is located. More and more people began to use rest areas because of interstate travel and the lure of cross-country family road trips. With this increase in use, states began to build more rest areas that would attract travelers. These rest areas began to take on regional architectural qualities. The most prolific being teepee picnic shelters located at rest areas in South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas (Dowling). Rest areas in Arizona and New Mexico also express traditional adobe building materials. Regional-style rest areas allow travelers to experience and learn about that specific region’s culture in a simple and impactful way. There are many examples of this regional style of rest area architecture and can be implemented within the design in various ways. Some Rest areas express regional characteristics literally with large structures. Others use regional stylistic qualities in a minimal way by just building a simple structure with local materials to blend into the local landscape. An example of a minimal regional-style rest area is the one below located in Joshua Tree National Park.

This rest area is located in Arizona and is constructed of traditional building materials and uses local colors and iconography. Photo from google maps.

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This rest area is located in Joshua Tree National Forest and is a minimal design constructed with local building materials with the intent to blend into the local landscape.

As time went on and American tourism began to gain traction, rest areas began extending the amenities they offered travelers. In the 1970s, rest areas started to increase in size, and the main toilet building added on enclosed lobbies that included information and emphasized the dispersal of tourist information (Dowling.) With the expansion of scale and programmatic elements, the main toilet building started to increase in scale and take on new forms. Being of the mid-century era, rest areas built during this time were being built with popular mid-century modern features like unconventional building forms that had unique relationships with the landscape

This rest area is located in Kentucky and expresses modern materials and design. Photo by Joanna Dowling.

Sixty years later, these rest areas and their various stylistic themes are still important. These styles are crucial because not only do they express a specific style of architecture, but they are also showcasing the prevalence of the interstate system and the roadside rest area and its historical context within American history. Historians and historical preservationists argue that many roadside rest areas are becoming, if not already, significant historical artifacts. These professionals are working to implement restorative work to repair and preserve many of these meaningful structures and add rest areas with significant architectural meaning to the national registrar of historic places. This is meaningful work, and I couldn’t agree more with this action to preserve these unique and historic structures. Rest areas are an essential facet of architecture because many of them provide great examples connecting people to place with purposeful cultural and aesthetic design qualities. These creative placemaking qualities add to the overall experience of traveling and allow travelers to enjoy their time, no matter how short it is at a rest area.

Current Rest Area Design

Although transportation means have advanced and the emphasis on family road trips has changed since the establishment of the interstates system, states are still investing in unique rest area design. Current modern and even award-winning rest areas still provide travelers with fundamental rest area amenities like parking, restrooms, travel information, picnic areas, etc. These new rest area additions are taking advantage of technology advancements in building construction and adding new amenities like playgrounds and educational exhibits that provide information on the region’s history or landscape.

With the advancements in technology and sustainable design, designers can bring the site context of the locale to a new level within rest area design. For example, the Southeast Wyoming Welcome Center located south of Cheyenne along 1-25 is constructed of rammed earth. This sustainable building material minimizes the need to use wood or stone and is located regionally, reducing carbon emissions. The beautiful rammed earth material allows visitors to see the regional landscape of Wyoming in a new way. The cross-sections of rammed earth show layers of sediment and rock, allowing visitors to see the different layers of time within the landscape. The rest area’s interior has large expanses of glass providing views to expanse vistas encouraging visitors to stop and relax for a moment. This particular rest area also has more than one mile of walking trails located on the site encouraging visitors to stop and stretch their legs (pls4e).

Southeast Wyoming Welcome Center Photo from google maps

Another noteworthy example of a recent rest area design is the Goose Creek Safety rest area located in Harris, Minnesota, along 1-35. This rest area was awarded the 2019 AIA Minnesota Honor Award. This rest area allows visitors to move quickly through the site with a clear path to the restroom facilities but encourages those moving through to slow down and rest and enjoy the views of Goose Creek and distant farm fields (“Goose Creek Safety Rest Area”). This rest area, like many others, has the goal of encouraging travelers to slow down, rest, and rejuvenate. This goal is achieved with benches overlooking a small playground, winding paths through a pollinator garden, upgraded picnic tables, and an inviting wood cladding. This adaptive reuse design reuses the original rest area structure and adds an additional circular element to house more restrooms and a lobby with travel information. The materials chosen for the building’s exterior symbolize specific qualities found in the regional landscape like the wooden slats of barns, circular forms of silos, and tall trees within the landscape (“Goose Creek Safety Rest Area”). I think the Goose Creek rest area is a beautiful example of modern rest area design. I believe the exterior and interior materials are incredibly thoughtful and play an important role in complementing the site’s regional context. With a unique form and interesting circulation path around the building, I would have no problem slowing down and enjoying my time at this rest area.

The entrance of the Goose Creek rest area. Photo by Pete Sieger.

In addition to these unique rest area structures, I wanted to include this design by the ColoradoBuildingWorkshop. Although this isn’t a traditional rest area in the sense of a roadside pit stop, I believe this trailside privy is still a great example of public toilet design. I admire the intentional implementation of the design to match the local vernacular. The Long Peak toilets were built in 2018 by the ColoradoBuildingWorkshop in collaboration with the National Parks Service and are located in Rocky Mountain National Park. Long’s Peak is the tallest and most iconic mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park and has become one of the most frequented 14ers in the state of Colorado (ROMO Backcountry Privies | 2018 | Colorado Building Workshop). In 1983 the National Parks Service first installed backcountry toilets to deal with human waste on the trail to the summit. Over time and exposure to harsh climate conditions, the original toilets have deteriorated and are no longer successfully managing backcountry waste. ColoradoBuildingWorkshop worked with the National Parks Service to re-design and construct new backcountry toilets. The final design comprises a series of prefabricated structural gabion walls that explore lightweight prefabricated construction. Within the gabions, a series of thin steel plate moment frames triangulate the lateral loads within the structure while stones collected from the area are used as ballast (ROMO Backcountry Privies | 2018 | Colorado Building Workshop). Students participating in ColoradoBuildingWorkship erected the structure in eight days. I find this structure to be stunning, and I think the students involved did a great job. I love how the form seemingly disappears into the surrounding landscape. 

The Long Peak Privies by ColoradoBuildingWorkshop

ADA Implications Within Rest Areas

With many rest areas built before the Americans with Disability Act was signed into law in 1990, states are investing millions of dollars and countless person-hours into rest area infrastructure to make these amenities accessible and comply with ADA codes. The requirement to meet these standards has caused many historic rest area structures to be retrofitted to comply with the updated laws. All new construction rest areas are being built with these standards implemented. 

Conclusion

Without the Interstate Defense Act of 1956 implemented by President Eisenhower constructing American interstates and for the Highway Beautification Act of 1965 setting the initial standard that rest areas should be built to the degree of interstate systems, we would not have the many historical and unique rest area structures that we have today. The development of the American interstate system and the goal to implement and provide travelers safety is what established the many rest areas we have today. Architecture as a tool for placemaking allowed designers to use the region’s vernacular architecture to inform travelers of the community’s cultural and aesthetic qualities that live in that area. How nice is it that you can learn so quickly about a community and its culture by simply stopping for a quick break at a rest area? From the first-generation toilet structure built in Wisconsin in 1960 to the award-winning Goose Creek Rest area in Minnesota, it is easy to see the evolution rest areas have made throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Current rest areas have evolved to meet sustainability goals, implement new site amenities, and provide a safe and accessible user experience for all interstate travelers while still expressing regional cultural aesthetics. 

 Looking towards the future, I wonder what rest area designs will look like 20 or 50 years from now. What preservation efforts will be put into place to save cherished rest area structures? Will we still need rest areas in the future? If we still need them, what new amenities will they have for travelers? Will they have charging stations for electric cars? How will rest areas support autonomous vehicles? Only time will tell.