Bay of Somme motorway service station
Park landscape
From this point we have free access to a park that
contains many different elements. There is a pond
that represents the wetlands of the Bay of Somme
and three canals that emerge through the plateau
like the canals of the ‘Bas-Champs’ (local polders).
For those visitors wishing to picnic, there is an area
further away from the buildings, which is protected
from the wind by slopes. This area is accessible by
car and supplied by parking places for caravans and
picnic facilities.
A timber-decked path goes through the park and leads
out to the surrounding fields. From here you can go
out to the canals. The bridges crossing the canals are
designed to look as light as possible. These construc-
tions are in contrast to the natural expressions of the
site. The HYL office also designed the picnic tables
and terraces in the park and the parking area.
The boundaries of the whole park are made as
invisible as possible. The outermost fence is hidden
in a ha-ha, which also serves as a storage and flow
equalisation basin for heavy rain. Even inside the
park, along the edges of the pond and along the
terraces, fences are avoided. The need for safety
fences has been eliminated by making the pond
shallow; 1m out, the bottom is only 20cm deep.^10The canals are 2.5m deep, and the bottom is actu-
ally the former land level. All rainwater from the
parking places and the roofs of the buildings is led
out to the canals. The water runs from one canal
into the next. Before transfer to the canals the
water is filtered to separate suspended solids. In
case of a pollution leak from the service area, the
nearest canal can be isolated.An 80m-deep well was drilled to keep the pond sup-
plied with clean groundwater. The engineers were
pleased to find water, although the depth was far
deeper than expected during the feasibility studies.^11
In dry seasons the canals are supplied with water
from the pond located close to the service building.3.14
Opposite: section and plan through the west side of
the service building, showing parking-places and
path with terrace alongside the pond
3.15
Service building and tower seen from the park