Gloucester Services
2014 • Project value approx. £40 million
Project Overview
Gloucester Services stands out as one of the UK’s most ambitious motorway service developments and one of the defining projects of Jane’s career. Consistently named the No.1 service station in the UK, it has become a benchmark for how food, hospitality and landscape can come together to create a welcoming, locally rooted experience on the motorway network. Delivered while Jane was Head of Design at Westmorland Family, the project extended the group’s distinctive, food-led ethos into a major new-build development on the M5. Spanning 5,574 sqm across both northbound and southbound sites, Gloucester Services broke the mould of traditional service stations through its landscape-led architecture, community-focused operating model and warm, natural interior environments. Jane led the full interior design scope from concept through to completion, shaping all customer-facing areas including the cafés, farm shops, seating zones and customer facilities.
The brief was to create a motorway service area that felt firmly connected to place, rooted in the surrounding Cotswold landscape and celebrating the food, craft and character of the region. The architecture integrated grass-covered roofs, sunken car parks and natural materials to minimise visual impact. Jane’s role was to ensure the interior design matched this ambition.
Her responsibilities included:
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Developing layouts for all internal areas, including cafés, farm shops, toilets, back-of-house support spaces and large seating areas
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Creating the full interior design concept, including materials, finishes, signage and wayfinding
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Selecting and specifying all furniture, fixtures and equipment — from bespoke joinery to everyday crockery
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Planning operational flows for high-volume foodservice and retail
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Designing for durability while maintaining a warm, handcrafted feel
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Integrating brand values into the physical environment
She also carried out detailed operational planning, including capacity modelling. This ranged from customer flow and counter lengths to exact toilet and sink ratios, ensuring the interiors could handle extremely high visitor numbers without compromising comfort or service.
Jane developed and managed the entire fit-out budget, down to individual items, ensuring the project maintained quality while meeting commercial expectations.
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As a large new-build delivered under a design-and-build contract, Gloucester Services required intensive coordination across multiple stakeholders — Westmorland Family, architects, the main contractor, specialist subcontractors and planning authorities.
Key challenges included:
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Value engineering: delivering several rounds of refinement to ensure commercial viability while maintaining the design’s integrity
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Meeting BREEAM Excellent standards: influencing interior material choices, lighting, waste strategies and building performance
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Designing for high, varied footfall: ensuring operational efficiency for farm shops, grab-and-go food counters, full-service cafés and family areas
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Complex fit-out logistics: managing procurement and installation across two large sites, including hands-on involvement during final stages
Jane’s approach ensured that design intent, operational practicality and architectural vision stayed aligned through each stage of the project.
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Gloucester Services opened ahead of schedule and on budget, delivering a motorway service experience unlike anything else in the UK. Its success has been widely recognised, including winning a RIBA National Award for its landscape-led architectural design and overall visitor experience.
Beyond its commercial success, the site has delivered exceptional social, environmental and economic impact. Through Westmorland Family’s partnership with The Gloucester Gateway Trust, the business has:
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returned over £2 million to local communities
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supported more than 130 local food and drink producers within a 30 mile radius of the site
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created long-term employment opportunities
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strengthened local supply chains and food resilience
Jane’s design leadership ensured the interiors not only supported this vision at launch but continue to operate efficiently under intense visitor numbers. The warm, natural and operationally intelligent interiors remain essential to Gloucester Services’ reputation as one of the UK’s most admired motorway destinations.
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From Our Client
"Jane worked with us for over a decade, leading the interior design of our commercial spaces, ranging from retail, catering, hotel and office environments. She has a confident aesthetic vision but also the practical skills to take a project from start to finish, with all the budget and time challenges of a commercial project."
SARAH DUNNING
CHAIRMAN, WESTMORLAND FAMILY
