A1 service stations: The story behind Nottinghamshire’s iconic UFO-shaped Starbucks

If we’re honest, most service stations look pretty much the same. 

Usually comprising of a toilet block, a petrol station, and a few fast food restaurants, most of us have made a pit stop at one of the country’s 95 service areas at some point. 

Because most of us have access to a smartphone these days, it’s quite easy to find exactly where service stations are without too much fuss. 

Read more: Your Nottingham

But back, say, in the 1960s, when Britain’s road network was in its infancy, the people designing service stations had to be a bit more creative to attract business. 

If you’ve ever driven on the A1 through Markham Moor, you might have noticed a building with a strange UFO-style roof on the southbound carriageway. 

The building in question is known as the Markham Moor Scorer Building - and the story behind it dates back to 1960. 

Lincoln-based architect Sam Scorer designed the building in the shape of a hyperbolic paraboloid - the idea being to catch the eye of passing motorists. 

From 1960 to 1989, the unusual structure was a petrol station occupied by National Benzole. 

Given the A1’s title as the longest-numbered road in the UK, the unique petrol station was passed by thousands of cars each day. 

A 90s institution

In the mid-1990s, National Benzole vacated the building, making way for motorway restaurant chain Little Chef. 

Little Chef’s Markham Moor restaurant remained open until 2012, after which time the building was abandoned. 

A few months later, the Scorer Building was officially recognised as a Grade II listed building by Historic England. 

Its entry reads: “During a period when standardisation of petrol stations was introduced as an aid to product recognition, the example at Markham Moor is unique by virtue of its technical innovation and individual design.

“It is one of few extant hyperbolic paraboloid shell structures from the 1950s and 1960s.”

In 2019, the building became a Starbucks and continues to intrigue passers-by to this day.