Wish You Were Here

Arcadia

Pops

Get your fix on Route 66 from Pops, a can’t-miss pit stop, thanks to a 20-metre soda bottle that lights up at night.  Inside the station, the old-school restaurant and shake shop take a back seat to a pop temple – floor-to-ceiling glass walls lined with thousands of brightly coloured bottles, from pink watermelon to black cherry.  

Route 66, Arcadia, Oklahoma, pops66.com

Pamplona

El Camino

Photo: José Manuel Cutillas — Proyectar

This Spanish service station blends right into its surroundings, using natural materials like pine and sandstone, with discreet solar panels tucked into a zigzagging roof. But at night – when it sits on the horizon like a giant, glow-in-the-dark accordion – it’s anything but inconspicuous.

Autovía del Camino (A-12), Pamplona, Spain, acciona-infraestructuras.es

Thusis

Viamala Raststätte Thusis

Photo: D-Friedberg

Don’t be fooled by Viamala Raststätte Thusis’s airplane-hangar exterior. Here hungry travellers sit at sleek white tables below a bleached-wood ceiling dotted with cloud-inspired light fixtures. And with a car park, bar, restaurant and meeting room all under one roof, it’s easy to see why locals call it the Roadhouse.  

Thusis, Switzerland, 41-81-632-10-20, viamala-raststaette.ch

Los Angeles

Helios House

Photo: Tim Benson

It’s hard not to confuse this futuristic BP service centre with the Walt Disney Concert Hall. And while the bathroom’s farmed-bamboo walls are sexy, the station uses recycled materials, LED lighting and a rainwater-collecting system, and has a roof made of local flora to keep things cool.

8770 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, 310-855-9346, bp.com