Pecos County Safety Rest Area designed by Richter Architects, Native limestone strata are periodically revealed along the Interstate highway. Natural grasses, mesas, and mountains layered along the expansive remote landscape. Along the eastern approach to the Davis Mountains, an interstate highway safety rest area is deprived of the geology, ecology and cultural history of this region of the Chihuahuan desert of West Texas.
Photography: Craig Blackmon
The project provides to the traveling public restrooms, vending, cultural and historical exhibits, picnic areas, play areas, nature trails, and parking for weary drivers who travel along Interstate 10 that connects the west coast to the east coast. Travelers pass by in cars, vans, RVs, trucks, and buses. The goal of the Texas Department of Transportation is to enhance highway safety by providing drivers and families with a welcoming and engaging place for rest and relief from the road fatigue. Photography: Craig Blackmon
Design Strategies

The land itself tells the story of West Texas.

A substantive interpretation of landscape and geology ?the pace drops highway speed of 80 mph to a stroll along the nature trail, from distant mountains to tiny desert flowers.

Shifted stone masses and borrow mountain views to focus long East/West vistas ? a traveler?s origin and destination.

Organically coursed native stone suggests geology of the region

Organic folding roofs echo the horizon and floating clouds in the expansive sky.

Wood ...