Setting a new standard for rest area service buildings

The caravan market is growing steadily throughout Europe. Today there are some 100,000 caravans in Sweden and some 1.87 million in Europe. The needs of caravan guests may differ from what a campsite can offer, and thus they often choose to spend the night at other places. This is not unique to Sweden or UK. It applies throughout Europe. High on caravanners’ wish list, according to studies, are simple parking sites that are close to the city or town centre, i.e. rest areas. At Danfo, we have been designing and manufacturing service buildings for marinas and rest areas for years, but only now are we staking out a specific offering and setting a standard for UK.

Guidelines for rest areas

Husbilsdestination Sverige, a Swedish caravanning trade association, has drawn up guidelines for rest area design. They include:

• Attractive location for visitors with at least 8 parking places. 
• Flat surface which is able to bear the weight of the vehicles. 
• Directions to a site for tank emptying and filling are a basic requirement, but it is recommended that emptying and filling services should be available for a fee at the rest area.
• A notice board with information on available services.
• Regular inspection to ensure the area is clean and the services provided are functioning properly. 

Until now, there have not been guidelines or standards for rest area service buildings. Danfo has developed a service building designed to provide the best possible user experience for caravan guests.

Standard service building for rest areas

One of the most important design criteria for a rest area service building is ensuring it will be possible to guarantee the availability of the building’s functions through proactive operations and maintenance efforts. Caravan guests expect a service building to be clean and functional when they arrive at a rest area. Danfo’s buildings are designed and built with a focus on quality and durability – which results in extremely high availability with proper operations and maintenance. 

We can provide a maintenance plan extending 30 years into the future for our buildings – enabling you to plan maintenance activities and extending the building’s useful life. If you need help with operations and maintenance, Danfo can help – we have decades of experience with the operation and maintenance of free-standing toilets and service buildings.

Floor plan, service building for rest areas

We have opted for a base service building model with three different variants. You can adapt the building to your rest area’s requirements.

• The first variant includes a shower, two WCs, an accessible WC and a service space. A classic solution.
• The second variant includes a shower, two WCs, a latrine station, a washer and drier, and a service space. Here, caravan guests can empty their latrine tank. By providing a laundry facility, you can increase the number of caravan guests who stop at your rest area.
• The third variant includes a shower, two WCs, washing-up facilities, a washer and drier, and a service space. This provides additional conveniences that caravan guests may want after several days on the road.

Is there some solution you want but don’t see here? Are your caravan guests asking for other facilities? Have a chat with us, and we will see what we can develop.

Facade, roof and options for rest area service buildings

The facade, roof and options can be adapted to your specific desires. Exteriors range from classic wooden to enamelled facades. In Helsingborg, Sweden, we have produced buildings with historical and forest motifs and jungle and dinosaur themes. You provide the ideas, and we turn them into realities in cooperation with our partners.

Perhaps you would like a Plegel steel roof, or a sedum roof? We can help you pick out a roof style to make your building fit in … or stand out.

As for options, we can work together to ensure that your service building provides the right functions. Let us custom-design your solution. Is there a bicycle path near the rest area, for example? Let us add a bicycle pump to the service building.

The rest area service building of the future is here

Campsites have long employed a star classification system to indicate their offerings and standard. There is no comparable system for rest areas yet, but demand is growing and there will be a push for one to be developed.

Here are a few things we think should absolutely be taken into consideration in future rating system for service buildings:

• A service building should be sustainably designed, with materials designed to be reused.
• A service building should have a well-defined maintenance plan stretching at least 30 years into the future.
• A service building should have a digital log in which all materials and products used are entered. With the digital log, the building’s structure can be tracked, and all materials and products can be entered along with their suppliers. This will enable traceability in the future.
• A service building should be built by a company with ISO 14001 certification – for your sake and the sake of the environment.