These drawings were offered to the V&A by Fred Chadwick, one of the lead architects at Howard V. Lobb and Partners, who were commissioned by Roadchef for the construction of the Killington Lake Services near Kendal, Cumbria. Opened in 1972, the building was noted for its employment of vernacular architectural features and was designed with a concerted effort to create a sensitive dialogue with the surrounding Lake District landscape. This included a carefully positioned man-made hill that hides the building from the motorway. Still operating today, the facility incorporates a number of retail units and a Days Inn hotel.
Killington Lake was one of the first Roadchef Motorway Service Areas, and opened during a boom period in the construction of motorway services buildings in the UK. This form of architecture is an often overlooked strand of building design and yet represents an important genre of construction in Britain during the post-war period.