The highway portal of the future: National Highways say they will be designed to make life more difficult for eco-enthusiasts
Protesters will find it more difficult to climb highway portals built with a new design, National Highways said.
The roadside structures will be “more resistant to intruders” as the steps for maintenance personnel will be located inside the pillars rather than outside, the government agency said.
In November last year, portals above the M25 were repeatedly climbed by Just Stop Oil activists, bringing traffic to a halt on the UK’s busiest motorway.
The structures are used to display information to drivers, such as speed limits and safety hazard warnings, especially on sections of ‘smart’ highways with variable speed limits.
The motorway portal of the future: this design by a London-based architect was chosen by National Highways from a competition asking for a refurbishment of the overhead signs
Protesters will find it more difficult to climb highway portals built to the new design, National Highways said. Pictured: A man believed to be Just Stop Oil protester Alfred Beswick climbed onto a portal on the M25 on November 8
National Highways, responsible for England’s motorways and major A roads, launched a competition to replace existing designs.
It claimed to have “been seeking a more streamlined, elegant and consistent look for roadside portals to enhance the public’s driving experience,” saying that the existing designs are often “heavily engineered, with an emphasis on function over function.” form’.
The competition was organized by the government agency in conjunction with the Royal Institute of British Architects, with 32 entries from architectural firms across the UK and Europe.
The winning entry was created by London-based company Useful Studio. It was selected for its ‘simplicity and elegance’.
The portals will have a lower carbon footprint compared to current designs because they use less steel. Roads Minister Richard Holden said: ‘[Useful Studio’s] innovative approach will certainly improve the journeys of motorists and at the same time contribute to a more sustainable future.’
Useful Studio will collaborate with National Highways to develop its design concept. It is expected to become the standard design for new portals in about two years.
National Highways says it was “looking for a more streamlined, elegant and consistent visual appearance for roadside portals to enhance the public’s driving experience.” This is the winning entry prepared by Useful Studios
The roadside structures will be “more resistant to intruders” as the steps for maintenance crews will be inside pillars rather than outside, the state agency said
Duncan Smith, Executive Director of National Highways, said: ‘This is a great opportunity for us to develop a more streamlined, elegant and consistent look for roadside portals to enhance the driving experience of drivers on England’s motorways and major A- improve roads. .
‘Existing designs tend to emphasize function over form, our challenge is to create innovative structures that accommodate the required signage and equipment that are more sympathetic to the environment.
Selecting Useful Studio as the winner, the jury admired the simplicity and elegance of the understated design approach, and the opportunity it offered in terms of a resource-efficient, standardized, coherent set of portal constructions that would potentially be sympathetic to a wide range of settings and contexts.’