Helios House

The Helios House is a gas station in Los Angeles, California, United States, located on Olympic Boulevard. It is designed as a green station with special features and is considered to be the "station of the future." It is the first gas station in the world ever to be submitted for LEED certification.^[1][2][3]

Helios House
Helios House in 2008
General information
Type	Gasoline service station
Architectural style	Green
Location	Pico-Robertson
Address	8770 W. Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90035
Town or city	Los Angeles
Country	United States
Coordinates	34.059260°N 118.383319°W / 34.059260; -118.383319
Current tenants	Speedway Express
Opened	2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Technical details
Material	Recycled stainless steel and wood
Floor count	1
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Office dA & Johnston Marklee

Helios House in 2007

The gas station was designed by Office dA (Principal architects Monica Ponce de Leon and Nader Tehrani) in Boston and Johnston Marklee Architects in Los Angeles.^[4] The architects were hired by Ogilvy & Mather, led by Brian Collins. The lead on this project was Ann Hand, and the purpose of the design was to reinvent the gas stations.^[5]

The station's roof is designed of triangles made from recycled stainless steel and contains cacti and 90 solar panels.^[6] This reduces the energy consumption of the station by 16%.^[7] The station's roof is drought tolerant and collects water for irrigation.^[8] The station replaced a run-down Thrifty gas station that previously occupied the site.^[9]

Built in 2007, it is seen as a Los Angeles landmark. It started out selling BP branded gasoline (at the time, the only BP branded station in the West Coast), but in 2009 switched to its more prominent West Coast sister brand (at the time) ARCO.^[10] As of 2021, it is a Speedway Express, a gas station-only brand of the Speedway chain, which, in turn, was a former subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum, ARCO's current parent company, and now a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings, parent company of 7-Eleven.

Features of the station

Structural

• Made of cradle to cradle recyclable stainless steel^[11]
• Farmed wood facade^[11]
• CO₂ reducing landscaping^[11]
• Grass planted on roof to reduce the need for mechanical heating or cooling^[11]
• Catch basin prevents runoff into ocean ^[11]
• Canopy collects rainwater used for on-site irrigation and to meet station's water needs^[11]
• LOW-VOC paint used in back of building^[11]
• Signage made from recycled material^[11]

Energy saving

• Canopy lighting uses up to 20% less energy than traditional gas stations ^[11]
• LED lighting throughout the station, using low amounts of energy to achieve the same brightness ^[11]
• Roof contains 90 solar panels, which can produce the energy needed for 2-3 average American homes^[11]
• Photocells and timers help customize energy needs to time of day and amount of light^[11]

Restroom features

• Walls made from farmed wood and rapidly renewing bamboo^[11]
• Motion sensor lights, reducing energy waste when not in use^[11]
• Bathroom sinks are made out of recycled aluminum shavings^[11]
• Floor tiles made from recycled glass^[11]
• Low water volume faucets, which shut off automatically when not in use to prevent water waste^[11]

Other

• On-site recycling of paper, cans, bottles, and cell phones is provided^[11]
• Maintenance conducted with recycled, eco-friendly products^[11]
• Old materials used in construction have been re-used or recycled^[11]

References

1. McCann, Sarah More (July 10, 2008). "BP creates a greener place to pump gas". The Christian Science Monitor.
2. Douglass, Elizabeth (February 23, 2007). "Paradox at the pump: BP touts new gas station as eco-friendly". Amarillo Globe-News. Archived from the original on 2012-09-24.
3. Gibson, David (2009). The Wayfinding Handbook: Information Design for Public Places. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 71. ISBN 9781568987699 – via Google Books.
4. Mays, Vernon (July 9, 2009). "Office dA". Architect Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-08-31.
5. Stone, Terry Lee (2010). Managing the Design Process-Implementing Design: An Essential Manual for the Working Designer. Rockport Publishers. pp. 33–34. ISBN 9781610580649 – via Google Books.
6. Kossovsky, Nir (2010). Mission: Intangible: Managing Risk and Reputation to Create Enterprise Value. Trafford. p. 132. ISBN 9781426924149 – via Google Books.
7. Jodidio, Philip (2011). Architecture and Automobiles. Los Angeles: Images Publishing. p. 98. ISBN 9781864703306 – via Google Books.
8. Sokol, David (August 10, 2007). "Green Gas Stations: Pit stops dishing out biofuel and ethanol are adopting sustainable architecture to show they're green through and through". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on May 19, 2008.
9. Douglass, Elizabeth (February 21, 2007). "A paradox at the pump". Los Angeles Times.
10. Google Street View of the Helios House in May 2009
11. "Helios House" (PDF). BP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-11.

External links

• Archived BP article about station at the Wayback Machine (archived 2012-03-21)