Photographer Philip Butler has captured a disappearing piece of Britain's automotive heritage in his comprehensive new book "226 Garages and Service Stations." The 252-page publication documents the nation's petrol age through an extensive photographic survey that showcases an eclectic architectural lineage spanning Mock-Tudor fantasies, streamlined moderne curves, and humble repair shops tucked into railway arches or converted chapels. Published in the spirit of Ed Ruscha's influential "Twentysix Gasoline Stations" (1963), Butler's survey reveals how the evolution of motoring fundamentally shaped the architectural vernacular of 20th-century Britain.

The Worcestershire-based photographer particularly emphasizes the adaptive reuse that characterized Britain's motoring infrastructure development. As demand for vehicle testing surged during the 1960s, communities creatively repurposed disused cinemas, churches, fire stations, and even factories to serve automotive needs. Notable examples include St. John's Garage in Wigtownshire, which was formerly a Presbyterian church, and a converted fire station at Hythe that demonstrates the improvisational quality of British motoring infrastructure. Some abandoned automotive sites have found gentler second lives, such as a decommissioned filling station in Withypool, Devon, which now operates as a popular tearoom frequented by bikers and classic car enthusiasts.

Certain landmarks featured in Butler's collection remain architectural showpieces that transcended their utilitarian purpose. Michelin House in Chelsea, completed in 1911 by François Espinasse, masterfully fused British Art Nouveau styling with the French tire company's distinctive branding, featuring stained glass windows, glazed terracotta tiles, and tire-shaped cupolas that set a benchmark for corporate architecture. In Leeds, Appleyard's Neo-Georgian garage designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield in 1932 elegantly married municipal formality with automotive convenience, complete with an octagonal hut and circular forecourt that reflected the era's architectural ambitions.

As automobiles began dominating British roads in the early 1900s, garages initially emerged as pragmatic structures designed to service, repair, and refuel these revolutionary machines. However, what started as purely functional buildings soon began reflecting broader design currents and cultural movements. During the 1920s, growing concerns over visual blight led to new regulations that produced unexpected architectural hybrids, including rustic thatched filling stations like The Garage Marsdon, where modern petrol pumps stood incongruously beneath combustible roofs. Other notable examples from this period include the Black Cat Garage in Devon, which followed the era's obsession with faux-medieval timber beams, while at the famous Brooklands motor circuit, competing oil companies erected rival pagoda-style kiosks to mark their corporate territory at the racetrack.

By the 1930s, the aerodynamic glamour of the Modernist movement found striking expression in automotive architecture through structures like Manor Road Garage in West Sussex, whose rounded corners and flat roofs distinctly echoed the design language of ocean liners and aircraft. The Black Cat Garage in Bampton, Devon, built around 1930, exemplifies this transition period in automotive architecture. Yet for every bold statement building, there were countless understated workshops such as Central Garage Tegryn in Pembrokeshire, which modestly disguised traditional pitched roofs behind stepped façades that bridged old and new architectural sensibilities.

Post-war Britain witnessed the bold introduction of reinforced concrete into garage design, creating dramatically futuristic structures that reflected the era's optimistic vision of the future. The 1958 Athenaeum Service Station canopy in Islington stands as a prime example, with its starship-like silhouette that perfectly captures the science fiction craze of the era. Manor Road Garage in East Preston, West Sussex, built in 1934, showcases the sophisticated post-war aesthetic with its clean lines and modern materials. Additional examples featured in Butler's collection include the former Colyford Filling Station in Devon from 1927-28, a BP station in Red Hill, Leicestershire (originally designed for Mobil based on a 1964 design but built in 1979), and the former C.B. Attride Motor Engineers in Broadstairs, Kent, dating to the 1920s.

Across these 226 carefully documented sites, Butler's photographic survey captures the profound cultural footprint left by the combustion engine era on Britain's built environment. The book serves as both an architectural record and a social history, documenting how automotive culture shaped communities and landscapes throughout the 20th century. As Britain moves steadily toward an electric future with new charging infrastructure replacing traditional gas stations, Butler's comprehensive documentation preserves the memory of a transformative century when garages and petrol stations served as vital community landmarks deeply rooted in local identity and daily life.