For a relaxing break

Choosing a service station to stop at during a car journey might seem a simple decision… one’s just like another. But in reality that’s not the case. Especially when driving on a familiar route, motorists tend to choose service stations that are most efficient, comfortable, cheap, friendly and professional. After all, it’s worth driving a few extra miles, fuel permitting, and stop off where you can be sure to find the service that only a well-established chain is able to offer.
This was the concept behind the restyling operation pursued by the Bruno Group, a business run by a Belgian family with Italian origins that operates successfully in the service station sector.
Aiming to expand their operations and further strengthen their already well established brand name, the owners put together a strategy that involved upgrading existing service stations and creating new ones in accordance with the latest performance models.
In particular, they chose to adopt a coordinated planning approach based on contemporary design.
Together with the architects from Studio5802, they developed a new concept of fully-equipped cutting-edge service station with meticulously designed furnishings and detailing where motorists and customers would be able to enjoy a pleasant and relaxing break from their journey.
The service station is built to proven standards of construction and has a clearly recognisable architectural identity.
The sober and rational style of the exterior is reflected in the solutions adopted for the interiors, where the overall spatial vision stands out for the use of sophisticated furnishings.
The colour design and meticulous choice of materials helps create a space that is welcoming but offers strong visual contrasts, creating a warm, Mediterranean atmosphere. Sophisticated and contemporary materials were chosen to complement the interior architecture: Corian® for the restaurant surfaces; metal for the false ceilings where the lighting and air-conditioning systems are housed; and porcelain for the floor, which was entirely paved with large-format tiles from Gardenia Orchidea’s Infinity Stone series in an elegant juxtaposition of grey and black.
The meticulous design has produced a consistent overall vision in which a number of leading brand names are highlighted through the use of islands and dedicated points of sale, although they remain perfectly integrated into the overall layout and are an integral part of the user’s overall experience.
Examples include the Lavazza lounge bar and the luxury pastry bakery, which offers the widest range of sandwiches, pizzas and other freshly baked Mediterranean specialities available in Belgium or Holland, all guaranteed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
For the larger sites, the project involved developing a new type of station with an exhaustive layout, an integrated multiservice centre that would cater for motorists’ every need.
This new concept of rest and service station includes a pastry bakery, a store, a high-quality restaurant, a car rental service, a carwash and a secure car park, all rigorously designed, implemented, operated and guaranteed by the Bruno Group’s trademark.