A former gas station is now a workshop and a concept store for bikers

In Italy, during the 1950s, some filling stations had a motel inside in order to rest a few hours after a long trip. A survivor remained of that glorious past of the first highways and it was in Udine (a city in a North-East region, ed): a former motel turned in a garage and finally in a car wash. 

A hangar of 500 square meters brought back to life with a name that tributes its origins by the creative agency Visual Display, specializing in interior/retail design and brand architecture. The Filling Station Motel or FSM is a motorcycle wokshop, a petrol station, a concept store, an “osteria” that offers, with a contemporary retelling, some typical food of the region.

It is a space that, from reception to maintenance, from clothing to collecting, focuses on motorbikes as an element that connects all the areas. The interior design project involved a remarkable refurbishment not only of the original facade, restored maintaining the original doors, windows and materials but also of the adjacent outdoor area with the creation of a private parking. 

The décor consists in the selection of warm elements – vintage or leather furnishing – in a industrial environment made of wire mesh divisions and large transparent windows. This restoration work aims to relive the rest area as a space where travellers can stop and share ideas and passions and then leave again.