Fastned's Gentbrugge stations win Architizer A+ award
The stations feature a timber structure, green roof and large windows designed to maximize natural light and a sense of openness
Fastned has won the Architizer A+ Award in the Sustainable Commercial Building category for the restaurant and shop at its flagship fast charging stations in Gentbrugge, Belgium, it was announced at the 14th Annual Architizer A+ Awards.
The retail buildings at Gentbrugge North and South, which opened in September 2025, were recognized by both a distinguished jury and a public vote that drew more than 300,000 participants last year.
The jury praised the project as a transformation of what a service area can be. "Gentbrugge isn't just a place to charge your vehicle," it said. "A patch of concrete is transformed into a landscape where natural materials and greenery define the experience — a natural pause in people's journey."
The stations feature a timber structure, green roof and large windows designed to maximize natural light and a sense of openness. The facade faces a picnic area and tree line rather than the highway, and soil excavated during construction was repurposed to create sheltering hills around the site. The shop's roofline echoes the solar tree canopy of the charging station, sharing a unified architectural identity with bold yellow accents and a modular design built for future expansion.
Sustainability was embedded into the construction process itself. Rather than a standard concrete ground-floor slab, the team used a layer of seashells to achieve structural stability, while concrete used elsewhere on site was recycled. The building is constructed with circular materials designed for disassembly and reuse at end of life, and solar panels and smart energy systems support its zero-emissions operation.
"I hope Gentbrugge shows people what the charging experience can actually be: calm, pleasant, in a beautiful location where people want to spend time," said Max Boerman, Product Owner Retail Design at Fastned. "Design and architecture have a real role to play in making the transition accessible to everyone."
Fastned said it plans to roll out smaller modular retail facilities drawing on lessons from Gentbrugge, scaling the human-centric approach across more locations in its network.
