Darb Stations

A Saudi Fuel Station Network With Ministry-Backed Franchise Ambitions

Darb Stations (درب) is a Saudi Arabian fuel station company operating across the Kingdom with a growing network of stations. What makes Darb distinctive in the Saudi market is their commercial franchise programme — a major strategic initiative launched in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Monsha’at (the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises).

Through this partnership, Darb offers investors the opportunity to own and operate franchise fuel stations under the Darb brand — with guaranteed returns, strategic highway locations, and multiple revenue streams beyond fuel sales (in-station shops, support services, digital loyalty programmes). The website needed to serve two very different audiences simultaneously: investors and entrepreneurs evaluating the franchise opportunity, and renters and tenants looking at station space.

This is not a small business. It’s an enterprise client operating in the Saudi energy sector with government-level institutional backing — and the website had to reflect that credibility.

Full Arabic RTL. Full English LTR. Every Page. Every Component.

Building a bilingual website for a Saudi audience isn’t just a translation exercise — it’s a complete layout and direction challenge. Arabic reads right-to-left. English reads left-to-right. That means every page layout, every navigation structure, every button alignment, every text block, and every interactive element needs to work correctly in both directions — not just swap text, but fully mirror the layout.

We used Polylang for the multilingual system and built the entire site in Bricks Builder with proper RTL/LTR handling throughout. The result is two complete website experiences that share the same design system but present correctly for their respective language direction. A Saudi visitor arriving at the Arabic version gets a native Arabic experience — not a translated English site.

The language switch is available on every page via a flag selector in the top utility bar. Switching language doesn’t just change text — it switches the entire page direction, navigation alignment, and layout mirroring. Both language versions are fully indexed, giving Darb search visibility in both Arabic and English search results.

Three Distinct Workflows. One Coherent System.

Darb’s website isn’t a single-audience brochure. It serves three separate user journeys, each with different information needs and different calls to action. We built each as a distinct section with its own content structure, inquiry forms, and data management — all powered by Advanced Custom Fields inside Bricks Builder.

• Investor Portal
  Presents the investment case for Darb franchise stations — guaranteed returns, strategic location advantages, multiple revenue streams, and the Ministry of Energy partnership. Includes an inquiry form routed to the investment team.
  
  
• Renter Portal
  For businesses interested in renting commercial space within Darb stations — retail shops, service outlets, food operators. Displays available space categories and routes enquiries to the tenancy team.
  
  
• Franchise Inquiry System
  Structured franchise application flow — captures investor profile, capital availability, preferred region, and contact details. Data stored and manageable from WordPress admin. Supports the Monsha’at partnership initiative.

Find Your Nearest Darb Station — With Radius Search

A fuel station network’s website without a station locator is incomplete. We built the interactive map using the Agile Map Locator plugin, configured with all Darb station locations across Saudi Arabia. The map isn’t just a static list — it’s a functional geographic search tool.

Government-Backed. Website-Powered.

The franchise section is one of the most strategically important parts of the site. Darb’s commercial franchise initiative is backed by a formal cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Energy and Monsha’at — the Saudi government authority for SME development. This gives the franchise programme institutional credibility that needs to be communicated clearly to prospective investors.

Three Station Formats — Three Investment Profiles

Darb operates three distinct station models — different sizes, different investment thresholds, different commercial configurations. The website presents each model with its own visual identity and specification details, so investors can evaluate which model fits their capital and location.

• النموذج الأول — Model 1
  Standard highway station configuration — primary fuel services with core commercial offerings
  
  
• النموذج الثاني — Model 2
  Expanded station format — larger commercial area, more shop units, higher traffic locations
  
  
• النموذج الثالث — Model 3
  Premium station configuration — full commercial hub with maximum retail and service offerings

15 Days. Full Enterprise Site.

Delivering a bilingual enterprise website with three custom portals, an interactive map, and a full Arabic RTL build in 15 days requires precise execution. The design direction was developed by iTechtics — there was no Figma file to work from. This meant design and development ran in parallel, with approvals happening on a fast cycle.

1. Discovery, Brand Direction & WordPress Setup
   Client brief reviewed. Brand palette (green/gold — Saudi heritage colours), typography, and layout direction established. WordPress + Bricks Builder environment configured. Polylang multilingual setup initialised. Arabic RTL theme direction confirmed.
   
   
2. Homepage, Navigation & Core Pages
   Homepage designed and built in Arabic first — hero section with station models, investment overview, map teaser, partner logos, media centre. Custom scrolling sticky header with colour transition built in JavaScript. Navigation structure built for both language versions.
   
   
3. Portals, Map & Supporting Pages
   Investor portal page built with ACF-powered content fields and inquiry form. Renter portal built with space category display and tenancy inquiry. Franchise inquiry system built with full application form. Agile Map Locator configured with station locations and radius search. About, Media Centre, Clients, Careers, and Contact pages built.
   
   
4. Full English Translation & LTR Build
   Complete English version of all pages built — not just text replacement, but full LTR layout mirroring. Navigation, forms, portals, and map all tested in English mode. Language switcher verified on every page.
   
   
5. QA, Mobile Testing & Launch
   Full QA on desktop and mobile in both Arabic and English. RTL/LTR rendering verified across Chrome, Safari, and mobile browsers. Map, portals, and inquiry forms tested end-to-end. Site launched at darbstations.com.sa.

Every Tool Chosen for Enterprise-Grade Bilingual Delivery

Polylang was chosen over WPML for this project because of its performance characteristics — for a site where Arabic is the primary language, Polylang’s handling of RTL direction switching is cleaner. ACF inside Bricks Builder gave us the portal content management flexibility without requiring custom plugin development. The Agile Map Locator was the most capable WordPress-native option for the radius search requirement.