Once the poorly-lit realm of muscle building and white boarded aerobic class schedules, gyms are now as sleek and modern as the people they aim to attract. Elegantly realised and often sci-fi in their demeanour, contemporary gyms are all about supporting the client to wellness.

This is not the world of knee warmers and screaming spin trainers. No, this is Pilates, yoga and stationary bikes with a view. Moreover, these gyms boast interiors commensurate with the buildings in which they are hosted. Ranging from corporate to private, the gym typology has never looked fitter!

1. Heartbeat High by Design Theory

The business of Heartbeat High is booming; the city of Perth leaping headfirst at the opportunity to embrace pilates after years of COVID lockdown. It only makes sense that owners Phoebe Woodhead and Olivia Stell reached out to Design Theory to bring their two new studios to life. “

Both Phoebe and I discovered Pilates through rehabilitation needs and saw the wonders it could do for your body and mind,” says co-owner Olivia Stell. “And here, an idea to bring fun back to fitness was born. We knew we could do it bigger, better, and brighter to appeal to a younger generation who were being overlooked.”

2. Market Lane by Elenberg Fraser

The ground floor arrival is flanked by rooms for flexible fitness and exercise, encouraging organic social interaction between building patrons. Multiple street entrances and operable windows further promote natural cross-ventilation and fresh air intake throughout, a crucial strategy in the prevention of community transmission.

The structure opens into a vast atrium lung at its core, where lush tendrils of Devil’s Ivy creep along a steel trellis, and plants line each internal level. This green gesture, created in consultation with landscape architects OpenWork, is one visible indication of the deeper biophilic approach informing many of the unseen details at Market Lane.

3. Hercules Fitness by CUN FF

Lead designer of CUN FF, Fang Fei, has combined working areas with social spaces so that clients connect in both their daily workout and private relaxation. Fang Fei believes that places for exercise are very different to other commercial spaces with eye-catching decoration kept to a minimum, however, the design should also be controlled, rational and reserved – to reflect the rationale of sports activities.

4. Cotton On campus by Greg Natale

Paramount to the design outcomes was the client’s desire for incredible staff facilities. But, what he didn’t want was a gym that looked like a gym or a blonde Scandinavian spa.

To this end, Natale has reconsidered the whole wellness mode as a resort experience of rich timber, elegant tones and very beautiful moments. Incredibly detailed cabinetry uses a simple geometric form to deliver a dimensional screen between the corridor and gym. Moreover, a full wall image of a country lane faces the stationary bikes. Magic!

5. The Well by Tom Mark Henry

For the fitness and wellbeing industry, where the competition is rife, and the need for making a great first impression can mean the difference between soaring or dwindling membership numbers, the role that design can play cannot be overstated.

‘Wellbeing’ has definitely been a watchword for 2018, representing the apotheosis of so many strands of contemporary thought coming together: environmental and human ethics and the global pursuit of health and happiness. 

6. Anytime Fitness by Joyce Architects

A new gym by Joyce Architects, located in the centre of Geelong, has created a ‘paradigm shift’. And, given the extension to the original footprint is only a few square metres, this is a remarkable achievement.

Bordered by busy thoroughfares (Moorabool and Ryrie streets), the decision from the outset for Swiss-based company Anytime Fitness, was to relocate the main entrance to the relatively quiet rear enclave of Shorts Place South. “It’s the first contemporary addition to this streetscape,” says architect Tarryn Joyce, director of the practice.

We think you might like this article about 8 black building exteriors.