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Architecture & Design: Design spotlight
We take a look at the latest home and international projects from leading architects and interior designers in the world of health and fitness
BOX CLEVER
Boxing+ Wellness Center
Taipei, Taiwan
Boxing+ Wellness Center – designed by local interior designer Michelle Wei of MW Design, in collaboration with Jimmy Wei Chu of Chubic Lighting Consultants – occupies a 562sq m space in the basement of an industrial building. Its high-end finish aims to set a new boutique-style benchmark for the design of boxing clubs.
The space was specifically selected for its lack of pillars: the vista is entirely unrestricted from one end to the other. Instead, lighting – which formed a key part of the brief from the outset, and which has since won numerous awards – is used to create the distinct zones in the club, wrapping areas in their own light in order to separate one zone from another.
Lighting is also used effectively to set the mood in the club: warm and welcoming as you arrive in the reception area; gentler light to unwind in the changing rooms post-workout; diffused spotlights above the functional zone to create a focused atmosphere without lights shining directly into your eyes; and energy-boosting colour in the boxing ring.
BRINGING THE OUTDOORS, INDOORS
Biofit
London, UK
Landscape architect Lily Jencks recently designed ‘the world’s first biophilic gym’ for fitness concept Biofit.
Described as “an organic gym concept for big city life”, the pop-up health club opened the doors to its indoor oasis in west London from 9 January to 3 February 2017.
With a brief to “bring the outside world indoors”, Jencks created an environment where gym-goers could work out amid natural vegetation, colours, materials, shapes, scents and sounds – the idea being that the use of natural materials and plants in a health club context would leave clients both physically and mentally fitter.
In addition to its biophilic interiors, Biofit also developed its own range of nature-focused, organic exercise equipment using materials such as timber, cotton and rope.
Biofit founder Matt Morley is keen to find partners to help roll the concept out into locations all around the world.
ART DECO CHIC
Encore Fitness
Moscow, Russia
Opened in late September 2016 and designed by the architectural bureau of Alexander Parkin, Encore Fitness’ flagship health and fitness club is set within Moscow’s elegant 85-storey OKO Tower building.
The club’s Art Deco style references the work of legendary US architect Frank Lloyd Wright, with “precise geometry and architectural vectors meeting fluid lines and glossy surfaces”. Huge panoramic windows and a large number of mirrors create a great sense of space, complemented by the complex’s multi-level lighting system.
The 3,900sq m club offers eight fitness zones, a 25m pool, a 1,200sq m thermal complex, a café and a beauty salon.
REACH FOR THE SKY
Life Time Athletic at Sky
New York, US
Health and fitness operator Life Time recently opened its first New York health and fitness club, located within Manhattan’s largest residential tower.
The Life Time Athletic at Sky club occupies a 70,000sq ft (6,500sq m) space in the 71-storey Sky building, which was designed by Goldstein Hill & West and with interiors created by David Rockwell’s studio, the Rockwell Group.
Rockwell Group has created a design palette of natural and handcrafted materials and finishes, including marble, walnut, brass and stone, in neutral hues “that express a fresh and more informal interpretation of luxury”.
