Gym Design
Gym design, as a concept, began with designing spaces to hold exercise equipment. The most successful gyms in the world design based on culture, exercise trends, gym member interests, and fitness experiences. Is your gym designed to communicate your culture, purpose, and gym brand?

Design | Health Club | Gym | Weight Room | Hotel
I Want To Learn More About Gym Design
Gym Design
Gym design involves bringing concepts related to your facility purpose, and company brand, to deliver architectural, aesthetic, and functional requirements to your members. This is an ambitious process. We begin by developing a detailed model of your key value drivers, spacial requirements, and limitations, and value propositions. We define your core values and express them in textural, scalable, and virtual terms. We build and render 3D gym models that present your company culture, customer interests, and gym concept.
Design is often confused with “decoration”. However, designing is not a process of simply making an environment look a specific way — it is the systematic and pragmatic development and expression of your unique selling proposition, and brand. Design is as much science as it is art. Your fitness facility design must capture both aesthetics and functional purpose. In order to remain relevant amongst competitors, you must redesign, redevelop, and renovate your facility to meet the changing needs and expectations of people whom you serve – your members and customers.
Please take a moment to review the following design concepts. These images reveal important details to consider when researching branding and design. Notice how the design of each exercise space is deliberately in line with the focus of each gym. One-size-fits-all concepts have been defeated by clear, focused, exercise concepts. Trends in group training, social fitness experiences, and profitable utilization of space, now lead design efforts in the commercial gym arena. Gone are the days when a gym simply housed exercise equipment. These images represent the core values of each gym owner — each concept focuses on purpose, utility, member experiences, and gym branding.
These Gym Design Images Are Awesome — I’d Like To Learn More
Independent vs Franchise Gym Design
Gym franchising is a big business. Franchise gym concepts make up the greatest volume of fitness locations worldwide. According to International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), among the top gym franchise concepts[1], including CrossFit, LA Fitness, Life Time Fitness, Anytime Fitness, and Planet Fitness, among several others. Gym concept franchisors factor design into the franchise package. Each gym franchise concept offers a scalable gym design, build-out, layout, equipment offering, and brand association. If you’ve visited any of these types of gyms, something universally connected grounds the gym design. Some of these gyms do offer ambitious services and unique design features within their gyms. Others do not. What design elements do you believe differentiates each of these franchise models?
Alternatively, independent gyms are designed based on an individual owner/operator’s interests, and purpose. Although the gym franchise model is driving the largest market share of gyms by the number of locations, it is the independent gym owner who founded the original gym movement (e.g., Gold’s Gym, World Gym, Powerhouse Gym). It is interesting to note that according to Forbes, franchise businesses fail at the same rate as independent businesses. “Some franchise chains have failure rates as high as 80% to 90%, while others have almost no failures [2].” Among the worst franchise gyms to buy, Curves and Fitness Together make the worst franchise businesses to buy[3]. It is an interesting side note, both Fitness Together and Curves have low-value propositions, require little investment, and do not incorporate trending gym design into their concepts. More successful franchise gym operations value design, and as a result, provide more value in their franchise proposition. Remember this when reviewing either independent or franchise fitness facility projects and gym design strategies.
Do you trust your brand identity, and investment, with a franchise model or will you be creating your own brand identity? Both have dramatic design implications associated. There is reasonable debate regarding joining the crowd, to be another me too gym. Regardless of the business origination, as a gym owner, you must be willing to be a leader in your community by generating support for fitness and exercise trends that your gym members crave. Although large chain-gyms outnumber independent gyms — we are learning that guests and members are leaving generic gyms, of all sizes, in favor of gyms that cater to strong, sustainable, progressive exercise trends — based on purpose.
Gym Design Concepts: Beyond 2016
New design features and trends make use of wall and floor space to complete the vision of independent gym operators. You will see a surge in specialized training areas within gyms, as well as entire gym concepts that focus on training modalities suitable for small and large group training. Making a strong entrance into the gym marketplace, 2016 marked the dominance of dynamic training. Calisthenics, strength & conditioning, Olympic lifting, and timed exercise competitive events, are topping fitness trends and gym member interests. We now see how important it is to align technological advances in metabolic and exercise metrics, sustainable flooring, indoor turf, wall utilization, storage solutions, and progressive exercise. Dominant in progressive gym design, brands are designing experiences based on top exercise trends. Group exercise classes, including pole fitness, aerial yoga, Antigravity® fitness, acrobatics, and aerial pilates, now set new standards for relevant gym design.
Gym design, as a concept, is created by identifying and displaying purpose, intent, and market relevancy. Our design strategy embodies a combination of gym branding, the deliberate planning, and appropriation of features and amenities, thoughtfully developed to shape social and exercise experiences for your gym members and clients. Our mission is to design gyms people love. We purposefully study market trends, fitness industry data, and successful independent gym and franchise gym models alike. Your gym must remain relevant amongst larger gym chains, likely offering larger footprints and locations. What separates your gym from the competition? We believe it is a deliberate expression and execution of niche gym branding, purpose, and commitment to relevancy for many years to come.
Gym Design Value Drivers
Purpose Driven
Member Focused
Gym Branding
Marketplace Relevancy
Would you like to speak with a gym design consultant?
If so, we want to hear from you. To learn more about how we can help you design or redesign your gym, please use the form below to express your interest or any questions about gym design or gym branding and marketing expressed through technical and aesthetic fundamentals of the exterior and interior designing.
After you contact us – don’t forget, we can support your facility, website, personal training, and group exercise programs. Yes, it’s free – always.