Global architecture and design firm Gensler have collaborated with sports giant Reebok to create a new concept transforming gas stations across the US into fitness hubs. The proposal, called Get Pumped, is a long-term vision for adaptive reuse inspired by the rising demand for electric automobiles, which will lessen the demand for gas stations. Gensler have imagined various ways in which these redundant facilities could become community spaces, “where people

Chicago developer Related Midwest has revealed the first renderings of the 680ft (207m) skyscraper it is planning for the city, which will include an Equinox hotel and fitness club. Details of the 58-storey project were revealed last week at a public meeting. The tower – which will flank the Kennedy Expressway at 725 W Randolph Street – will include 165 guest rooms, a spa and 370 rental apartments. At ground

A boutique health club exploring how lighting and design impact the effectiveness of your workout has opened in Beirut, Lebanon. Health club brand U Energy commissioned local practice Rabih Geha Architects to design the 1,200sq m (12,900sq ft) underground project as “a place to provide respite from the hectic nature of daily life” in the city. In order to encourage connection and interaction, the gym – which includes weightlifting areas,

Celebrity personal trainer Steve Halsall has opened a 3,500sq ft (325sq m) boutique health club in a co-living building in north-west London. Enrgym, in Old Oak, Willesden, is free to use for people living in the complex, which has been developed by property company The Collective using a 'co-living' concept described as "a new way to live". The design of the building, created by PLP Architecture, takes the form of

Experts from the sport and physical activity sector have a major role to play in delivering the mayor’s London Plan, according to chief executive of London Sport Tove Okunniwa. The draft plan, made available for consultation yesterday (1 December) by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, was welcomed by Okunniwa, who highlighted the importance of considering 'active lives' when making improvements to the capital’s infrastructure. “The draft London Plan is a

Architects HawkinsBrown have completed an elegant timber pool hidden among the trees for a school in the English county of Surrey. Swimmers using the 25m, six-lane competition pool can view the surrounding woodland through a series of windows integrated into the building’s timber frame. The architects used off-site fabrication methods to create the facility for Freemen’s School in the village of Ashtead, which replaces a previous pool building destroyed by

The University of Warwick is building a £49m (US$64.6m, €54.9m) sports and wellness hub in a bid to become the “most physically active higher education campus” in the UK by 2020. Set to open in 2019, the hub will include one of the largest gyms in higher education, spanning 16,684sq ft (1,550sq m), as part of the university’s mission to get “everyone active every day”. With 300 stations, it will

A ‘performance resort’ and spa are coming to master-planned wellness community Lake Nona, outside of Orlando, Florida, in 2020. The Lake Nona Resort is due to break ground in 2018 and will include a 45,000sq ft spa and fitness campus with in-depth indoor and outdoor programming for all ages and levels. Designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, the eight-storey Lake Nona Resort will be located along the southern shore of Lake Nona,

The British multinational Debenhams is partnering former Virgin Active co-founder Frank Reed to launch in-store gyms as part of the retailer’s strategy to attract more customers and a younger female base. Reed’s Sweat! gyms are set to be trialled in three stores from early 2018 under a membership model. The deal is part of the Debenhams Redesigned strategy, which involves working with strategic partners to deliver its plan of making

Luxury leisure club operator Equinox is offering its members sweeping harbour views while they work out at its latest location in Boston, Massachusetts. Equinox Seaport, which is the brand’s 90th global club, offers a 270-degree view of Rowes Wharf, surrounding developments and the harbour. The 35,000sq ft (3,252sq m) club sits on Boston Harbour and has been designed with black granite, exposed steel, black oak and polished wooden floors. It

The lead architect behind a major new community and fitness complex in Toronto has told CLADglobal how difficult landscapes and vacated brownfield sites can be transformed into high-functioning public facilities. Phil Fenech, principal of architecture firm Perkins+Will in Toronto, was project manager for York Community Centre – an aquatics centre, gym, health club and community hub constructed on the site of an abandoned baseball field. Located at a major arterial

Wellness communities are seeing high consumer demand, according to new research from the Global Wellness Institute due out in January. GWI researchers Ophelia Yeung and Katherine Johnston presented key findings from their report, Build Well to Live Well, at the Global Wellness Summit being held this week in Palm Beach, Florida. Johnston and Yeung called the report “the most important research we’ve undertaken”. “It’s not just because it’s a hot

A sculptural sports complex has opened to the public in Montreal’s largest borough, with a design that celebrates movement and human activity. The Complexe Sportif de Saint-Laurent, designed by Saucier + Perrotte Architectes and Hughes Condon Marler Architects, is a three-storey building located close to the city centre. The facility houses an indoor football pitch, two swimming pools, a gymnastics palestra, a multi-purpose events hall and training facilities. The centre

The city council of Derby, UK, has unveiled ambitious plans for a new swimming and leisure facility designed by international design practice FaulknerBrowns Architects and overseen by project managers Mace. The proposals include a ten-lane, 50m swimming pool; a leisure water area for families; a learner pool; a gym; fitness studios; a sauna; steam rooms; a café and a soft play area. The adaptable main pool will contain two booms

A luxury 30,000sq ft club inspired by a film production’s backlot has been unveiled in California by Equinox. Located in Century City, LA, and designed as a chic and aspirational venue, the panoramic club will include expansive locker rooms with luxurious amenities, a 4,000sq ft (371sq m) outdoor lounge and convertible wall systems that enable an indoor-outdoor programming experiences. “Taking aesthetic inspiration from a film production’s backlot, we utilised studio

The University of Birmingham has officially opened an indoor sports centre, designed by British architecture studio Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, with the ambition “to provide future generations of the city’s athletes with world-class sports facilities.” The centre, which is open to students, academics and the public, includes the city’s first Olympic-standard swimming pool and a range of sports halls and gyms, laboratories, testing facilities and a large climbing wall. The building

American fitness operator Equinox has been announced as the first tenant at One Culver; a former movie studio HQ in California that is being comprehensively renovated by international architects Gensler. Culver City real estate firm Runyon Group today (17 August) confirmed that Equinox will open “an expansive space filled with cutting edge fitness equipment, world class personal training, and unparalleled amenities” in the revamped 1980s office block, well-known for its

A new pay-as-you-go lifestyle gym for boutique operator Core Collective looks set to be built in London’s St John’s Wood, with Westminster City Council giving the project the go ahead. Waind Gohil + Potter Architects (WG+P), who specialise in wellbeing and leisure design, have created the concept – described as “a relaxed, luxury environment and where people want to hangout, not just workout.” The gym will feature contemporary design features,

A 3,500sq m (37,600sq ft) Shangri-La health club designed to “inject energy into the heart of Beijing’s central business district” will open in the Chinese capital in June. The forthcoming 450-bedroom Hotel Jen Beijing – a Shangri-La property – will operate the Trainyard Gym, keeping it open 24/7 in a bid to cement the facility as “the city’s go-to spot for fitness, recreation and nutrition.” Designed by Stickman Design, the

The government of Canada and Quebec municipality have each pledged to invest US$4.4m (€4m, £3.4m) for the construction of a large-scale aqua-gym complex in the town of Dolbeau-Mistassini, the government of which will fund the same amount. The facility will feature nn indoor waterpark, including a shallow pool, slides and water games; a six-corridor pool; two diving areas; a sauna; two mezzanines; and a gymnasium. "Cultural and recreational infrastructure helps

The American Copper Buildings – a soaring pair of copper-clad luxury rental towers linked by a three-story skybridge 300ft (91.4m) in the air – have welcomed their first residents in New York. The project – a collaboration between JDS Development Group and SHoP Architects – is located at 626 First Avenue along Manhattan’s East River waterfront. The angled silhouettes maximise views of the river and surrounding landmarks such as the

German fitness operator McFit has launched a new gym concept centred around design and music. The first John Reed Fitness Music Clubs launched in the cities of Bonn and Salzburg in late July 2016. To date, nine have been opened in Germany, Austria, Italy and Hungary, and McFit wants to have 30 studios open by the end of 2017. Each club has its own unique design, with furnishings and features

Fitness giant McFit has launched a new Cyberobics ‘concept store’ in Berlin, showcasing the company’s plans to roll out health clubs where “the real and virtual world melt through complete immersion.” Called World of Cyberonics, the €10m (US$10.6m, £8.7m) venue is a showcase for McFit’s line of international virtual-only studios, which it is introducing across Europe. The company’s in-house design team have visualised the space, which combines contemporary architecture with

A “stadium-like” new aquatics centre in Budapest has been unveiled ahead of the World Swimming Championships, which will be held at the venue in five months. The Dagály Budapest Aquatics Complex, also known as the Danube Arena, has been completed just two years after the Mexican city of Guadalajara withdrew as host of the championships due to financial problems, and Budapest agreed to step in. The facility was originally designed

Chinese architecture and design studio Coordination Asia have completed a series of sci-fi tinged pop-up running hubs for sports giant Nike at Shanghai’s Times Square. Created for the Nike+ Run Club – a community which brings people together to explore their cities through running – the hexagonal structures house treadmills in pod-like sections, intended to create a kaleidoscopic interior. LED strips of light on the floor and ceiling build up

Companies can inspire productivity, profit and improved health and wellbeing among their staff by introducing biophilic amenities such as green fitness centres into their workplaces. That is the view of Despina Katsikakis, a leading workplace design consultant, who claims that the cost of such changes is “negligible when compared the benefits it brings for the organisation, its staff and the economy.” She made the comments during a panel discussion recently

Design studio Amos Goldreich Architecture have completed a “dynamic and tranquil” health club in London for Xtend Barre, with the site earmarked as the American fitness brand’s first flagship European studio. Located on Marylebone High Street, the 3,000sq ft (278sq m) club is a contemporary space for Xtend Barre’s “adrenaline-fuelled” training classes – a fusion of ballet, dance and Pilates that enhance flexibility, improve balance, and challenge the core. The