Gym interior design can often get overlooked when it comes to planning and installing a gym or leisure facility.
With a focus on layout and equipment, it’s easy to forget that aspects such as décor, lighting and interior features can have a direct impact on the success of your gym.
Get the gym interior design just right and you can help set the mood, encourage people to use facilities and even boost exercise performance.
Here at motive8 we take a curious, creative, questioning and personal approach to gym design. So, we asked our experts for their top gym inspiration to transform your workout space.
Make the most of natural light
People often connect an indoor gym with the yellowish hues of artificial lights, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Take a creative approach to gym design and light from windows and skylights and you can flood your space with natural light.
Not only does natural light enhance the mood and beauty of your space, getting more daylight is proven to boost health, energy and mood.
Natural light can turn your gym from an uninspiring space into one where you want to spend time.
Check out the floor to ceiling windows in our Supersonic Fitness project in York. We worked closely with a lighting designer to create a beautiful space where people want to hang out with friends.
Boost wellbeing with a living wall
Including plants in your gym interior design is a clever way to create a stunning feature and deliver positive health benefits to your gym users.
One recent trend in gym interior design is to create a living wall. Instead of plant pots taking up floor space, walls are covered in greenery to create a vertical garden.
The plants purify air turning carbon dioxide into oxygen as well as helping to soundproof walls. Best of all, a living wall can help people feel happier and more relaxed.
In 2020 we transformed the leisure facilities for a large corporate client in central London. They wanted employee wellbeing to be at the heart of the design.
Our gym inspiration included a forest scene mural on the main gym wall and a unique green, living wall in the fitness studio, made-up of a green moss that creates its own micro-climate.
Set the mood with your signage
Gym signage is yet another opportunity to think beyond the ordinary when it comes to gym interior design.
Being imaginative with signage can help to create the right atmosphere, build your brand and help set your facilities apart.
When CYC:D Fitness Studio approached us to convert a commercial unit into a spin space, our leading gym designers used creative signs to build the boutique feel that CYC:D was targeting.
From funky blue lights to the neon wall logo, we helped to create a vibe that complements the music played by in-house DJs and gives a sense of energy to spin participants.
Design flooring for form and function
When we design a gym or leisure facility our aim is to create a truly bespoke space where form and function unite.
One important focus area on how a gym is used and how it looks is floor space. Not only is it one of the largest surfaces it is one that gets the most wear and tear.
Gym designers need to choose the best functional materials, such as rubber, foam or matting, to suit the different types of exercise. And they need to consider the best look to give the space the right ambience.
For the Upton Gardens residential gym development we worked closely with an interiors firm to make sure the design incorporated the residential brand theme and that the flooring system was fit for purpose.
Small flourishes give unique style
Big, stand-out interior features are the most eye-catching when someone enters a gym space, but it’s often the smaller, less obvious touches that can really create a distinctive style.
At motive8, our designers think through the entire customer journey and how each touchpoint can make a difference. We consider every little detail from the fixtures and fittings to the power outlets and positions of cables.
250 City Road, in Central London, is one of the flagship developments of Berkeley Homes. 250 City Road is centred on luxury and elegance so we set out to make sure every aspect of the interior design could contribute to that aspirational feel.
For example, the gym equipment at 250 City Road is covered with bespoke leather upholstery. It is just one of the finer details that helps the 5 star development match function with finesse.
Get gym inspiration from the experts
There are lots of different ways you can use gym interior design to enhance your leisure facility.
At motive8, we can skilfully guide you through your gym design journey.
We have over 20 years’ experience working on residential, corporate, commercial and home gym interiors.
We take a unique 360-degree approach to every project making sure we are designing ‘real’ spaces where every client and customer need is carefully considered and expertly addressed.
Find out more about our design ethos or contact us for a consultation from our leading gym designers.
Telephone: 020 8481 9700
Email: info@m8group.co.uk
