Designing a gym, spa or fitness facility is a complex job. There are lots of things to think about and a variety of specialists who need to be involved, from equipment suppliers to interior designers.
Get things right and you can avoid costly overruns and stressful moments. Plan properly and you are more likely to achieve your objectives and get your gym paying back dividends, whether it’s happy residents, engaged employees or making the most of your home gym.
Our expert gym designers have in-depth experience designing residential and corporate health and fitness facilities, including home gyms and training studios. We asked the team for their top tips on how to keep a gym design project running smoothly and successfully.
Initial consultancy is key to long-term success
The initial briefing and consultation are the foundation for the future success of any gym design project.
At motive8 we use the time to understand your needs and what it is you want to achieve.
It’s an important time to learn about the people who will ultimately use your gym or spa. We use the insight to make design decisions that will inspire users to make the most of the facilities.
During the gym consultancy phase, it’s also a good opportunity to identify decision makers and partners, as well as any other stakeholders who need to be consulted.
For private residential clients we offer an initial home gym design consultancy for £300 plus VAT. The consultancy includes working with you to produce 2D, 3D, and CAD designs of your space including equipment suggestions and other design recommendations. The fee for the design proposal is 100% refundable if an order is placed with motive8.
Clear communication helps build strong working relationships
Clear communications help everyone know what’s expected during the design project, and make for a better collaborative and trusted working partnership.
We are always mindful about being transparent with clients at motive8. After the initial gym consultancy, we create a design proposal to answer the brief. We outline options and help you to make important decisions to meet your objectives and keep to budget.
The design proposal includes an itemised quotation and pricing for flooring, lighting and other considerations such as the equipment schedule. We provide detailed images and information on each equipment piece.
Being clear and upfront about the financials, including consultancy fees, helps everyone make better decisions for the successful running and outcome of the project.
Regular checkpoints keep your design project on track
Make sure there are evaluations throughout the lifecycle of your design project. You can use these moments to measure your progress against your original goals.
At motive8, once the project proposal and budget has been signed off, we appoint a project manager to keep track of project activities and deliver a successful result.
The project manager will organise site visits to see how the project is developing. We make sure that any external partners are fully briefed and adhere to project requirements. We have years of experience working with architects, interior designers, master planners and equipment suppliers.
Once the design project has started, we have regular catch ups with clients to measure progress against the agreed plans.
If needed, we can identify additional strategies to keep the design project on track. We always keep you updated with any additional, agreed costs and document all design plan alterations.
Allow time and budget for finishing touches and handover
As with a large construction project, there are always small fixes or final flourishes with a gym design project.
Make sure that you allow time and budget for a robust snagging process once the major parts of your design project are complete. We can help you to identify what needs to be done and the best remedies.
You should allow for a full and thorough handover once the project has finished. It is important that facility managers fully understand the features of the gym or spa, including all the equipment, and receive training so they know how to manage the space effectively.
And don’t forget the end users of your gym, even if that’s you. Induction is a key moment for health and safety obligations and helping people to get the best from the equipment.
At motive8, we provide trainers specialising in delivering inductions to the highest safety standards and to help you hit the ground running with your gym users.
Plan for management and maintenance
You should be thinking about the management and maintenance of your facilities before your design project ends.
From day one of operations, you will want emergency support in place in the unlikely event that equipment doesn’t work or breaks down.
motive8 offers an individually tailored and swift gym, pool and spa maintenance support service. You’ll get peace of mind that we are there to help and we are the only supplier that covers gym, pool and fitness equipment under one contract.
If your design project is for a residential, student or corporate gym, you will also want to think about staffing and management. We can support any facility or site manager in the smooth day-to-day running of an operation and provide staffing for inductions, specialist instructors, personal training, fitness classes, spa treatments and more.
Get help from the experts
Whether you’re designing and installing a bespoke gym, fitness studio, pool and spa or fully managed site, you will need a gym design partner who can carefully consider and expertly address every need and requirement.
At motive8, we are ready to undertake any project. We are the market leader in full service premium health, fitness and leisure solutions and can offer you in-house gym design expertise, a quality control mindset and industry accreditations.
Reach out to us if you have any questions about your design project and our experts will be more than happy to help you further. You can contact us on 020 8481 9700 or info@m8group.co.uk.
