Does your club have the ‘wow’ factor? We continue our architecture and design
series, looking at some of the world’s most architecturally impressive health clubs
CLIMBING FRAMES Illoiha Omotesando, Tokyo, Japan The Illoiha Omotesando fitness club in Tokyo, Japan, is spread across two below-ground floors of a building. Architect firm nendo therefore decided to create an unusual two-storey workout area to unify the space.
To express the original brand concept of “becoming beautiful through movement”, nendo chose the theme of rock-climbing in Omotesando. “We developed a design that uses the mismatch between a rugged outdoor sport and Tokyo’s fashion district to its advantage,” explains a spokesperson for nendo. “Instead of the usual rough and outdoorsy climbing wall, we came up with the idea of using interior design elements like picture frames, mirrors, deer heads, bird cages and flower vases to create a challenging wall with hard-to-find holds and unusual finger grips.
“We hope our unique Omotesando-style climbing wall inspires newcomers to try out the sport, and kicks off a new wave of fitness with style.”
The Tokyo club sets a new trend in designer climbing walls
The club occupies two below-ground floors
TAKE ME TO CHURCH DAVIDBARTONGYM LIMELIGHT, NEW YORK, US Opened in November 2014, New York’s DavidBartonGym Limelight is located in a building that was previously a church and then later a nightclub.
Working with interior design company Studio Sofield, the design brief was to fuse the original architecture of the building with the brand’s rebellious gym style. Members enter through an active bell tower and are surrounded by original stone structures and stained glass windows while they work out, with features including a power lifting chapel.
“With each DavidBartonGym, we infuse the design with our signature elements while staying true to the area where the gym is located,” says designer Bill Sofield.
“With Limelight, we kept several of the classic elements of the space, giving a sophisticated wink to the venue’s past as both a church and a nightclub, while making sure we put our DavidBartonGym spin on its future.”
Church architecture informs the design
The site had also been a nightclub
The bell tower
is still active
The brand is known for its rebellious style
The club’s design
fuses old with new
Original church features remain intact
LINES OF SIGHT The Third Space, London, UK he building The Third Space occupies, in London’s Soho, was originally designed for the house staff of the hotel across the street. Its very low floor-to-ceiling heights and antiquated servicing put off most potential operators who were considering a health club project – but The Third Space team saw this as an opportunity to design a unique space.
The vision – delivered by Mark Goldstein of Goldstein Ween Architects – was to create a lifestyle environment of activities and spaces connected vertically through voids and glass floors and horizontally through layers of open planning, producing long vistas within the tight horizons of the club while at the same time channelling real sunlight throughout all levels.
The design was never intended to reflect the corporate efficiency of the typical health club chain, the exclusivity of the high-end private club or the decorative thematic expressions of speciality health spas, but was more about the simplicity and vitality of natural health. The club was opened in 2000.
Spaces in the club have been connected vertically
Natural light floods through the building
The Third Space offers a ‘lifestyle environment’
Think your club is worthy of inclusion in our series? Drop us an email with a few photos: [email protected]
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
CoverMe, the global leader in fitness workforce management, today launches CoverMe PT, an
on-demand personal training platform that connects the right personal trainer to the right
client in under 10 seconds. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Precor
Precor promises precision-quality products with steadfast reliability that are inspired by exerciser [more...]
Serco Leisure
Serco Leisure Operating Limited is one of the UK’s leading national operators of leisure centres, de [more...]
Does your club have the ‘wow’ factor? We continue our architecture and design
series, looking at some of the world’s most architecturally impressive health clubs
CLIMBING FRAMES Illoiha Omotesando, Tokyo, Japan The Illoiha Omotesando fitness club in Tokyo, Japan, is spread across two below-ground floors of a building. Architect firm nendo therefore decided to create an unusual two-storey workout area to unify the space.
To express the original brand concept of “becoming beautiful through movement”, nendo chose the theme of rock-climbing in Omotesando. “We developed a design that uses the mismatch between a rugged outdoor sport and Tokyo’s fashion district to its advantage,” explains a spokesperson for nendo. “Instead of the usual rough and outdoorsy climbing wall, we came up with the idea of using interior design elements like picture frames, mirrors, deer heads, bird cages and flower vases to create a challenging wall with hard-to-find holds and unusual finger grips.
“We hope our unique Omotesando-style climbing wall inspires newcomers to try out the sport, and kicks off a new wave of fitness with style.”
The Tokyo club sets a new trend in designer climbing walls
The club occupies two below-ground floors
TAKE ME TO CHURCH DAVIDBARTONGYM LIMELIGHT, NEW YORK, US Opened in November 2014, New York’s DavidBartonGym Limelight is located in a building that was previously a church and then later a nightclub.
Working with interior design company Studio Sofield, the design brief was to fuse the original architecture of the building with the brand’s rebellious gym style. Members enter through an active bell tower and are surrounded by original stone structures and stained glass windows while they work out, with features including a power lifting chapel.
“With each DavidBartonGym, we infuse the design with our signature elements while staying true to the area where the gym is located,” says designer Bill Sofield.
“With Limelight, we kept several of the classic elements of the space, giving a sophisticated wink to the venue’s past as both a church and a nightclub, while making sure we put our DavidBartonGym spin on its future.”
Church architecture informs the design
The site had also been a nightclub
The bell tower
is still active
The brand is known for its rebellious style
The club’s design
fuses old with new
Original church features remain intact
LINES OF SIGHT The Third Space, London, UK he building The Third Space occupies, in London’s Soho, was originally designed for the house staff of the hotel across the street. Its very low floor-to-ceiling heights and antiquated servicing put off most potential operators who were considering a health club project – but The Third Space team saw this as an opportunity to design a unique space.
The vision – delivered by Mark Goldstein of Goldstein Ween Architects – was to create a lifestyle environment of activities and spaces connected vertically through voids and glass floors and horizontally through layers of open planning, producing long vistas within the tight horizons of the club while at the same time channelling real sunlight throughout all levels.
The design was never intended to reflect the corporate efficiency of the typical health club chain, the exclusivity of the high-end private club or the decorative thematic expressions of speciality health spas, but was more about the simplicity and vitality of natural health. The club was opened in 2000.
Spaces in the club have been connected vertically
Natural light floods through the building
The Third Space offers a ‘lifestyle environment’
Think your club is worthy of inclusion in our series? Drop us an email with a few photos: [email protected]
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Places Leisure has exchanged contracts to build and operate a flagship £60m water and leisure
destination on behalf of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The Republic of Ireland will become the latest market in PureGym’s expanding international
portfolio, with the first launch planned for Dublin in 2027.
Anytime Fitness opened more than one club a day in 2025 and is on track to maintain this rate
of growth this year, as parent company Purpose Brands targets further international expansion.
The £33.9 million Leighton Leisure and Community Centre has opened in Leighton Buzzard, UK,
creating a next-generation public leisure, health and wellbeing hub for the local community.
Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, has reopened following
a £17m transformation designed to secure the long-term future of the public leisure asset and
reposition it as a community wellbeing hub.
The Gym Group, has announced that it's sustained positive trading momentum has continued
through the first half of 2026 and the company remains confident about the outlook.
Luxury boutique Pilates and wellness studio, X-Club, officially launches a
4,000sq ft flagship at
Marylebone on 16 July Built around X-Club’s four pillars of wellness – mind,
movement,
nutrition and therapy – the facility features two group exercise studi
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
CoverMe, the global leader in fitness workforce management, today launches CoverMe PT, an
on-demand personal training platform that connects the right personal trainer to the right
client in under 10 seconds. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Precor Precor promises precision-quality products with steadfast reliability that are inspired by exerciser [more...]
