Planning a Home Gym Design in 2023.
Designing a home gym is all about flexibility – creating a space that is beautiful as well as functional, that elevates wellbeing and allows you to pursue a healthy lifestyle on your own terms.
As specialists in high-end gym projects for private clients, we’ve led home gym design projects across Oxfordshire, London and the Cotswolds – from the creation of multi-purpose workout rooms to light-filled yoga studios linked to spa and swimming pools.
At the start of 2023 as we think about designing for wellbeing, we’ve drawn together our insights from these projects and the leading trends on what to consider when looking to create your own bespoke exercise space.
How Much Space Do You Have?
While you don’t need acres of space for a gym, it can be easy to clutter a room with equipment and pieces of tech that you may never use. When we source home gym equipment for our clients, we look for quality over quantity, designing a space that matches the specific goals and vision our clients have for their individual project.
Free weights or Multigym / Functional Trainer?
Resistance training is vital for toning and weight control. This can take the form of free weights, a functional trainer or TRX that uses your own weight, or any combination of the above, and our designers are able to offer advice on models and designs to best suit each project.
Acoustics & Light Design
Home gym design can typically become segmented into one of two categories – leaning either toward a classic weight lifting gym or calming yoga / meditation space.
However we design flexible spaces with cleverly integrated lighting and sound that are easily tailored to suit a variety of functions, at the touch of a button. A multi-purpose space is brilliant to create a motivating, music-pumping environment for one session, and a calming relaxation space for yoga and meditation the next.
A mix of lighting is often the key in achieving this. For one of our projects, the team installed a series of spotlights for general lighting and ‘mood’ LEDs that are both dimmable and sound responsive, allowing the client to switch from a calm, warm white to bright and powerful colours for a high intensity workout.
Flooring & Materials
When selecting materials for each element of the room, there are many options to choose from. A good starting place is understanding what you will be using the space for before selecting accordingly.
Softer, natural materials like timber and leather can be combined with hard-wearing materials like polished concrete and rubber to take the knocks and bumps, while providing a surface that is easy to wipe down and keep clean. Material choices should also be reflective of the mood and acoustics that the project is aiming to achieve. In each case, our interior designers work with our clients to create a bespoke solution that takes each of these factors in hand.
Temperature Control
Maintaining a comfortable, usable environment is key to a successful design, whether this involves fans, air con or intelligent window design that gives privacy while mitigating overheating during the warmer months. We also consider where the gym space is located, with north facing rooms easier to keep cool across the year.
Virtual Training Technology
Smart fitness technology such as Peloton and Vaha are a great way to recreate gym and studio classes from home, with virtual trainers and live class offers appearing in a variety of forms. We incorporated interactive technology throughout one of our completed projects below, including a floor-to-ceiling ‘mirror’ that offers group classes and personal training, keeping the home workout experience varied, engaging and social.
Endless pools, Jacuzzis and Hot Tubs
More clients are wanting to include pools, saunas and spas within their homes, and the popularity of placing these outside is growing as less space is required with the advancement of water technologies. We have included a range of endless pools, resistant and current spa pools, hot-tubs and jacuzzis within a garden design, as well as within interior home spas and converted outbuildings. Depending on the desired usage, our designers work with our clients to consider the latest models and what’s going to have optimal (and enjoyable!) use for our clients’ lifestyles and budget.
What’s next?
Whether you’re looking to transform a basement, outbuilding or compliment a new build project with a beautiful home gym, our architecture and interior design teams will oversee each stage of the design journey for a space that complements your property and your lifestyle.
Our holistic Architectural, Interior Design and Landscape Design teams work on award-winning projects across the Cotswolds, London, Surrey, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire.
Find out more about our design services, or get in touch for an initial conversation.