When our fitness center design team at Active Wellness begins designing a new facility, there are several space planning trends that fuel our inspiration. After analyzing the target community demographic, available space, safety and accessibility, and the ideal foot-traffic flow, we customize the following trends to create a smart and aesthetically-pleasing design for our partners’ facility:

In an effort to bring the latest and greatest to the partners we serve, we set out to get inspired at this year’s Hospitality Design Expo. Active Wellness designs smart fitness facilities for medical, corporate, community, and private organizations.

This year's HD Expo was a great resource to see the emerging trends and offerings in furniture, flooring, tile, plumbing fixtures, and lighting. Our design & procurement team keeps pace with the best solutions when constructing functionally beautiful fitness and wellness spaces that engage our partners’ employees, tenants, patients, and families.

Active recently celebrated the grand opening of the Century Plaza Towers Fitness Center located in Century City, California. This tenant only amenity is open to employees who work at the business park 24/7 with key card access and is also expertly staffed by Team Active Monday - Friday from 6am - 8pm.

Property management companies and corporate offices are setting themselves apart from the competition and retaining current customers by expanding their onsite fitness and wellness offerings. Is this in your 2018 plans? Here are a few things to consider when delivering or adding to your fitness and wellness amenities.

When designing your fitness center there are many factors to consider. It always starts with choosing the right location and space within that location. Then you need to consider décor, lighting, mirrors, lobbies and locker rooms just to name a few. However, at the end of the day the fitness equipment that you choose is the cornerstone of your center and will play a large role in attracting or turning away potential members and clients. When your equipment is poorly maintained, cheap looking and placed without purpose, you not only create a potentially unsafe situation, but turn off clients and discourage them from coming in. Take a look at some important tips that will help you when it comes to choosing the right fitness center equipment.

Starting your own fitness center is an exciting adventure. You probably have all kinds of ideas about what type of machines you'll have or what kind of classes you'll offer. However, before you can get your fitness center off the ground, you need to give some thought to the layout and design of your fitness center. Coming up with the right design for your fitness center is vital to the center's functionality and safety. Take a look at some tips that will help you come up with the perfect design.

Designing a fitness facility is no small task, and it can be tough to balance all of the different factors involved particularly in a corporate wellness setting. Your space needs to be attractive while still being functional, and it needs to be able to support a variety of different types of equipment while providing plenty of room for the people using the space to move around. On top of all that, the design needs to be affordable and cost-effective. Certain design flaws can result in a fitness facility that's more expensive to operate than it should be. Take a look at some smart fitness facility design strategies that will result in a more appealing, more attractive, and more affordable facility, and see if you can incorporate them into your fitness center design plans.

Updated Nov 2, 2016.

Community planners and developers know that prospective residents have certain features and requirements that they consistently look for and evaluate when searching for their new residence. Health and fitness have become important concerns for people, so it is very important to have a well-designed fitness center suited to the needs of your target residents.


A high quality fitness center has become a very important amenity in residential and community developments.

For many planners and developers, utilizing the expertise of a fitness management company such as Active Wellness is the best way to ensure that your new fitness center fulfills the needs of your residents, as well as satisfying budget requirements and meeting all codes and regulations.

So, what constitutes a well-designed fitness center? What criteria should you be considering as you work with Active Wellness to design your space? What are the essential components of fitness center design?

Making the Most of Your Space

There are certain spatial requirements when handling fitness center design, considerations that concern the equipment and the exercise activities. In order to accommodate the function of the exercise equipment, particularly the height clearances of upright equipment, the ceilings of the space need to be at least 12 feet high. For many of the fitness center's other spaces, special surfaces may be required, including cushioned surface for training, impact-resistant walls, and mirrored walls.


Specialty spaces, such as weight rooms, should be designed with the correct height clearances for the equipment.

Air circulation is another important key factor, and the flow of air throughout the facility needs to be anticipated and factored into the design.

Durability All Around


Surfaces, including the floors, should be durable and attractive throughout the fitness center.

Fitness centers are meant to be used and, to some extent, abused, and that should be taken into account when working on the design. Vibration from the use of exercise and weight equipment is a concern, and the use of more structural steel in the initial construction will help to reduce the transmission of these vibrations.

The interior durability of the space includes the finishes on the floors, walls, and other surfaces. These should all be durable and easy to maintain.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Let's face it, fitness centers are noisy, and controlling that noise begins in the initial design stages. Acoustical control in the form of sound baffles are the most common choice for reducing the impact of noise around weight rooms and certain exercise rooms.

Ventilation Issues

Perhaps the important element of fitness center design, with the exception of equipment choices, is the design of the ventilation system. Not only does it need to ensure proper air circulation and ventilation throughout the fitness center, but it also needs to control humidity and prevent the migration of odors to other parts of the space. In addition, fitness centers will usually have negative air pressure, making proper ventilation even more important.

As a residential planner or community developer, there are many issues you have to handle when constructing a new fitness center. From mapping out the interior space to handle the equipment and activities desired to handle sound and lighting issues to making sure that the entire space is ventilated.

By utilizing a fitness management company such as Active Wellness, you can ensure that all the important elements of construction and fitness center design are handled with care and accuracy.