Virgin Active Australia – Pitt Street Mall is Virgin’s Sydney flagship club strategically located within the newly redeveloped Pitt Street Mall, a major destination for the Sydney CBD and one of the busiest pedestrian precincts, with more than 65,000 pedestrians each day.

Virgin Active ‘upped the ante’ on this new club, drawing on the success of the Melbourne Bourke Street Club, also designed by BVN. We worked closely with the client to review the Melbourne model and to look at the additional opportunities available with the Pitt Street Mall site. As a result, the club includes more studios, a Bikram Yoga Studio, sleep pod zone, an interactive technology spin cycle studio, as well as, a climbing wall, pool, spa and sauna zone.

The creation of a number of clear zoning areas ensure the mind/body, swim complex and classes zones, maintain the integrity of the design objectives already set for the Virgin Active Health Clubs. This enables Virgin to build on their brand which is still new to the Australian fitness market.

A simple approach to materials was the focus of the fitout, with a base palette of colours used to define large spaces and hard wearing materials such as carpet tiles, rubber and marmoleum used for their durability. With over 4,500 members using the facilities, major circulation spaces were treated with either tiles or marmoleum and durable impact resistant rubber was specified for the weights area. In the yoga studio, timber was carefully selected to deal with the hot, dry environment of Bikram Yoga and ensure a quality yoga experience. Durable solid surface materials were selected for the joinery especially in the reception and workout areas.

Photography Brett Boardman

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