Shanghai design studio Coordination Asia has converted a Beijing art gallery into a gym and studio space for sports brand Nike. The 1,200-square-metre Nike Studio occupies two floors and was created to coincide with the 2015 World Athletic Championships. The space contains two “high-impact, high-energy” workout labs, a lounge, and dedicated areas for product exhibitions. The studio interiors have been designed around themes of “transparency and infinity” and make use of neon lighting, linear patterns and reflective surfaces throughout.
A rectangular changing room features wooden floors and two rows of black lockers on either side of the space, connected by overarching neon strips. Large format type on the glass entrance doors conveys Nike’s “Don’t dream of it. Train for it” philosophy. A series of gallery areas showcase pieces from the brand’s Holiday 15 collection. In one room items are held on rods attached to a grid-like structure that lights up in different colours, while clothes are housed in white cutaway cubes with reflective exteriors.
In other areas, internally lit mirrored frames with red interiors host pairs of mannequins and footwear rests on gridded metal panels decorated by oversized letterforms. The lounge has hole-punched wooden benches in a seating area, which is adjacent to a workout space enclosed in a grid formed of blue neon lighting. The grid theme is repeated in a second Nike Run Club gym space that features two rows of running machines encased in cubes formed of singular neon strips.
The workout spaces have been kept intentionally dark and are accessed by sliding mirror doors to “help people get into the zone”. “The Nike Studio in Beijing offers more than just a workout session or a chance to display the latest products,” Coordination Asia design director and CEO Tilman Thürmer said. “Visitors will have a completely immersive experience, and come away feeling fitter, faster and more motivated.”