The brutalist gym in Dubai
Recently opened in the heart of Dubai Design District, Warehouse Gym d3, is one of VSHD Design latest projects. It combines brutalism with a reminiscence of underground fight clubs.
When the architects were given the 600sqm space, they faced the challenge to create a cohesion between what were three distinctive business units prepared to welcome three separate stores or outlets.
For Warehouse Gym d3, VSHD Design, founded by interior architect Rania Hamed, inserted a semi transparent cube in the centre of the space host different functions: a gym floor, a cycling studio and training factory and a juice bar. As it is located at the main entrance of the Dubai Design District with direct views from the two main streets, it was essential that the design would benefit of the view from the street to attract new members. The reception acts as a juice bar with a communal space and its 17-meter-long glass façade on the main street becomes a meeting point for the design community where they can meet or for non-members to stop by and grab a salad or a smoothie or salad.
The architects' main challenge was to deliver a boutique fitness facility that is inviting, inspiring, authentic, functional and in context with a leading destination for design, art, and culture. The suspended cycling podium transfers the energy from the studio into the gym floor.
Inspired by brutalism in architecture and underground fight clubs, VSHD was determined to offer a different look for the interiors like concrete bricks combined with gold-copper alloy to make it look current, while at the same time creating modes that are elegant, warm and muscular.
Specifically customised LED suspended light used to conceal all the ceiling services while maintaining an overall vibrant lighting mood that can be controlled by the different exercise zones.
Since she created VSHD in 2007, Rania Hamed and her team have worked in Dubai, London, Florida and Cairo.
Photographs courtesy of Nik and Tam.
