Harrogate’s most affordable gym looks and feels anything but, when you see inside the new £1.5m Coach Gym – with over 200 pieces of fitness equipment, four group exercise studios, classes programmed exclusively for Coach members and a re-fuel bar to harness the club’s sense of community and wellbeing – the brand clearly delivers against its vision of an ‘affordable boutique’ offering.
Having worked with Safe Space, suppliers of lockers and changing room solutions to the fitness and leisure industry, on the first Coach site in Leeds, it was an easy decision for CEO and Founder Stuart Perrin to work with the team on the new Harrogate facility: “Safe Space was fantastic to work with on the Leeds club and the brief for Harrogate was similar; we wanted to achieve luxury changing rooms with a high-end finish and great attention to detail,” he says.
Only this time the changing rooms would also be used by members of Surge Padel, the UK’s largest premium indoor padel tennis centre. Padel tennis is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and the new Harrogate development puts the Yorkshire town at the heart of this popular activity.
This unique brief meant combining both brands in the design concepts, so every element – from colours and lighting to best use of space – was carefully considered. Customised features, including branded locker number plates, were also incorporated, in line with the bespoke experience that both facilities aim to create for their customers.
With a target audience of 25- to 55-year-old females, the large majority of its member base falls into this demographic. But Coach Gyms aren’t ‘women only’, as Perrin explains: “We’ve created an environment that’s non-intimidating, soft and relaxed in its approach, to ensure the best experience possible for women who work wout here.
“This is reflected in the design of our changing rooms,” says Perrin. “Ultimately, our aim was to deliver an amazing boutique experience for gym-goers seeking that extra bit of luxury and Coach Gyms does just that.”
