When Scottish five-star Gleneagles Hotel set out to design a fitness center to appeal to the next generation of guests, the designers weren’t looking to the future. Instead, they turned to the past, specifically a photo of Slim Aarons titled “Tennis in the Bahamas, 1957.” The result is Gleneagles Sports Cluba retro luxury sports facility with ample courts, stables and courtside lounge space.
Inspired by the iconic tennis and sports clubs of the late 1800s to mid-1900s, Gleneagles Sports Club combines different aspects of membership in a space that was as much a place for socializing as it was for exercise. is part of a new wave of fitness centers. The club and gymnasium are under one roof.
Capitalizing on country club nostalgia and Ivy League-coded preppyness, these athletic spaces are a significant departure from the sophisticated aesthetics pioneered by fitness chains like Equinox.
For some, the change is as subtle as a change in font or a new product. Last month, affordable gym chain Blink Fitness We have released a sweatshirt 1980’s style script with “club” added to the end of the name. Others go further, building entire brands aimed at evoking vintage vibes and investing in period equipment.
“I wanted to capture the spirit of the old gymnasiums because I loved the type of equipment that was there and the focus on the actual design and how complex it was,” says co-founder said Lev Glassman. maker gymnasiuma 2,700-square-foot gym attached to the Maker Hotel in Hudson, New York
