Fitness First is one of the largest health club groups in the world with more than 342 Fitness First clubs worldwide with more than one million members across 15 countries. In Australia, Fitness First has 78 clubs with approximately 240,000 members.

After a struggle through the early 2000’s with some operational and reputation challenges, they underwent a significant overhaul in 2012 after being acquired by Oaktree Capital Management. The organisation started their journey of change and committed to rebuild their reputation and standing as the industry leader in fitness.

In 2013, the first tangible evidence of change, through a new partnership with opr Health, was the launch of a new concept gym in the heart of Sydney’s CBD called ‘The Zone’. The concept, a world first innovation, was based on the principles of dynamic movement training. The Zone offered six distinct ‘zones’ for small group training, each created by Fitness First with more than 95 classes running in a day for members.

The strategy behind the launch provided an opportunity to bring to life the company’s philosophy of motivation, fitness expertise and the idea that ‘machines don’t motivate people, people motivate people’. In addition, it also showcased its serious commitment to invest in change and deliver real benefit back to members.

Several years on, the Fitness First location in Pitt Street Sydney has recently completed a refurbishment that extends the exclusive concept to more of its members. In keeping with the ‘Platinum’ standard of the brand, the physical spaces needed to reflect this positioning, and their design team were open to new products that would visually enhance the space but also minimise downtime.

From an aesthetics viewpoint, the gyms had traditionally used flat sheet products for their fitouts. On this occasion though, the stars aligned in the process and the design team were introduced to the Territory Concrete product by their Builder, Matthew Skord from Project Plus.

“This product had been around for a little while and we started to see it more on projects giving us the confidence to use it. The palette had recently been relaunched and had evolved to more modern tastes which was appealing. And also, being a CSR Cemintel product, we knew that there was going to be good technical support if we needed it. As with all products, there are usually little tips and tricks you need to learn to aid in an efficient installation and achieving a quality outcome. For us it ticked a lot of boxes.”

The Concrete product complements the minimalist palette of materials used on the project, and blends beautifully with the rich red and black colour tones.

With the aesthetic requirements covered, Territory also helped with minimising downtime. As it is a prefinished product, the panels are installed with a clip fixing system to the studs with no need to bring in painters or tilers. After a bit of a wipe down, the product is ready to go. In expensive CBD spaces, the quicker a business is up and running, the better.

With ‘The Zone’ in Pitt Street now open, Territory is being considered for some future locations. Cemintel is excited to be associated with a prestigious brand with this product that keeps going from strength to strength.