It started out with a simple concept. “When we’re young, we build our dreams on imagination,” notes Gold’s Gym owner Robert Christian West. “But when we get older, we stop questioning the limits. I wanted to get people to think like heroes.” From this seed grew one of Madison, Wisconsin’s, largest fitness facilities.
West recognized that some people are intimidated by the typical gym layout with its hard surfaces and rows of imposing machines. These negative perceptions can even keep them from joining a health club. Gold’s Gym…Health, Fitness & Beyond designed its facility with a sophisticated comic-book decor to help make working out stimulating and fun. A Disney animator designed life-size cutouts of super heroes that celebrate human potential and beckon visitors to discover the hero inside each of them. It offers an inspirational atmosphere that people feel as soon as they enter the facility. The unusual juxtaposition of freeform and geometric shapes also invigorates the senses and motivates customers to perform at their best.
Gold’s Gym…Health, Fitness & Beyond sets a new standard for health clubs. The $5 million project is a virtual high-tech theme park for the fitness-oriented individual. The 22,000-square-foot multi-leveled facility bridges the gap between a health facility and a nightclub. It contains a large exercise area with the usual machines, including 130 pieces of cardiovascular equipment. Its long list of amenities includes a DJ booth, a 600-gallon shark tank, an art gallery, four 10-foot television screens, a stage for live entertainment, nightclub-quality sound and lighting systems, and palm trees. In front of the facility, there is even a large water fountain that uses cutting-edge computer programming.
This attention to detail has paid off on the bottom line. The gym signed up more than 2,000 members during its first six months of operation, half of whom had never joined a health club before. Customers have found that the imaginative interior boosts their energy level and motivates them to exercise more intensely. It also adds an element of unpredictable fun that eliminates the intimidation and monotony they may have felt at other clubs. Gold’s Gym…Health, Fitness & Beyond has expanded the boundaries of what a fitness facility can be. Considering the positive response it has received in the Madison marketplace, it just may become a model for health club construction in the future
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