Project name: Z&B Fitness L+Plaza
Interior design: Riccardo Rubelli Architetto
Location: Shanghai, China
Photo: Pietro Ansaldi
Area: 1200 SQM
Year: 2024
Project description from design firms Riccardo Rubelli Architetto
Z&B Fitness is a boutique fitness studio based in Shanghai, offering the best and most up-to-date group and private classes.
We were commissioned to design their new 1200 sqm studio on the 4th floor of L+Plaza, a prime shopping mall facing the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.
The client requested a comprehensive fitness center, including a gym, four rooms for various fitness classes, a reception area, waiting areas, and changing rooms.
The project layout features a long corridor that starts at the reception, which opens directly into the mall hall, and ends at the waiting area.
This corridor distributes access to the changing rooms, classrooms, and accessory rooms. All classrooms, including the gym, offer an outstanding view of the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center and nearby modern buildings, benefiting from perfect natural lighting during the day and a stunning view at night.
One of the key design features is the extensive use of large windows, allowing the center to be visible from the outside.
These windows provide a clear view into the different classrooms and the gym, showcasing the various kinds of lighting and colors used throughout the space, which enhances the vibrant and dynamic atmosphere ofZ&B Fitness.
The welcoming and professional spirit of Z&B Fitness is expressed through materials such as ribbed wood, aluminum, micro cement, and stone, which cover and define the project’s different volumes overlooking the corridor. The corridor itself is characterized by a neon tube ceiling, reflected and amplified by aluminum panels and mirrors.
The four classrooms, named “Energy Room,” “Fusion Room,” “Flow Room,” and “Pilates Room,” are differentiated through distinct materials, colors, and lighting.
The “Energy Room” and “Fusion Room” are large spaces with partly glazed and partly mirrored walls. They are acoustically insulated with sound-absorbing panels and are used for group classes such as dance, combat, boxing, and equipment-based workouts. The ceilings feature various disco lights and metal bars for TRX and punching bags.
The “Flow Room” and “Pilates Room,” mainly used for yoga, aero yoga, and ballet classes, offer a warm and relaxed atmosphere with softly colored materials like microcement and oak wood flooring. A ballet bar made of oak wood surrounds the entire Flow Room, facing mirrors and floor-to-ceiling windows. Lighting consists of linear lamps recessed into the ceiling, alongside metal bars for yoga hammocks.
The largest space is the gym, divided into a cardio area with a wooden floor and a weight area with anti-trauma rubber flooring. The ceiling is painted black with exposed pipes, slightly shielded by circular and linear lights parallel to the façade.
Special attention was given to the changing rooms, with shower areas covered in tiles resembling natural stone, ensuring both functionality and aesthetics.
