Beats per Minute: Technogym

Going to the gym is a pastime some people love and some loathe, but one that becomes far more pleasurable if the equipment and environment combine to provide a stylish setting. Italian firm Technogym, which specialises in supplying technology- and design-driven products and services for the wellness and fitness industry, has always understood the value of design in encouraging people to engage in physical activity, and has worked with some of the world’s leading architects to create products and stores that reflect the concept of wellness at the heart of the Technogym brand.

Technogym believes that creating a pleasant space for exercise helps people feel more relaxed and comfortable, which enhances their psychological well-being while they improve their physical fitness. This philosophy extends to Technogym’s stores, where customers experience the firm’s gym equipment alongside ideas relating to fitness and health within a tailored brand-led setting.

The company’s new flagship store, in one of Milan’s most prestigious shopping districts, demonstrates how Technogym seeks to combine style and functionality in both its training solutions and interiors. Designed in collaboration with Studio Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel Interiors, the 750-square-metre space presents products across three floors of a palatial building on Via Durini.

Citterio is the designer behind some of Technogym’s most iconic products, including the Personal collection. His personality is revealed in the design of this range of cardio and strength training products, which combine ergonomic features, elegant lines and crafted materials with the company’s 30 years of technological expertise. In 2012, Citterio also completed Technogym’s futuristic headquarters in the city of Cesena. His approach to all of these projects has involved interpreting the brand’s values using forms, materials and experiences that introduce a premium feel and designer style to the fitness arena.

“The headquarters of the company is at the same time a workspace, factory plant and meeting place – a real campus dedicated to wellness,” Citterio points out. “The project for Technogym Milano, on the other hand, is dedicated to retail and to the customer’s experience, with a journey that is at the same time a shopping and a learning experience that helps the customer understand the essence of the product.”

The customer experience at the new flagship store begins with a boutique area on the ground floor that displays some of Technogym’s core products including the Personal Line and the top-of-the-range Artis collection. An interactive wall in this space is used to conduct ability trials and assess customers’ fitness levels so tailored training solutions can be recommended. This innovative element borrows technologies from the Unity interface, which Technogym developed to enable users to easily access a totally customised training experience along with content, apps, websites and television channels while using the Personal Line equipment. An educational area is housed on the building’s first floor, with the basement accommodating a training room where customers can test products and wellness technologies.

When selecting a limited material palette of stone and slatted-timer surfaces, Citterio's studio drew inspiration from Italian interiors of the 1930s. The palette provides a sense of restrained luxury. The neutral but distinctive decor creates a flexible backdrop for Technogym’s products, services and digital content. “We thought right from the start that it would be short-sighted to design this space as a simple store,” the architect added. “It is a place where you can find an entire range of services, and which makes it possible to capture the essence of the products without having to set up a gym environment or a private home.”

Technogym’s Milan flagship store demonstrates how design can create an environment suited to wellness and performance that can be adapted for use in contexts ranging from homes to hotels, sports clubs or medical centres. The company’s founder and president, Nerio Alessandri, describes the flagship as “the first experiential wellness store – a single project setting the standard for wellness not only for Milan and for Italy, but also worldwide”. Alessandri has also announced that Technogym plans to implement the same design concept at its next flagship in London. With stores already open in New York, Madrid, Dubai, Moscow, Vienna and Mexico City, Technogym is clearly a company in very good health.

© Architonic