Cycle studio lighting sensation
Nuffield Health’s desire to transform an underused area of their flagship City Gym site into “the biggest and best spin studio in London” was no mean feat.
The project
An indoor cycling revolution is underway in the capital with the rise of boutique, specialist and dedicated cycling spaces. Given the competition, Nuffield Health’s desire to transform an underused area of their flagship City Gym site into “the biggest and best spin studio in London” was no mean feat.
City Gym’s greatest challenge was also its greatest asset– the appointment of the new spin studio beneath the site’s spectacular original London railway arches. Our role was to design and implement a fully-inclusive audio-visual solution to complement the structurally demanding but architecturally promising space; and to equip City Gym and its instructors with the technical means to make their spin experience vision a reality.
What we did
The exposed brick backdrop of the subterranean studio leant itself perfectly to innovative lighting, so analogue RGB strips illuminated walkways and raked, seating for over 65 bikes. Over 50 meters of short horizontal digital RGB strips were affixed into acoustic baffles around the perimeter of the studio mitigating the effect of excess sound while engaging riders’ peripheral vision to create a tangible sense of onward movement. Overhead, digital RGB strips were suspended equidistantly along the length of the arched ceiling, creating the sensation of forward momentum and drawing the eye towards the focal point of the studio – a 4 metre wide HD projection image framed by a Victorian railway arch.
These are the tools that empower City Gym’s instructors to lead live classes to breath-taking forward-motion video, or to deliver world-class virtual workouts on demand. And our proprietary control software is key to this. Accessed via a sleek iPad; it is a simple and highly intuitive way for instructors to customise their own spin experience using a plethora of high-impact lighting techniques. Alternatively, the design of the system enables lighting sequences to be pre-programmed or even updated remotely by specialists at Hutchison-t.
We liaised closely with the team at Nuffield Health from the initial design consultation through to post-installation, and our truly unique lighting was delivered as part of a fully-inclusive audio-visual solution which included our signature premium audio and visual specifications. This enabled Nuffield City Gym to realise the latent potential of its outstanding studio space and the vision of a sensory spin experience unlike any other on offer in the capital.
We set out to create the best indoor cycling space in the country, and we’ve met that expectation. The lighting, sound and video in the room are a major part of the experience, and Hutchison-t designed a system that delivers the "wow" factor, whilst still being simple for the instructors to use. The feedback from the members has been amazing, and the cycling studio is now a major focus point on our guided tours for potential new members.
