Former travel warehouse transformed into functional fitness club

A quartet of fitness entrepreneurs have converted an industrial warehouse into a 13,000sq ft (1,200sq m) functional fitness-led health club with four exercise studios.

James Tindale, Kate Thorne, Chris Fairless and Aaron Arkley – who all have personal training experience – set up Gym Unique at the site of a former travel business in Durham.

Kitted out by Physical Company, the gym features a large, central rig with a range of attachments for functional training, as well as a wide range of strength and conditioning kit to provide options for personal training sessions.

There is also a 22mx4m sprint track, a bank of 20 cardio machines and four group exercise studios offering 70 classes a week.

The independently-owned gym will have a focus on personal training and will also offer sports injury rehabilitation and sports massages on site.

James Tindale, one of the co-owners, said: “Converting a travel warehouse gave us a generous footprint, high ceilings and a regular shape.

“We wanted to maximise the space but not fall into the trap of packing it out with too many cardio machines, preferring instead to install a big rig, some key resistance machines, plenty of free weights and a generous selection of functional training equipment.”

“One of my bugbears is cramped gym space where people can barely move around machines and each other.”