When you walk in a Life Time athletic country club, you know you’re in a Life Time. That instant familiarity and recognition? It doesn’t happen by chance.
The look, the feel, the sensory experience: There is a distinct purpose and intent behind every decision that goes into designing and building Life Time clubs, from the blueprint of the structures to the color of the grout in the showers. There is even a signature scent, selected by our founder and CEO Bahram Akradi.
To understand how this experience is created, we spoke with Megan Augustine, director of interior design at Life Time. Here, she gives us a behind-the-scenes peek at the design process and shares some of the exciting shifts you’ll soon see in Life Time’s design direction.
Q&A With Megan Augustine
Life Time Editorial | How does the process of designing a new club start, and what does the process entail?
Megan Augustine | The interior design team is responsible for pretty much everything you see, touch, feel, and use in a club — and our involvement starts from the very beginning of the process.
For clubs in which we are starting from scratch and building an entirely new structure, the site is typically just an empty field of grass until we break ground. Existing structures that we transform into a Life Time athletic country club typically start as either a shell and core of a building or a building that has been sitting vacant from a previous tenant (typically containing exterior walls and vertical circulation).
When we look at a new site, we work closely with Bahram Akradi, Life Time’s founder and CEO, on outlining the programming (or spaces and offerings) and the scope of that specific building (or extent of construction). A “fit plan,” as we call it, is the first sort of plan that is done. We ask, “What will fit in this building?” For example, how many fitness studios or what size of workout floor? Will there be a Kids Academy or LifeCafe? Where will the locker rooms and everything else we wish to accommodate in the club go?
That then develops into construction documents, or blueprints. Rebecca Origer, senior interior designer at Life Time, along with the team, then starts working on the design elements.
We pick the lighting, the finishes, the furniture, the outlet covers, the color of electrical devices, and more — absolutely everything that a member who walks into the space can see. We have our “kit of parts,” which is essentially specific items that we’ve used in previous clubs and continuously pull from, and then we make some club-specific design decisions as well.
We start this part of the process by creating a mood board. Function is the most crucial principle of interior design — we need to ensure the space is not only visually appealing, but also serves its intended purpose. A well-designed space should cater to the needs and lifestyle of its occupants.
For Life Time, that means recognizing the future member journey — how they’ll get from space to space, and what they’ll see, touch, and feel along the way. We strive to provide comfort, efficiency, and ease of use in our spaces.
We consider the intended use of each space and select furniture, lighting, and accessories to support the desired functions and feelings. We want members to feel inspired, motivated, confident, relaxed, and refreshed. To achieve this, we thoughtfully work space by space.
We focus on balance, or the distribution of visual weight within a space, to create a sense of stability, order, and cohesion. We use rhythm — the repetition of visual elements such as patterns, colors, and textures — to create a sense of movement and continuity and help guide and engage the viewer’s eye throughout the space.
Our entire process, from the start of design to the opening of the club, typically spans about two-plus years.
LTE | Do your design choices shift depending on the location of the club you’re designing?
MA | Yes. For example, one of our newer clubs, Life Time Atlantic Avenue in New York, has an entirely new look and feel from that of our traditional clubs. We took inspiration from the state of New York and thought about how to bring that energy into the design.
In that club, we chose to illuminate our studios with colored lighting, which was a unique design element we hadn’t used in previous clubs. We also prioritized designing with darker, classic, rich materials. We even thought about what pedestrians would see from the outside of the building to potentially draw them in.
LTE | Are you taking a new design concept to clubs beyond Life Time Atlantic Avenue?
MA | Yes, we are moving toward a different look and feel as we continue designing future clubs. While we use a lot of our standard finishes throughout different clubs, we also always consider the city and demographics we’re designing for, and we tailor elements to the specific club we’re designing. For instance, our suburban clubs are going to look a little different than our New York City clubs.
We look at every new club and make choices and considerations depending on whether we’re building from the ground up or moving into an existing structure. When it’s the latter, we use existing architectural features and then, around that, create the look and feel of Life Time.
LTE | What is an example of a design element you’ve been incorporating into new clubs?
MA | We’ve been focusing on the studios and workout floors. We use a lot of different lighting features in our studios to draw members into those spaces. The design is also specialized to the programming or class the member is taking.
If a member is taking GTX, for example, we illuminate the GTX logo with blue lighting and feature blue light all around the space. If a member is taking Alpha, on the other hand, we illuminate that space with orange lighting instead.
I think that’s one of the coolest changes we’ve made recently. Our trainers and fitness programs are so great in our clubs; it’s fun to help reenergize those spaces.
LTE | Where do you draw your inspiration from?
MA | We keep the brand of Life Time at the forefront of our minds when designing. Life Time’s design aesthetic draws from natural elements, and we bring those into our indoor spaces. We strive to use a lot of natural materials and finishes, such as wood, granite, and tile.
When we’re working through a mood board, we look at how the member would view the space and how we want them to feel in it. We use that to help inform our choices.
We also align with the marketing of our brand and draw inspiration from the creative side of our business as well. One specific example of this is looking at our new Life Time logo and asking ourselves how we can recreate that logo with lighting to further enhance and energize the brand in-person using that element.
LTE | Do you design intentionally with sensory elements?
MA | Absolutely. Next time you walk onto the workout floor at your club, you’ll likely notice how bright it looks. In the past, we intentionally chose an open-grid concept and big ceiling that encouraged the member to keep moving forward throughout the space. That concept is one we’ve been implementing in our design for years.
Lately, though, we’ve changed that design concept because we’ve been striving for a more intimate feel on the workout floor. We’ve changed the ceiling color to be darker and are using lighting to make it feel moody yet comfortable. We’ve learned that some people experience workout floor intimidation, so we’re striving for a comfortable environment for every member.
We’ve also incorporated more plant life into our clubs with the intent of tying the environment of Life Time to nature. We feel it’s an important part of a healthy way of life journey to connect ourselves to a natural state of being.
We also embrace textural elements like using a wall wash light to graze a textured tile; in the right light, this hopefully brings in more of a feeling versus just a flat surface to look at.
The scent in our clubs is very intentional as well — it’s a lemon-lavender scent that includes notes of tangerine, eucalyptus, orange, petitgrain, vanilla, and spice. This fragrance meets all International Fragrance Association (IFRA) standards and is released at a low emission (less than 1/8 teaspoon an hour in a 3,000 to 5,000 sq/ft space, in addition to our HVAC units turning over the air in any given space approximately every 10 minutes).
Another way we design intentionally is through the space adjacencies. For example, if the club features a coffee or juice bar, we strive to include a work lounge near that space for the fresh smell of coffee to accentuate that area. The aroma may invite a member in to sit down, have a coffee, and work for a bit.
LTE | Is there anything else you’d like to share about the design process at Life Time?
MA | Every single element in our club is chosen with intent. We’re not only thinking about how the space looks but how the member will use it. When a member walks into a studio, there is a convenient station to grab a towel. Then on their way out, there is an equally convenient spot to drop their towel.
In newer club designs, we’ve consolidated a station on the workout floor for a member to find a towel and fill their water bottle. And strategically located nearby that station is the dumbbell rack for members who wish to start their workouts there.
We want the layout of the club to be as convenient as possible for members to move through our spaces. And, as the years go by, we strive to keep pushing the boundaries and taking more risks with how we design. I’m excited to see where Life Time continues to grow in the future — and how our design evolves with it.
