Adaptive reuse of a 24,000-sf 2-story space in a 1940s landmarked cardboard factory that had subsequently housed artists' lofts before Equinox arrived. The design reminds of a Brooklyn loft space that fits very well in this warehouse-filled Dumbo neighborhood.
Hewing to the brand concept, a major street presence for the upstairs gym derives from a dedicated ground-level entry housing a dramatic staircase and a juice bar at the rear. Seducing members to climb, the staircase is a procession of limber blackened-steel ribbons cradling muscular oak treads. Its form, partner and studio director Gabriel Benroth notes, pays homage to a Carlo Scarpa design for the Museo di Castelvecchio in Verona, Italy: "Scarpa's ghost appears in a lot of our work.
Structural work included new slab openings, new interior structures for offices and classes, video equipment support trusses, jack slabs for weight rooms, structural support for new storefronts and blade signs and a new feature stair designed using custom made bent steel plates that create not only each suspended wood cladded tread, but also the two railings.
