Gyms can be a place to exercise, socialize, and emerge relaxed and satisfied. Or not. Do you love where you work-out? I recently had a eye-opening conversation with a colleague about gym colors and how they affect your attitude and motivation.
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Carefully planned and researched decor and color palette= great! Haphazardly selected with no basis for the choices=the results can be disastrous. My colleague said she has even considered canceling her membership there because the new colors were so awful. I don't blame her.
As we were discussing what colors would work for work-out facilities, I remembered the recreation center at Johns Hopkins where I worked out in Baltimore.
Turns out, I had been so impressed by the color palette, I had snapped some pics that were languishing in my inspiration files.
Everything from the signage
to where each color was placed was obviously very carefully thought out. The university was motivated to create an identity for recreational sports, which previously did not exist on campus, with a welcoming and visible fitness center designed by Sasaki Associates.
What could have amounted to an enormous gray box was instead turned into an inviting, motivating space for students, staff and faculty to work out, play, and socialize.
With the size of the recreation center, color also helped define different areas to keep people from getting desperately lost.
Attention to details were everywhere.
I thought the color palette was quite refreshing for the use of this space, and hopefully will avoid looking dated in the years to come.
Can you imagine how it would feel trudging down this lengthy cider-block corridor from the lockers to the work-out facilities if there weren't any peppy color on the walls?
I shudder to think about it. Psychologically, color is a Key ingredient.
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Big plate glass windows, energizing, clear colors, and great lighting all help to make this facility a pleasure to experience in person. I wasn't self-disciplined enough to spend too much time here (parking was a pain in the neck), but when I did drag myself in for a work-out, I loved the atmosphere and felt content in these spaces.
Do you visit any establishment where the color really draws you in? What do you think of the Hopkins gym? Would you work out here?