We meet James Potter, former PT and founder of LIFTD design a luxury residential and commercial gym design studio.
Working from initial design phase through to custom design for equipment to suit your exact needs and finally the implementation of world class installation and bespoke fitness programming.
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Tell us about LIFTD?
Look at any boutique gym, Instagram feed or even just the creativity in sports apparel, we’re seeing this beautiful collision between fitness and design. While people find it easy to achieve a sense of personal style in what they wear to the gym, what about the gym themselves? LIFTD is an interior design studio that create real bespoke and stylish gym spaces in both the home and professionals settings. We pride ourselves on providing gyms that not only look a class apart but also function well to give people the best workouts possible.
How did it all begin?
On the gym floor of course! I had been a PT in Central London for many years and in that time came to realise that clients expect a lot more from their training facility and that the options for premium gym design were almost non-existent. We created a studio that is able to select the best pieces of equipment from various suppliers, customise it to meet the clients needs and bring it all together in a space that meets the person’s fitness demands perfectly. And now with millions continuing to WFH, business is booming.
Isn’t designing a home gym costly, messy and time consuming?
There’s a lot of misconception about price and process - fortunately, we take on all sorts of projects in all sorts of developments. The only consistency is a smooth, enjoyable process.
LIFTD is an independent design studio meaning we can select the best dumbbells from one company and the best treadmill from another. Our focus is on delivering the best environment possible for our clients. We are able to customise equipment like dumbbells, benches, storage solutions and so on so each of our designs is unique to the client and really sets our gyms apart from the ‘off the shelf’ standard.
How does the process work?
LIFTD can help design your perfect home gym, from the creation of 2D/3D floor layouts to 3D walkthrough videos in 4K and even the option to view your gym design in virtual reality before it’s built. We take care of everything from procurement of equipment, liaising with suppliers and installation of everything right down to flooring, lighting and mirrors. We take care of the whole process.
Which pieces of kit are most essential for a home gym?
It depends on the clients individual fitness goals but generally I’d recommend the following:
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Premium dumbbell set. These can be a personalised stainless steel set with a custom storage rack to house them. Watson are the best on the market for these. Or for those with a bigger budget we recommend a beautiful hand crafted set like the one offered by our partners PENT.
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High quality kettlebell set. The kettlebell is so versatile and suits those looking to train for all round functional fitness. We choose BLK BOX every time to supply us with our functional workout kit.
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Skillmill all in one Treadmill. This piece of kit from Technogym offers the user 3 different training modes. A curve treadmill for normal running, a resistance mode to simulate a sled push and a parachute mode for resisted sprints.
To start your design consultation, get in touch with James here. or visit LIFTD Design here.
