Hello Everyone!
I have a fun project to share with you today. Several months ago I was asked to do the interior design and installation of a brand new fitness studio in Beaverton, Oregon. I was a little apprehensive at first. My background is reimagining dated residential interiors. Luckily, I had done my first commercial project earlier in the year, the Turn2 Drivers' Club, so commercial spaces weren't a completely foreign concept for me.
When I first came onto the project the basic architectural floor plans had been drawn, however, there was literally no design direction or detail. Upon my first site visit, there was a gravel floor and perimeter walls. I needed to come up with a design direction very quickly. My client expressed an interest in neutral interiors of mostly black and white. I was envisioning something unique, something special, and something that would be one-of-a-kind.
The overall interior space was going to be long and relatively narrow. There was going to be a 9' high partial wall in the lobby near the front door that afforded the opportunity to have a storage space behind. My client had already decided she wanted exposed concrete floors in much of the space. In addition to the lobby, there would be an instructors' room which would do triple duty housing a laundry space and storage. Additionally, there would be an exercise room, a cycle room, two bathrooms, a retail space, and there needed to be gathering spaces for guests and plenty of temporary storage to store their private items while they exercise.
I took stock of the high ceilings, large windows, and exposed ducting - I knew immediately it could be a beautiful industrial style space, however, it couldn't just be typical industrial. My concept? My plan was to utilize "Unique, Boutique, Industrial" style interior design.
These were the guiding principles as I defined the elements in my design.
This was my design direction I shared with the team. My plan was to introduce a metal element in both the steel sign embedded in the front of a stone clad reception desk, and a metal "arm" element to carry the load of a chandelier. The partial wall would be clad in a custom white oak wood slat element to bring warmth to the neutral space and to help achieve the "unique" portion of my design concept. I wanted the cladding to literally embrace the shape of the beautiful RH chandelier I had selected and to showcase that element of industrial glam juxtaposed with the wood.
I sat down with graph paper and toothpicks to organically come up with a layout and shape for the slat wall that felt artistic and interesting. Once I had the shape, I determined all the board lengths and spacing and passed it on to the team hired to build it.
I spent a lot of time over the last several months flying between Santa Rosa and Beaverton. I was excited to be on site the day the slat wall started to become a reality. It's such an incredible feeling to spend hours and hours designing elements and then seeing them come to life in a space I've been so passionate about designing.
I could share all the details behind the design and the entire process of how the whole project unfolded, but this post would end up being way too long. Instead, I'll show you the finished spaces of my "Unique Boutique Industrial" style design.
Welcome to Rise Beaverton. Does this read industrial or what? In this one photo we can see concrete, metal, wood, neutral color palette, open space with lots of windows and natural light! But wait . . .
Let's not forget the exposed brick (it's faux, but don't tell anyone) and just for good measure exposed ducting and pipes to further achieve that industrial style.
I was lucky enough to speak to the staff at a Rise sister location who told me they really craved additional storage. I took that to heart and designed plenty of storage in this custom reception desk.
Another request the team had was to have plenty of plants in the space.
I brought in both faux and real plants in the area of the retail space just inside the front door. The plants bring a lot of life to the neutral color palette as well as bring a sense of serenity. This retail slat wall system from retailresource.com was perfect for the vibe - black slat panels with metal detail. Thanks to Whitney Roe for perfectly styling the merch.
Because this lobby space is long and narrow, I really felt like I needed to break up the long linear sea of black paint. I searched for a wallpaper mural to bring an element of visual texture. This one happens to be perfect! It complements the color palette and unites the black and white walls throughout the space, and it happens to be a street map of Portland Oregon so it pays homage to the region.
Right across from the Portland street map, and bathed in a sea of natural light, is the first of two spaces for guests to gather and store their private items. These cubbies, framed by a washable carpet from Ruggable.com and modern white benches from Hellerfurniture.com, are the first of four storage options for guests. The vignette is topped off with a large founding team photo to bring a sense of both family and community.
As we travel down the length of the lobby we come across one of my favorite elements.
Any time a project affords me the opportunity to get playfully creative I get excited. It's customary for fitness studios in this market to have "milestones" at the ready for guests. Typically you'll see walls where guests are invited to sign their name each time they reach a certain number of classes taken. But that simple concept of writing on a wall wasn't going to be good enough for Rise Beaverton. In a continued pursuit of the "unique", I came up with a one-of-a-kind milestones idea. I had these large shadow boxes installed, thank you Joel, that easily open with a swinging front window. Guests will write their names on wooden blocks and add them into the shadow box. Over time a mountain of blocks will materialize and "rise up" taking over the photographs installed on the back of the box. These particular photos of instructors were chosen because they exemplify the element of fun and the environment of Rise.
These lockers from Hollman.com located just past the milestones represent the second option for guest storage.
Early on in the design process, one of the team members, thank you Hanna, sent me this photo of a built-in bench. It was a feature she wanted to try to have installed in the space. I immediately loved the idea and I knew exactly where it should go. I also knew I needed to bring in an additional wood element to repeat the element of warmth behind the front desk, so it would be perfect, but as designed, not quite perfection for the new Rise studio.
I took the idea of the bench in the photo and elevated the look and function. This bench was going to represent the third option for guest storage. I designed it to have individual seat lids that lifted and contained built-in cubbies below.
The bench alone wasn't going to be enough to visually draw guests down to the other end of the studio. I wanted something unique, one-of-a-kind, something that fit the Rise brand and the Rise community. I thought about having a muralist come in to paint a custom mural, but I couldn't find the right artist in the Portland area. I then searched for an off-the-shelf mural, but came up empty. I also put together mural designs I could have turned into custom wallpaper, but that didn't quite hit the mark either.
The built-in bench had been installed and it was in the 11th hour with just weeks to go before the project would be completed. I was telling Sophia, Rise owner, my dilemma. She quickly went onto her computer because she remembered a graphic she had created. As soon as she showed it to me I immediately knew it was perfect and exactly what the space needed. I sent it out to a custom wallpaper company right away and paid for expedited shipping.
It arrived in time! My last trip to Beaverton gave me 7 days to install all the finishing details and to bring in all the furnishings. The built-in bench had been painted and the wood cladding applied to mimic the partial wall behind the front desk. The only thing it needed was the element above to complete a beautiful sightline from the front lobby.
I'm always hands on. You'll often find me painting and staining, installing trim, and yes, installing wallpaper murals. This was a two-person job. It's a commercial grade vinyl with a clear coat applied to withstand hot sweaty bodies that may come in contact with it. Luckily there was an instructor training happening at the same time. When I needed help, Sophia would run out of training and give me a hand. The family that murals together stays together!
The finished space is definitely sightline worthy with the Hollman.com lockers, the washable carpet from Ruggable.com, the custom built-in bench, and the brand-perfect wallpaper mural. Thank you Sophia for saving the day with your custom graphic!
The third guest storage option . . .
And the fourth and final guest storage option by way of black metal storage crates from Target. Modern benches from Hellerfurniture.com with industrial style crates work seamlessly with all the other elements in the space.
One of two custom acrylic signs by Toprak Design Acrylics.
Additional faux brick was installed to bring interest to this mostly white space. This is the Sweat Lab where both barre and sculpt classes are taught.
And of course the Bike Room with beautiful lighting and sound and high-end Stages Indoor Cycling Bikes.
Thank you so much for being here and reading to the end. I hope you enjoyed a sneak peek of how this "Unique Boutique Industrial" style space came to be. Did you know there is a Rise Santa Rosa? Beginning in the next few weeks, I'll be bringing some of these elements from Rise Beaverton to Santa Rosa as I refresh the studio in Montgomery Village. If you'd like to follow along, join me on Instagram at @ssdesignhub.sc AND, if you'd like to be my guest and join me for a cycle, barre or sculpt class in Santa Rosa reach out on IG and let's get our healthy on together.
With love and endless passion for interior design,
Sandy Sheldon
"I tell my husband all the time that what I love most about designing spaces is seeing people enjoying them. I love that I get to create environments that enrich people's experiences and help in a small way to bring beauty and greater function to their everyday lives."
A big shoutout to BnK Construction for doing a great job; and to Doug, in particular, for his patience and tenacity to get the brick wall panels installed and for navigating the other challenges.
A big "thank you" to McCarthy Manufacturing for a job well done installing the white oak slat wall and custom bench, nice job!
BEHIND THE SCENES
There are always challenges that pop up during most construction projects.
Do you see it? I visited the metal fabricator's shop to see the progress of the custom metal pieces. This sign was completed except for final sanding. order of out were words The. The owner was extremely nice and hustled to get the sign fixed. They actually did a beautiful job. I would jump at the chance to work with them again.
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I received a message from the cabinet maker requesting the paint selection for the reception desk. Um, it was clearly stated on my shop drawings that the desk would be white oak finished with a clear coat. I had already approved the wood sample and satin finish. Something was amiss. The front was constructed with paint grade material. I quickly jumped on a plane the next day to sort it out.
When I arrived at the cabinet shop they had already fixed the problem. I could have just signed off on it via seeing photographs but I always feel the best approach is to verify the correction in person. Luckily I did. You can't see it in this photo but the sides were constructed wrong. It couldn't have received the stone cladding. Another correction was in order. Crisis averted.
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Lighted mirror - off center and way too small. One of the challenges of working on a project out of state is that I wasn't there to receive product to verify that what we received is what was ordered. The company was wonderful and immediately replaced the mirrors with the correct size.
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We visited many slab yards looking for just the right stone. It was exhausting but we always ended up having a lot of fun too. This was at the end of the day and this yard was closing. We snuck in and did a quick run around hoping to find the perfect slab.
Overall, the challenges on this project were so minor compared to what could have happened. I'm so thankful for the team and all the new vendors I got to work with.
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