Stadium-Style Gyms

In this Instructable I will explain my design which I have created for the Make It Real Student design challenge. I will cover my process in 3 sections:

1. How I came up with my idea and what I modeled it after In short, my inspiration and what I aimed to accomplish in my design

2. My designs These are my plans for the project (eg. sketches, notes).

3. The finished product This is all that my hard work amounted to! I will describe the structures in detail down to the measurements and angles, and explain why my design is a "step" above the rest.

Let's move on to section 1!

While watching the webinar, what stuck out to me most is when James Develin mentioned "stadium stairs". Stadium stairs are, as you guessed, stairs going up the side of a stadium. You may have seen them when you climb up to your seat at a sports game. I did some searching and found multiple examples, which you can see here.

I have been to a few gyms, and what I have noticed is that they tend to be very tight. It makes me slightly uncomfortable to be under a low roof. This also causes a COVID-19 problem, because it's difficult to social distance in tight areas. I decided I wanted an open area where people could get lots of natural sunlight, and that was one of my main goals.

Shown above are the sketches and notes I had done to plan out my idea. Here I drew some basic dimensions and a vague blueprint of one of my buildings.

And finally, the moment we've all been waiting for... My design!

The base of all my tested gym designs were built from a single module: this small, 10x10x6 platform, flanked by a staircase. Someone worried about people with injuries or anybody else who can't take the stairs? That's what that slope on the left is for: it's an inclined lift, an elevator that travels on a diagonal. It's commonplace in places like home, where people who can't take their stairs use it, and in nature, where hilly terrains don't accommodate regular vertical elevators.

Here are features and ideas I came up with while sketching and taking notes, and they worked very well with my design.

Social distancing!

- It's much easier to keep people socially distanced, since the modules are 6 feet tall. This means that you only have to worry about keeping machines 6 feet apart to the left and to the right.

Feed your brain while you train!

- Because these stacked modules give all the people working out on them a view of what's ahead of them, it could be possible to have lectures or presentations while they're working out, which I heard mentioned at some point during the webinar.

Space efficient!

- There is floor space *underneath the actual structure*, which makes it easy to build separate rooms under your main floors.

Sunlight!

- When you build a roof on top of these modules, it's slanted at an angle. This means that you can make the whole roof out of glass, and keep the whole building naturally lit!

Easy to organize your machine layout! - With traditional gym layouts, there's no clear way for you to lay out your exercise machines and other fitness tools. With these modules, you can lay out everything clearly, as there's 1 way to organize your items: In a row. Pictured is a row of 4 different machines/tools.

To show that this design is in fact modular and works in a vast variety of areas and situations, I have prepared 3 different gyms built around this single module. Each of them displays different strengths and weaknesses, and that's what I'll talk about while at the same time describing their dimensions.

All 3 of these designs can be adjusted to fit any area.

What this building demonstrates: Natural lighting, Space under the modules

Named for its simple shape with a peak in the middle, this small 50' x 65' building is built around four 30' wide modules, grouped with a pair of stairs and another pair of inclined lifts. Visitors who walk through the entrance will find themselves in a long 10' x 40' hallway with a 9' high roof. Exiting the hallway to either the left or the right will reveal the 16 machines, lined up on each section of the room. They can then climb the stairs to access the machines. This is a machine that is intended to be used in small areas where space efficiency is key.

What this building demonstrates: Able to be seen from the bottom of the modules, natural lighting, able to build on the module, space under the module

This 80' x 100' building is huge, and is able to hold many occupants. It features 4 main rooms:

- The 23' x 23' lobby, where people can choose in which direction to go in.

- Going left reveals the 23' x 75' aquatics center. I heard water mentioned at some point in the webinar at some point, and was excited to implement a lazy river. It's 35' x 15', and has a 6' wide channel.

At the end of the room are 3 change rooms, some lockers, a 6' x 10' hot tub, and in the door to the left is a 7' x 10' sauna.

People who decide to take the right door will end up in the main attraction, and the base of the whole building: 4 large 88' long blocks, stacked on top of each other in one direction. Unlike the first model, they don't end in a peak. Instead, they keep going up until the building ends at the highest point. One of the main features of this structure is that from the bottom, one can give presentations or use a projector, and all people in the room will be able to see what's going on.

Towards the back of the building is a nice open 20' x 90' space with a 12' high roof. This area could be used for storage, or could be divided up into separate rooms for private space.

What this building demonstrates: The building doesn't have to be square to use this module

I named this building for its wing-like shape. It's meant for warm areas, with its 15' x 35' swimming pool covered by a triangular roof.

The core of this building is slightly more complicated than the rest, but it isn't very complicated. It consists of 3 pairs of modules:

1 pair of 34' long blocks, 1 pair of 20' long blocks, and 1 pair of 14' long blocks.

These 3 sections are connected with 2 triangle shaped pieces that make the 34' and 14' sections perpendicular to each other at a 90 degree angle.

There is a 5' walkway on the inner edge of the structure, and around that is a wall, which completes the building.

The ultimate test of modularity, this shows that my module can be used in shapes that aren't quadrilaterals, which opens up the possibilities for different gym styles.

It has been fun learning how to use FormIt, and it was a good challenge to design these structures. I gave it my all! I have learned a lot from the time I have spent working on this, and I will utilize this knowledge on the other projects I will pursue in the future.

I would greatly appreciate if you could vote for me in the contest. Maybe you'll be seeing these gyms in your city someday!

Stay safe!

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