If you’ve found yourself at the intersection of St Peters and Newtown over recent weeks, you might have noticed something sparkly taking over the ground floor of 672 King Street. And now, the news is out – with One Playground Newtown opening the doors to their new reformer pilates studio, complete with more than 8,000 hand-installed mirrors.
For the uninitiated, One Playground is a Sydney-based wellness brand operating strikingly beautiful, surprisingly affordable gyms across the city. The brand made the switch from “fitness playground” to One Playground in March 2023, a move that co-founder Justin Ashley (who happens to be one of our Future Shapers for 2024) describes as a reflection of their mission “to bring all health, fitness and wellness under one roof.”
The launch of One Playground’s third reformer studio is the extension of that mission – with Ashley explaining that the reformer classes run from their Marrickville and Surry Hills studios are the most popular classes on their (notably extensive) class schedule.
Occupying a 145sqm space on the ground floor of their expansive, night club-style Newtown outpost, this shiny new studio has been a long time coming.
“Ever since we moved into this space nine years ago, we’ve been hoping that our landlord would give us the keys to the ground floor – we knew it would be the perfect space for a reformer studio. It’s been operating as a picture frame shop for years, and every few months, I’d knock on his door and say: are you ready for me to move in yet?” Ashely explains.
“Eventually he came to me and said: it’s time for you to take over downstairs,” – so we got to work straight away.
The glass-walled, cavernous space is as luxurious as a fitness studio can get: the six-metre high ceilings are lined with mirrors, walls are flanked with shimmering curtains and fitted with colour-changing lights and state-of-the-art speakers, and 20 reformer beds come ready with weights, straps and other fitness accessories to provide the perfect full-body workout.
One Playground’s $31.95 weekly membership grants you unlimited access to all One Playground studios across the city, and up to three reformer classes per week. Keen to try it out? You can learn more about One Playground and sign up for a trial over here.
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