Vim and Vigor, Lebanon

Designed by RG/Architects, Vim and Vigor is a neighborhood gym and health bar located in the heart of Beirut, along one of Badaro’s Districts. The design concept was to create a space for people to hang out, work out and be part of a healthy neighborhood lifestyle by bringing the outside in, spatially and visually.

The space is divided into three units – the health bar, the offices and the gym. The ground floor is defined by an all-white juice bar with an outside terrace. This floor also occupies a small gym space, lockers, physiotherapy and admin spaces, as well as the studio, while the basement floor contains all the heavy weightlifting equipment with showers and lockers.

The street’s extension to the gym is achieved through the main façade and spreads into the whole space. It serves as a dominant feature in the design and also achieves visual communication through a see-through facade. The flooring is divided into three main finishes – basalt flooring extending from the outside into the bar area, the sports flooring parquet for the studio and gym space on the ground Level, and the pavisint rubber flooring in the basement specialised for gyms and heavyweights .

White and mint blue dominate. A white perforated aluminum sheet wraps the center element of the space, creating a visual component that defines the core and continues vertically throughout both floors. The sheets became a main design element, which was used as a handrail as well as locker cabinet doors.

Exposed ceiling with fluorescent lighting features throughout. The ground floor is flooded with natural light as it is has an exposed façade, however, artificial lighting plays a major role in guiding people throughout the various spaces. A void and a vertical lighting grid extending from the ground floor down illuminate the space and give it a light feel. The interior glass partition framed in white aluminum, adds light and transparency to the interior and allows one to see through a series of spaces, from the studio, to the offices, the physiotherapy room further away and gym space at the far end.