Core Kensington Pilates studio bends work-out into therapy in London

Recently opened Core Kensington aims to deliver ‘Intelligent Pilates’ – an increasingly popular system of work-out therapy. Fulfilling its mantra, it stretches into new territories of wellness, combining biomechanics, body rehabilitation and athletic performance enhancement into a bespoke experience – where high design is integral.
David Chipperfield-trained architects Almudena Navarro and René Wolter of Studio Wolter Navarro grasped the opportunity to translate ‘contrology’ (the art of controlled movement at the heart of Pilates) into the Core studio space. The Pilates machines that occupy the practice room artfully control movement, while materials and light convey an aura of calmness, lightness and balance.
Founders Egil Hagen and Carlo Yanez, an expert in high-end hospitality and former professional ballet dancer respectively, bring a blend of Nordic minimalism and Mexican formal expression to Core Kensington. The single, fluid space has no doors, and is bathed in natural light by the uninterrupted glass facades, enhanced by the discreet use of mirrors necessary for the practice.
Natural wood and bespoke terrazzo tiles seem to grow organically within the space, either organising movement or gaze (like the Mexican inspired Douglas-fir Celosia that stands in the middle) or turn into functional design features (like terrazzo sculptural sinks and raised planters that bring nature inside). Studio necessities are concealed behind floor to ceiling wood cabinets in continuous grain that makes the Pilates studio, appropriately, feel taller. The only openings are for the colourful exercise balls, adding a playful note.
Wellness and design have become an inseparable experience – as our 2018 Handmade exhibition explored – and after the quick success of Core Kenginston, Hagen and Yanez are eager to take their ‘Intelligent Pilates’ principles further, and, alongside Studio WN, into a new Core location.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Core Kensington website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Sotheby’s is auctioning a rare Frank Lloyd Wright lamp – and it could fetch $5 million
The architect's ‘Double-Pedestal’ lamp, which was designed for the Dana House in 1903, is hitting the auction block 13 May at Sotheby's.
By Anna Solomon
-
Naoto Fukasawa sparks children’s imaginations with play sculptures
The Japanese designer creates an intuitive series of bold play sculptures, designed to spark children’s desire to play without thinking
By Danielle Demetriou
-
Japan in Milan! See the highlights of Japanese design at Milan Design Week 2025
At Milan Design Week 2025 Japanese craftsmanship was a front runner with an array of projects in the spotlight. Here are some of our highlights
By Danielle Demetriou
-
The best gyms around the world for design buffs in 2018
By Mary Cleary
-
Skate park design goes to the British seaside with Guy Hollaway’s F51
F51 is Folkestone's brand new, dedicated, multistorey skate park, courtesy of the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust and Hollaway Studio
By Ellie Stathaki
-
Community centre architecture redefined: Holborn House by 6a and Caragh Thuring opens
Holborn House by 6a Architects and Caragh Thuring opens for the Holborn Community Association in London, bridging art and community architecture with people at its heart
By Ellie Stathaki
-
Pink concrete skatepark is a striking urban landmark in the Chihuahuan Desert
A team of architects, landscape designers, sociologists and urban planners came together to create La Duna, a fine example of skatepark architecture on the northern border of Mexico
By Ellie Stathaki
-
Last chance to play: Yinka Ilori's colourful basketball court in Canary Wharf is a slam dunk
Artist and designer Yinka Ilori applied his signature colourful geometries to his design for this new public basketball court in Canary Wharf, London
By Rosa Bertoli
-
Building muscle: London architecture walks and runs
Try these London architecture walks and runs for some physical and intellectual edification
By Simon Mills
-
Janne Tuunanen captures modernist architecture of renovated Helsinki Olympic Stadium
Photographer Janne Tuunanen captures the sharp modernist architecture of the recently renovated Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Finland in his latest series
By Ellie Stathaki
-
Yinka Ilori’s colourful skatepark in France is a pillar of the community
Sport, street art and community merge in Yinka Ilori’s skatepark in Roubaix, project that is part of Lille’s World Capital of Design 2020
By Rosa Bertoli