Fight club: Studio Xoo brings design clout to a London boutique boxing gym

Chin down, guard up – there’s a new contender in town. Recently opened in Aldgate, 12x3 is the latest boxing gym to step into London’s growing boutique fitness ring. The concept is simple: a dozen three-minute-long rounds encompass everything from stamina to speed and footwork. Friendly competitiveness is fostered in the compact class sizes, limited to one- and four-on-one training.
This small but perfectly formed boxing club is more than just good looks, thanks to its enviable sporting pedigree. 12x3 founders Darren Barker and Ryan Pickard first met at the East End’s storied Repton Boxing Club – Barker’s a world champion, while Pickard has captained for Repton and England. At 12x3, the pair have rallied a formidable roster of coaches, including former world champion Jason Mathews, and GB boxers Lisa Moore and Shelly Sweeney.
Inside, poured concrete, white metro tiles, and wood flooring lend the space an appealingly industrial character. ‘We wanted to create a studio that had the capability and specialism of dealing all of those touch-points – and that’s what we think we are on the way to achieving with this project for 12x3,’ Enting explains.
Pickard adds: ‘Studio Xoo created a brand that leverages the boxing ephemera of the 1960s and 70s but with a contemporary twist,’ explains Pickard. ‘The X in the logo is rendered like an hourglass, referencing the time-based system at the heart of our brand experience.’ Needless to say, it’s a winning combination.
The space and visual identity was conceived by New York-based Studio Xoo
Poured concrete, white metro tiles, and wood flooring imbue the space with an appealingly industrial character
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the 12x3 website
ADDRESS
76 Alie Street
London E1 8PZ
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
The ultimate amenity in this Canadian apartment building? A trio of scene-stealing restaurants
Part of Citizen on Jasper, a new residential tower, Va!, Olia, and Mimi offer a thrilling day-to-night dining experience
-
These sculptural mirrors embody the relaxed spirit of the Med
Photographed in a Mallorcan residence designed by local studio Munarq, these new sculptural mirrors by New York furniture company Ready To Hang are inspired by the sea
-
African brutalism explored: from bold experimentation to uncertain future
Discover the complex and manifold legacies of brutalist architecture in Africa with writer and curator Fabiola Büchele
-
The best gyms around the world for design buffs in 2018
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Building muscle: London architecture walks and runs
Try these London architecture walks and runs for some physical and intellectual edification
-
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
-
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