By the VERVE fit-out design teamSeptember 2026
The seven decisions that decide whether a new gym opens on time. The seven decisions that decide whether a gym upgrade pays for itself. The seven decisions that decide whether a new training room gets used. The seven decisions that decide whether every new site opens on time.
What we’ve learned standing in empty sheds with owners the week the lease gets real, and what the ones who opened on time did differently. What we’ve learned fitting out club, clinic and pro-team facilities, and what the rooms that get used every day have in common.
The keys are in your hand and the roller door is up. There’s a slab of bare concrete, a lease with your name on it, and an opening date you’ve already told people about.
The budget is approved and the room is empty. There’s a deadline tied to the financial year, a committee that wants every line explained, and people waiting to use the space.
From here, seven decisions decide whether that date holds. Make them in the right order and the rest is logistics. Get one wrong and you pay for it every week of the lease.
We design gyms for a living, and we’ve stood in a lot of empty sheds. This is the order that works, told as much as possible by the owners who’ve done it.
- 01Draw the gym before you buy anything
- 02Measure the ceiling, not just the floor
- 03Price the freight on day one
- 04Compare quotes line by line, not by the total
- 05Plan backwards from opening dayPlan backwards from the day the budget lapses
- 06Know your break-even number before you signKnow what the upgrade has to earn backDesign for the people who will actually use it
- 07Pick a partner who’ll still answer in year three
Draw the gym before you buy anything.
Once the flooring is down and the rig is bolted in, it stays there for the life of the lease. Move it later and you pay twice. Leave it and every wasted square metre is rent you pay for nothing.
The owners who opened on time settled the layout first, on screen, where changes cost nothing. They walked through the space in 3D, moved zones around and tried it more than one way before anything was ordered.
“I’d been in the gym basically or virtually 400 times before the equipment even arrived, so I was super confident once opening day came that it was gonna work really well.”
Liam Janse van Rensburg, ownerCrucible Strength and Conditioning, Sumner QLD
Measure the ceiling, not just the floor.
Floor area gets all the attention, but height decides what you can run. Rigs, pull-up bars, rope climbs, wall balls and overhead lifts all need clearance. Columns, roller doors, lights, fans and sprinklers decide where things can go.
A layout drawn from floor area alone looks fine until the rig arrives and meets a light fitting. Drawn in section, the problems show up before they cost anything.
“The 3D modelling from VERVE started to bring it to life and gave us confidence that we could get a really good outcome.”
Ben McKenzie, head coachCoorparoo Kings QAFLW, in a converted maintenance shedPrice the freight on day one.
Gym equipment is heavy, bulky and often lands in containers. Freight to a regional site is a real number, and it is the line that most often goes missing from a quote.
A quote with freight marked “to be confirmed” isn’t a price. The owners who kept to budget had freight to their postcode, staging and carriers worked into the quote before they committed.
- Marulan, near Goulburn NSWStrength and rehabilitation gym
- Wyong, Central Coast NSW24/7 gym with Pilates and recovery
- Fyshwick, Canberra ACTPremium functional fitness gym
- Bondi Beach, Sydney NSWStrength and conditioning gym
- Brisbane, Ipswich and the Gold CoastNine more floors on this page
Recent VERVE fit-outsShowroom and warehouse
“We were on a very tight timeframe; we wanted to get up and operational, and the team at VERVE were very accommodating in getting the equipment out as soon as possible.”
Bo Clarke, coach and co-founderIONIC Athletics, Fyshwick ACTCompare quotes line by line, not by the total.
Three suppliers will send three quotes that look nothing alike. One leaves out installation. One quotes a lighter rack. One lists freight separately. The lowest total is often the least complete.
Your bank, your partner or your board wants one number they can say yes to. Before you compare prices, make sure every quote answers the same questions. Tick them off as you go.
Every VERVE quote comes itemised like this, with your 3D design, free.
SEE HOW IT WORKSPlan backwards from opening day.Plan backwards from the day the budget lapses.
Your opening date was set before the gear was ordered. Founding members have been told. Rent is running. So the schedule has to start at the end and work back.
Approved money comes with a deadline. Miss it and the allocation can go back into the pool. So the schedule has to start at that date and work back.
That means knowing, before you pay anything, what is in stock, what is on the water and when each part lands. The owners who opened on time had lead times in writing and an install booked against their date.
For a sense of scale: across VERVE’s 2026 projects, new gyms typically took 8 to 16 weeks from signed lease to open doors, and 3 to 10 weeks from first design to deposit.
“Everything delivered on time, and we have a gym opened exactly how we wanted.”
Sheridan, ownerSUB 60, Coorparoo QLD
Know your break-even number before you sign.Know what the upgrade has to earn back.Design for the people who will actually use it.
Under every other question sits this one: how many members do I need just to cover the rent and the repayments?
It’s a simple sum, and most people do it too late. Try it with your own numbers.
paying members, every week.
($6,500 rent + $12,000 costs) ÷ $238 per member each month.
A room nobody uses is the most expensive kind. Design around who comes through the door, when, and what they train: students between classes, staff before work, athletes in pre-season, patients in rehab.
Walk the layout in 3D with the people who will use it, before you sign off. Changes on screen cost nothing.
“Since opening, the patient feedback has been overwhelming; they love the professional, clean aesthetic and the ‘wow factor’ of our personalised equipment.”
Alex Dopper, head physiotherapistSports and Spinal Burleigh QLDPick a partner who’ll still answer in year three.
Opening day is the start, not the finish. Commercial gear takes a beating, and something will need a part, an adjustment or a warranty claim.
The owners who slept well after opening had a written service agreement, one place to order parts and a team who knew their floor because they had designed it.
“We’ve got big boys who lift a lot of weight and they’re quite rough with the equipment, but the quality from VERVE has been great and it’s been able to get thrashed without breaking.”
Simon Raiwalui, Director of PerformanceNSW Waratahs, Sydney
If the lease is signed, start with the drawing.If the budget is approved, start with the drawing.
Send us your floor plan. We design it in 3D, free, inside a week, with an itemised quote you can hold against anyone’s. Change it as many times as you need before anything is ordered.
I have a lease, or I’m close.
Get your gym drawn in 3D with an itemised quote, freight included. Free, no obligation.
GET MY FREE 3D DESIGNI’m six months or more out.
Start with the free Gym Launch tools: startup costs, break-even members, lease checks and a 90-day plan.
GET THE FREE TOOLSHear it from the owners.
Written by the VERVE fit-out design team. VERVE designs, supplies, delivers and installs commercial gyms across Australia from its showroom and warehouse at Upper Coomera on the Gold Coast. 100% Australian owned. Owner quotes are from VERVE’s published fit-out stories.