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HEALTH & FITNESS


from madonna and russia with love....


health, wellness and fitness company, in conjunction with the woman who’s widely reputed to have brought fitness to Russia. The result: a unique health club that’s firmly becoming a Red Square attraction in its own right. Opened in December 2011, Hard Candy Fitness Moscow is the second collaboration between Madonna, her manager Guy Oseary and US-based New Evolution Ventures (NeV); the first Hard Candy Fitness club opened in Mexico City in November 2010. For their first Russian venture, the Hard Candy Fitness team has chosen to work with Russian fitness pio- neer Irina Razumova, founder of the Russian chain Planet Fitness and the woman who led the opening of the very first fitness centre in the USSR in St Petersburg in 1989. Razumova is gen- eral director of the new Hard Candy Fitness site, charged with overseeing operations at the club. So, why Russia for the second Hard


T


Candy Fitness opening? “Madonna has had a strong affiliation with Russia ever since she took her Sticky


he recipe for Hard Candy Fitness Moscow: take one world famous superstar and combine with a global


DONNA GREGORY REVIEWS THE NEWEST HARD CANDY FITNESS CLUB, RECENTLY OPENED IN MOSCOW, RUSSIA


and Sweet tour to the country, and asked the NeV team early on to focus their attention on finding locations for Hard Candy Fitness in Russia,” says NeV chair Mark Mastrov.


MADONNA’S INFLUENCE The 3,500 sq m (37,670sq ft) four-floor club is housed in an old mansion house in the historical centre of Moscow, near Red Square, and combines the gran- deur of old downtown architecture with contemporary design and interiors. Thomas Sandell, principal architect for the project and co-founder of Swedish design company Sandellsandberg, admitted that his main challenge was marrying the traditional interior with the contemporary design. But as Mastrov explains, Madonna also had input into the creation of the club from the very beginning. “From design to branding to program- ming and layout, Madonna has been involved in the process, reflecting her point of view on what the ideal exer- cise, dance and workout environment should look like,” he says.


Once members have been greeted at the stylish reception area, com- plete with eight TV screens featuring a selection of Madonna videos, they have the option of popping in to the Hard Candy juice bar on the same floor. Awash with colour thanks to the chair coverings – with their swirling patterns of pinks, yellows and oranges – it instantly makes you think of all things sweet. The bar menu, devel- oped by popular Moscow restaurateur Alexander Orlov, includes healthy meals, fruit and herbal teas and fruit cocktails. Still on the first floor, we come to the women’s changing rooms – deco- rated in shades of peach with mosaic tiles – which include a vanity area, showers and women’s sauna, as well as access to the pool.


The pool area is a mix of industrial chic – metal and the colour grey fea- ture heavily here – and cutting-edge design: part of the roof area is glass, which continues down the outside wall, supported by a lattice-style metal framework. You almost feel as if you


The men’s changing rooms (left) and the club swimming pool (right), which features a 'chic industrial' design 58 Read Leisure Management online leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital ISSUE 2 2012 © cybertrek 2012


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