Fusion Students Birmingham
Designing fitness, wellness and active leisure spaces for a landmark PBSA development in Birmingham
Fusion Students Birmingham render
Biofit was appointed to design the fitness, wellness and active leisure spaces for Fusion Students Birmingham, a major PBSA scheme on Bristol Road in Birmingham, scheduled to open in 2027.
The development spans 16 storeys across multiple interconnected buildings and includes a substantial ground and mezzanine amenity offer designed to engage actively with the street.
Our role focused on creating a more differentiated and marketable wellbeing proposition within the building, combining cardio and strength training, functional fitness, an indoor basketball court, a yoga studio, and the connecting stairwell experience into one joined-up leisure concept.
The ambition was not simply to deliver a student gym, but to create a more immersive and design-led set of spaces that would support movement, mental reset and visual identity within the wider Fusion brand.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Client: Fusion Students
Project: Fusion Students Birmingham
Location: Birmingham, UK
Sector: PBSA / Student Living
Project type: Fitness, wellness and active leisure spaces
Scale: 16-storey PBSA scheme scheduled to open in 2027
Scope: Concept design, zoning, equipment planning, finishes, lighting, interior identity and technical design integration
Key spaces: Cardio and strength gym, functional training gym, indoor basketball court, yoga studio, stairwell experience
Brief and objectives
Fusion Students wanted the leisure spaces in Birmingham to feel more ambitious than a standard amenity package.
The brief called for spaces that would support physical and mental health, recovery, relaxation and social interaction, while also being highly marketable and aligned with the wider interior design language of the scheme.
The fitness offer was split across two levels and connected by an internal spiral staircase, with the client seeking a visible and forward-looking wellbeing USP that would feel relevant to current PBSA trends and to Generation Z and Alpha.
A dedicated wellness zone was not the priority in the conventional spa-like sense. Instead, the project aimed to embed wellbeing across the whole experience: through active spaces, softer studio use, material choices, acoustics, planting, and a more nature-influenced interior atmosphere.
Design response
Biofit approached Fusion Birmingham as a multi-layered student wellness environment, not just a gym fit-out.
The concept was built around three principles:
1. Separate energy levels and activity types
Rather than blending everything into one room, the project was organised into distinct but connected zones for cardio and strength, functional training, basketball and yoga.
2. Bring a softer nature-led atmosphere into a city setting
The wider design concept drew on ideas of calm, flow and natural retreat, using curved walls, planting, green tones, timber finishes and softer acoustic elements to create a contrast with the surrounding urban context.
3. Make the spaces visually memorable
The scheme was designed to be highly marketable, with strong street-facing presence, clear zoning and a more experiential interior language that would photograph well and strengthen the building’s amenity offer.
Spatial strategy
Biofit’s leisure design scope covered three main areas:
Functional Strength Training Gym (Ground Floor): 58.5 m²
Cardio Gym (Mezzanine / First Floor): 81.5 m²
Basketball Court (Ground Floor): 66 m²
Yoga Studio: 30m m²
Total: 236 m²
Within that broader arrangement, the concept also included a carefully designed stairwell connection between the different leisure levels, helping the whole experience feel more curated and sequential rather than fragmented.
fusion birmingham saw us extending our reach in design terms, drawing on japanese wabi-sabi concepts and eastern aesthetics to create a series of uplifting student wellness amenities– Matt Aspiotis Morley
Functional strength gym
The upper-level cardio and strength space was designed as a calmer but still performance-capable environment, combining cardio equipment and selectorised strength within a more refined, nature-influenced interior.
The interior language of this room is a key part of the concept. It combines wavy felt acoustic ceiling elements; pastel green timber wall detailing; mirror walls; indoor planting, including bamboo planters; wallpaper and integrated Barrisol light-art features; curved and arched thresholds at the stair entrance and warm grey gym rubber flooring.
The result is a space that feels less like a conventional student gym and more like a carefully designed movement environment.
Image credit: Biofit render
The equipment mix includes:
smart treadmills
smart ellipticals
smart bikes
adjustable pulley
seated single-stack leg press
single-stack chest press
single-stack dual lat machine
single-stack leg extension
plate-loaded glute blaster
Functional training gym
The functional training space on the ground floor was designed as the more energetic and performance-led part of the scheme.
The interior design gives this room a more dynamic identity through non-living green wall features; green reeded glass to the curved wall; felt acoustic ceiling elements; light green wall tones; exposed stainless steel finishes on all strength equipment, combined with warm grey and green flooring zones.
This balance between stronger training functionality and softer biophilic detailing helped create a distinctive student-focused performance space.
Render by Biofit
The layout includes:
custom double squat racks
barbells and weight plates
adjustable benches
dumbbell rack with stainless steel weights
custom training rig
stretching mats
yoga mats
integrated ball storage and bench elements
Indoor basketball court
A key differentiator in the Birmingham scheme is the indoor basketball court, which acts as a highly visible and highly marketable active-use feature within the wider leisure offer.
Render by Biofit
Rather than treating the court as a purely technical sports box, Biofit integrated it into the wider design concept through:
green and grey sports court flooring
white oak wall panels
silver-grey sports wall panels
bench seating with integrated ball storage
cubby storage for shoes and bags
a feature hoop wall with arch detail and biophilic wallpaper
LED arch lighting at the hoop end
This made the court an important social and visual anchor for the whole scheme, giving Fusion Birmingham a clear amenity USP.
Yoga studio
The modestly sized yoga studio was designed as a quieter and more restorative counterpoint to the higher-energy fitness spaces.
The concept includes:
mirror wall with ballet barre
Samsung Frame screen for guided content
hidden storage for mats and blocks
wall-mounted aromatherapy diffuser
integrated sound and content-streaming potential
timber wall panels
biophilic wallpaper
Barrisol lit ceiling feature
grey sports flooring aligned with the wider leisure palette
This studio broadens the offer beyond pure training and supports a more rounded interpretation of student wellbeing.
Why this project matters
Fusion Students Birmingham is a strong example of how PBSA developers can move beyond the generic gym model and create a more complete active-living offer.
By combining strength and cardio, functional training, basketball, yoga, and a more experiential circulation sequence, the project creates a broader and more commercially valuable amenity package.
It also shows how fitness design can be integrated more closely with interior concept, acoustics, lighting and visual identity.
For Biofit, the project is an important PBSA reference because it demonstrates a more ambitious approach to student wellbeing — one that treats leisure spaces as a core part of the brand and resident experience, not just an amenity checklist item.
Outcome
Fusion Students Birmingham shows how a student-living scheme can use fitness and wellness spaces to create a stronger point of difference in a competitive market.
The project brings together a cardio and strength gym, functional training space, indoor basketball court, yoga studio and design-led circulation sequence into one joined-up leisure concept.
The result is a more memorable and more flexible wellbeing offer, designed to support both exercise and mental reset within the daily life of the building.
Services delivered for this project
Biofit supports projects at different stages—engaged either for full scope (including interior design) or as a specialist advisor alongside an appointed design team.
Pre-Design Planning
Concept Development
Equipment & Technical Specification
Interior Design
Frequently Asked Questions
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Biofit designed the cardio and strength gym, functional training gym, indoor basketball court, yoga studio and connecting stairwell experience.
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The core leisure design scope covered 206 m²+ 30 m² across the functional training area, cardio zone and basketball court, with the wider concept also incorporating yoga and circulation elements.
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The project combines fitness, recovery, sport and visual identity in one joined-up design, with the basketball court acting as a particularly strong amenity USP.
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It shows how a more ambitious leisure concept can strengthen marketability, student experience and amenity differentiation at the same time.
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