Porto Montenegro Beach Gym, Montenegro

Designing an 800 m² outdoor beach gym for the Porto Montenegro Yacht Club

In 2018, Biofit designed an 800 m² beach gym for the Porto Montenegro Yacht Club on the Adriatic Coast, creating an outdoor fitness space as part of the wider Beach Club concept within Porto Montenegro.

Although positioned just 50 metres from the water’s edge, the site was not a natural beach. It sat within a non-tidal bay with no actual beach in place and occupied what was effectively a large concrete slab bordered on three sides by marina-related infrastructure and parking.

The challenge was therefore not simply to add equipment outdoors, but to transform a hard, exposed and visually compromised site into a usable and attractive open-air training environment.

This project remains an important early case study for Biofit because it demonstrated how much specialist thinking is required to design an outdoor gym properly, especially in a hospitality context where user experience, visual quality, durability and operational logic all matter.

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Project overview

  • Client: Porto Montenegro Yacht Club

  • Location: Porto Montenegro, Tivat, Montenegro

  • Sector: Hospitality / Beach Club / Leisure

  • Project type: Outdoor gym / beach gym design

  • Size: 800 m²

  • Year: 2018

  • Scope: Concept development, outdoor fitness strategy, beach gym design, layout planning, bespoke equipment design, material selection, supplier coordination

The brief

The aim was to create a distinctive outdoor gym as part of the Porto Montenegro Yacht Club Beach Club concept.

The site needed to function as a credible training environment, but it also had to sit comfortably within a premium waterfront leisure setting. That meant addressing a number of challenges at once:

  • lack of an actual natural beach

  • exposure to sun, wind and rain

  • limited privacy

  • a hard existing concrete base

  • the need for a secure perimeter

  • operational constraints linked to nearby marina uses and yacht guests

  • the visual expectations of a premium destination

This was not a case of dropping standard outdoor fitness equipment into an empty plot. The project required a full reconsideration of what a beach gym should be in this particular context.

Our design approach

Biofit approached the project as a purpose-built outdoor beach gym, not simply an open-air version of an indoor gym.

That distinction shaped every decision. The project had to respond to:

  • coastal conditions

  • seasonal use

  • noise management

  • shade and heat exposure

  • sand performance underfoot

  • weather resistance of equipment

  • privacy without full enclosure

  • the aesthetics of a luxury leisure destination

The result was a gym that blended bespoke timber equipment, sand surfaces, shaded perimeter zones, local fabrication and simple but robust detailing to create a more immersive outdoor training environment.

Reimagining the site

One of the first challenges was the site itself.

Although close to the water, the gym plot was not naturally beach-like. It was essentially a large concrete slab, bordered on three sides by what was effectively a car park. In its raw state, it offered little sense of seclusion or fitness identity.

Biofit’s role was therefore partly spatial and architectural: to create a perimeter, define an internal world and make the site feel more like a destination within the wider Beach Club offer.

This is a useful lesson in outdoor gym design generally. Often the key challenge is not the equipment, but the transformation of the site into a place that people actually want to use.

Perimeter fencing and privacy

A major early design problem was how to create security and privacy without making the gym feel enclosed or heavy.

The chosen solution was a perimeter fence formed from 4x4 timber planks, finished in a deep varnish and set at 10 cm intervals around the site. The timber sat in a solid trough embedded beneath the concrete and rose to just above head height.

This solution achieved several things at once:

  • created a secure perimeter

  • screened the gym from its immediate surroundings

  • still allowed light to enter from all sides

  • preserved partial visual permeability rather than forming a fully closed wall

  • created a stronger sense of separation between the gym and the outside world

It also became a significant part of the project budget, underlining a key point: in outdoor gym design, enclosure and edge conditions can cost more and matter more than clients initially expect.

Creating the beach: sand selection and flooring lessons

Because the site was an existing concrete slab, the “beach” had to be created from scratch.

The original decision was between:

  • importing large volumes of sand

  • building a soil bed and laying turf

  • briefly, considering artificial turf

Since the concept was always intended to be a beach gym, sand remained the preferred solution.

In practice, sand selection turned out to be one of the most important and underestimated parts of the project. Different sands vary significantly in:

  • colour

  • texture

  • comfort underfoot

  • drainage behaviour

  • visual quality

  • price

The first sand brought in was darker and finer than desired, and was immediately considered visually unsatisfactory. That material then became the base layer, while a lighter-coloured, thicker-grain sand was brought in as a second layer, dramatically improving the aesthetics of the gym.

This also changed the physical experience underfoot. After heavy rain, the thicker sand retained more moisture and felt heavier to move through. It was a valuable reminder that outdoor gym flooring is not only a visual decision, but also a performance and maintenance decision.

Shade and comfort

Shade was another critical design factor.

Any outdoor gym or beach gym needs to account for the fact that not everyone wants to train in direct sun, especially during peak heat hours. Without adequate shade, a facility risks losing usability for a large part of the day.

Biofit’s recommendation was to create a shaded perimeter zone approximately 2 metres deep, using a simple net-based shading system. This approach offered several advantages:

  • lower cost than more complex canopies

  • less structural load and wind resistance

  • a lighter visual effect

  • a cooler training edge around the perimeter

  • better usability at midday

This was a practical and cost-effective solution that improved comfort without overcomplicating the project.

Outdoor music and operational constraints

The project also required thought around sound and operational etiquette.

Biofit installed a set of six outdoor speakers mounted on the perimeter fencing, all connected to a central amplifier and iPod. Because the gym sat close to marina-related buildings, yachts and guest areas, the sound system needed to be managed carefully to avoid noise pollution.

Music had to be turned off after 7 pm due to the proximity of yachts and their guests. This is a good example of how hospitality fitness projects often require a more operationally nuanced approach than a standard standalone gym.

Bespoke equipment strategy

For the equipment, Biofit combined in-house designs, local carpentry, local metalwork and selected functional training accessories.

Timber pieces designed by Biofit and produced by a carpenter included:

  • solid oak balance beam

  • push-up bars

  • A-frame pull-up beam

  • squat log

  • fixed timber pull-up and squat elements

In parallel, a local metalworker produced:

  • three jump boxes / plyometric boxes

  • two parallettes bars

  • storage shelving for kettlebells and accessories

This combination of custom timber and simple locally made steelwork proved both practical and cost-effective.

The project also reinforced a lesson that remains relevant today: for bulky bespoke items, it is usually more efficient to fabricate locally on site where possible rather than transporting everything internationally.

Weather protection and durability

Outdoor fitness equipment requires a different level of durability thinking than indoor products.

For the Porto Montenegro Beach Gym:

  • the oak equipment received three layers of heavy-duty varnish

  • kettlebells were coated in boat hull paint

  • branding was integrated through the yacht club’s white and navy flag colours

This use of marine-grade finishing techniques was a logical response to the coastal environment and helped tie the gym visually back to the broader yacht club context.

At the same time, the project also produced a very practical lesson: some lower-quality eco-rubber plates left out in strong midday sun deformed badly in the first year. That experience reinforced an obvious but important point for outdoor gyms — it is usually better to invest in more robust equipment from the start than to compromise on durability.

Training offer and user experience

The gym combined bespoke equipment with functional training accessories to create a broad outdoor training offer.

It supported:

  • bodyweight training

  • strength work

  • balance and coordination

  • rope work

  • functional conditioning

  • open-air movement sessions

The intention was not to replicate a full indoor gym outdoors, but to create a more site-specific training environment that felt natural, playful and physically engaging.

Exercising in the fresh air was also part of the value proposition. The gym allowed users to train outdoors in a setting more connected to the natural environment than a conventional indoor facility, while still offering structure and equipment.

Outcome

The Porto Montenegro Beach Gym transformed an exposed and unremarkable concrete site into a distinct outdoor fitness destination within the Porto Montenegro Yacht Club Beach Club concept.

For Biofit, the project remains a useful case study because it demonstrates several core capabilities:

  • transforming difficult outdoor sites

  • designing fitness spaces in hospitality settings

  • solving practical issues around privacy, flooring, shade and sound

  • using bespoke and locally fabricated equipment intelligently

  • understanding that outdoor gyms require their own logic rather than being simplified indoor gyms

It also offered a number of real-world lessons around sand selection, weatherproofing, budgeting and equipment durability that continue to inform Biofit’s outdoor gym thinking today.

Services provided by Biofit

Biofit’s role included:

having lived and worked at porto montenegro for many years, i knew the challenges of this site, namely the harsh weather in winter (strong winds, heavy rainfall) and summer (intense heat, salt exposure) but i also saw the opportunity to create a unique beach gym concept drawing on local craftsmen and boat-building culture to protect the equipment from the elements.

– Matt Aspiotis Morley

Frequently Asked Questions

  • The project was designed specifically as part of a beach club concept, using sand underfoot, open-air training and a stronger connection to the waterfront leisure setting.

  • No. The gym sat on a large concrete slab near the water, so the beach environment had to be created artificially through imported sand and perimeter design.

  • The main challenges included privacy, site transformation, sand selection, shade, durability of equipment, sound control and creating a premium user experience in a coastal outdoor setting.

  • Yes. Biofit designed a series of custom timber pieces, with additional locally fabricated metal items and selected functional training accessories.

  • One major lesson was that outdoor gym design requires much more attention to materials, climate exposure and operational detail than many clients initially expect.

Biofit works with architects, engineering teams and project managers to deliver specialist sports, gym, spa and wellness design services.

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