The Yard Gym

The Yard Gym occupies an industrial commercial shell in historic downtown Atlanta. The franchisee approached Studio RNB to bring a national gym concept into the existing building while keeping the schedule tight and the budget realistic.

Studio RNB partnered with the franchisee's interior designer to shape the layout, define the building scope, and document a permit-ready set. We worked through schematic design, design development, and construction documents, and framed each decision around what the existing MEP infrastructure could absorb. Reusing the existing systems where possible reduced cost and shortened the construction window without compromising the gym's spatial program.

The project sits inside a building stock that asks for restraint. Historic downtown Atlanta has constraints that newer commercial corridors do not, and the design solved them one at a time: clearances around existing mechanical runs, modifications to existing systems where new equipment demanded it, code compliance for the change of use, and an interior fit-out that reads as deliberate rather than overlaid.

The Yard Gym is currently under construction. Equipment is installed, the floor graphic reads YARD NATION across the turf training lane, and the brick walls and exposed steel trusses of the original shell stay visible in every direction. When it opens, the space will carry the franchise's identity while quietly preserving what the building already had to offer.