LA Fitness Total Gym, Mission Viejo, Ca

By Adriana Doberstein and Zenna Jenaldi

We started this project with a hypothesis; a health club can be built with sustainability in mind! This project was a very interesting choice. We needed to find a facility recently built and verify if the materials chosen to build it were eco-friendly and sustainable. This was our challenge, one that we were eager to test. The one chosen was the LA Fitness Facility located in Mission Viejo, Ca.  Its opening day was September 17, 2011.

About LA Fitness
Founded in 1984, LA Fitness is one of the fastest growing sports club chains in the United States and presently has over 360 locations in 21 states and Canada.
This LA Fitness Gym was a massive undertaking. The largest one constructed west of the Mississippi River, with an amazing 62,000 square foot facility in the newly redeveloped Alicia Towne Plaza, on Alicia Parkway, which is owned by the Watt Commercial Properties.
Some of the features are: full court basketball, six racquetball courts, a 25 yard three lane lap pool, a whirlpool spa, spacious locker rooms with showers and saunas, a group exercise studio, and a separate multi-tiered indoor cycling room. It also includes over 125 pieces of the latest generation cardio equipment with individual viewing screens, selectorized circuit training, and free weight areas.

As one enters the main doors, one can immediately sense the immensity of the space. It gives a feeling of infinity, as one looks forward over the front desk area and upward, toward the skyline on the ceiling. The feeling of spaciousness and high quality surrounds it.


The front desk is very stylish and modern. Wilsonart Laminate is used for the counter top. It contains a minimum of 20% post-consumer recycled content – the highest percentage of post-consumer content in the industry. It also uses FSC Certified Wood–which contains Low-Emitting Materials. This product exceeds the industry’s highest standards for Indoor Air Quality, with GREENGUARD® Certification on all laminate types. Pionite Plastic Laminate with GREENGUARD® Certification is used to complete the look as the side panels of the front desk.

Glass Blocks-Premiere Series from PPG are used as a decorative barrier between the entrance way and the pool area in conjunction with the glass panels. It has a fine grid of closely spaced ridges which moderate light transmission versus maximum privacy. These glass blocks have the Highest Insulation and Sound Transmission Ratings.

The paint chosen throughout the facility is Glidden Professional Paint which meets a long list of regulations that take safety and the environment into consideration. It meets the most stringent VOC legislation nationally and contributes toward satisfying LEED credits. Glidden also focus on getting their paints to meet current MPI, GREENGUARD® and CHPS guidelines, as well as try to anticipate future requirements. Their paint reduces VOC, eliminates waste, and minimizes carbon footprints.

Dal-Tile Gauged Slate feels the eyes and meets our feet as we enter the main lobby. It may not be as sustainable a material as we desire, but it is long lasting and durable. Replacement is not foreseeable in the near or even far future as a matter of fact.

The pool area can be seen from the moment one enters the Gym. The feeling of relaxation invites us to come in and feel its waters. The tile mosaic looks like the sandy beaches of Southern California, with seashells gently spread across its surface.

Daltile does a great job, with its Mosaic Tile Series (OLEAN TILE Keystone Shapes, Unglazed & Blends Series) which contains Pre-Consumer Recycled Material. It is one of the most environmentally friendly building materials you can buy today.

Photos of tiles provided by Daltile

  

Once one reaches the spinning room one is filled with an immense sense of power, as if we were the Energizer Bunny, and could go on and on and on…..!  The spinning Machines stand side by side as sentinels awaiting instructions, ready for battle.

Armstrong Sheet Vinyl Commercial Flooring is used throughout on the spinning floor, treads, risers and general utility areas and Kid’s Club area of the club. Armstrong uses the USGBC LEED definition – “Material considered being an agricultural product, both fiber and animal, that takes 10 years or less to grow or raise, and to harvest in an ongoing and sustainable fashion.”


Rubber flooring from everroll® is used in the free weights area – It is manufactured using a combination of different elastomers which give it a unique level of wear resistance and flexibility. It is made of recycled material such as tires.

 The stretching area of the gym is very spacious, with plenty of room. I have never seen one as big as this one before. The entire floor area makes use of the Pacificrest Mills Commercial Carpet- Big Sur Collection-Patterned Loop- Looped, CRI Certification, Pattern repeat, Ultron type 6,6 Nylon fiber, Piece Dyed. LEED Certification, Carpet Reclamation, Recyclability of Type 6,6 Nylon. This carpet is used throughout the facility.

On the ceiling throughout the facility we have Armstrong- Acoustical Ceiling Tiles 2 x 4 Fine Texture/White- Clean Room VL870-Ideal for up to Class 100 clean rooms, nonperforated Clean Room VL resists initial soiling while providing a scrubbable vinyl surface. HumiGuard Plus no sag performance, and available with high light reflectance options. Perforated VL offers good sound absorption. Both are nondirectional.  Total Recycled Content: 38%- anti-microbial
Potential LEED Credit Area Contribution:

·        Low-Emitting Materials

·        Renewable Materials

·        Regional Materials

·        Recycled Content

It was a pleasure to do this project.  We hope you have enjoyed it as much as we did! 
We would like to thank Lea Roelle, Operations Manager LA Fitness, Mission Viejo. For your support and enthusiasm, your help was deeply appreciated.

Last but not least, our sincere appreciation to Michele Cardon from the OC Register for granting us the rights to use the pictures from their story from August 16, 2011, which can be found at this link.