The Annette K gym redesigned by Sarah Lavoine
This may be the biggest revolution in wellness in 2025: we no longer go to the gym to push ourselves to the limit, but to find a kind of refuge. A place where we can exercise without sacrificing beauty, where we can reconnect with ourselves through materials, colours and light. In Paris, the new Annette K. Montparnasse, redesigned by Sarah Lavoine, is the perfect example of this change. A gym that no longer looks like a gym, but a space where you come to breathe as much as to sweat.
Sport as an experience, at last
You only have to walk through the door of Annette K. to feel that the rules have changed. Nothing evokes the temples of clinical performance that dominated the 2000s, with their harsh lighting, metallic sounds and intimidating rows of machines. Instead, there is a calm, gentler atmosphere, with armchairs that seem to be waiting for you to linger.
People no longer come to ‘do their session’, but settle in. They take the time to arrive, to make the place their own, to soak up an atmosphere that invites them to find themselves rather than surpass themselves. This shift is far from insignificant, as it reflects a new way of living in the city. In a saturated, fast-paced, dense environment, these hybrid spaces offer a more intuitive, organic rhythm. A way of treating sport, and your inbox, as a cultural activity.
Design as an invisible ally
In this space designed by Sarah Lavoine, design is the emotional structure of the place. The colours envelop rather than distract, and the materials are reassuring. The choice of warm wood, the softness of a textile, the elegance of a light fixture, the subtle vibration of a mineral hue—all these elements profoundly influence our relationship to movement. When the space is calming, the body follows. When it inspires, desire appears. We no longer force ourselves; we let ourselves go.
This is perhaps Sarah Lavoine's most valuable contribution: transforming the gym into an environment where we feel legitimate, welcome, and calm enough to dare to move without judging ourselves.
The rise of hybrid spaces, a revealing phenomenon
In recent years, Paris has seen the emergence of places that do not fit into any specific category. They are neither gyms nor cafés, clubs nor galleries, but places where movement rubs shoulders with contemplation, where you can work a little, relax, chat, leave and come back. These are places that reflect the way we live today, which is more fragmented and more focused on the quality of the moment than the quantity of effort.
Annette K. is fully in line with this new way of thinking about well-being. You can spend an hour there as easily as you could spend two, following a class with a cup of tea, retreating to a bright corner, reconnecting after a busy day. Sport is less of an obligation than a pretext!
This type of studio promotes wellbeing as an atmosphere that is cultivated in places where you feel good, where you feel like yourself. So, of course, you end up doing your yoga or strength training class. Because a beautiful, peaceful, soothing place can be enough to reconcile body and mind. And because in 2025, nothing is more modern than a gym that feels like a living space.
Translated by Bethszabee Garner
