Exercise physiology fitouts
An exercise physiology practice is a clinical gym. The building questions are structural and mechanical rather than architectural.
An exercise physiology fitout has less joinery than any other clinical practice and more engineering. The money is in the slab, the ceiling and the air, and none of those three are visible in a photo of the finished space.
Accredited exercise physiologists work with people who have chronic disease, injury or disability, funded through Medicare care plans, the NDIS, workers compensation and private health. That mix matters to the building, because it means the space has to be genuinely accessible, it has to allow a private conversation, and it has to be usable by someone who is deconditioned or in pain rather than by someone training.
It is not a gym with a clinical label on it. It is a clinical space where the main treatment happens to be exercise, and the difference shows up in the assessment room, the accessible amenities, and how much space sits around each piece of equipment.
The three numbers that decide the tenancy
Floor loading. Plate-loaded equipment, dumbbell racks and a cable machine are concentrated loads. On a ground slab this is rarely an issue. On a suspended slab in an upper-level tenancy it is a real constraint, and the answer comes from a structural engineer looking at that specific building rather than from a rule of thumb. Get this checked before you sign, because it can rule a tenancy out entirely.
Ceiling height. Overhead work, a cable machine, anything performed standing on a step, and simply not feeling boxed in: 2.7 metres clear under the services is the practical minimum and three metres is noticeably better. Office tenancies frequently present at 2.4 once the grid, ducts and sprinklers are in.
Ventilation. This is the one most often under-estimated. A room full of people exercising has a far higher air change requirement than a room full of people at desks, and base building plant sized for an office will not hold the space in summer. Under-sizing it is the complaint that arrives in the first February, and by then the ceiling is closed.
Impact, and the tenancy below
Dropped weights transmit impact into the structure, and it arrives downstairs as a thud that cannot be treated from the other side. If anything sits below you, an acoustic underlay across the exercise floor plus dedicated rubber matting in the free-weight zone is not a finish decision, it is the thing that keeps the lease workable.
Set out where the free-weight zone will be before ordering flooring. Retrofitting isolation under equipment that is already installed means moving all of it.
The parts that make it clinical
Two spaces separate an exercise physiology practice from a gym, and both are easy to leave out when the floor plan is drawn around equipment.
The first is an assessment room: an enclosed room with a solid door where an initial consultation, a functional assessment and a conversation about a diagnosis can happen privately. Ten to fourteen square metres, with a plinth, a desk and room for a support person.
The second is amenities that suit the clientele. An accessible WC under AS 1428.1, and a change and shower if you run groups. Clients coming from work, or arriving with limited mobility, use these far more than a gym membership base would.
7 September 2026
Checked against the standards and planning
frameworks current at that date.
AS 1428.1, AS 1668.2 and the National Construction Code, read alongside room areas we use for planning allied health tenancies.
Not a quote, and not a substitute for a site assessment. Floor loading, ceiling height and available mechanical capacity are properties of a specific building and have to be checked against it.
Room schedule
| Space | Indicative area | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Exercise floor | 60–120 m² | Equipment footprint plus genuine working space around each piece, 2.7 m clear height |
| Assessment room | 10–14 m² | Enclosed, solid door. Plinth, desk, room for a support person |
| Consulting room | 10–12 m² | Optional second private room where you run a care-plan heavy caseload |
| Reception & waiting | 14–22 m² | AS 1428.1 accessible counter section, seating that suits deconditioned clients |
| Accessible WC | 6 m² | AS 1428.1. Used considerably more than in a commercial gym |
| Change & shower | 8–12 m² | If you run groups or take clients directly from work |
| Store | 6–10 m² | Mats, bands, small equipment. It will not fit in a cupboard |
| Staff area | 9–12 m² | Notes and reporting, out of earshot of the floor |
Put your own room count through the space planner to get a floor area, including circulation.
What has to be satisfied
- Structural capacity
- Floor loading for plate-loaded equipment and racked weights, especially on a suspended slab. A structural engineer’s question during due diligence, and capable of ruling a tenancy out.
- AS 1668.2
- Mechanical ventilation. Exercise spaces carry a materially higher air change requirement than offices, and base building plant is usually sized for offices.
- AS 1428.1 and the DDA
- Accessible entry, circulation, an accessible sanitary facility and a reception counter usable from a seated position. Central here rather than incidental, given the client base.
- Impact isolation
- Acoustic underlay across the exercise floor and matting in the free-weight zone wherever a tenancy sits below.
- National Construction Code
- Building classification, egress and sanitary provisions. An office or retail tenancy converted to an exercise space commonly changes classification.
- Ahpra, ESSA and record keeping
- Secure health record storage and a private space for assessment and reporting.
What it costs
Exercise physiology, warm shell
Open exercise floor, an assessment room, reception and waiting, staff area and amenities, with commercial finishes. Lower than a consulting practice because there is less joinery and fewer rooms.
Upgraded mechanical services and impact isolation both sit on top.
Typical practice
An exercise floor of roughly 90 square metres, one assessment room, reception, accessible amenities and a change area.
Before equipment, furniture, IT and rent during construction.
What is excluded
Gym equipment, plinths, GST, council and certifier fees, structural and mechanical consultant reports, loose furniture, IT hardware, signage and rent during construction.
A planning figure, not a quote.
Run your own numbers in the fitout cost estimator, or see every published range with its inclusions and exclusions.
Getting the order right
Most of what goes wrong on a clinical fitout is sequencing rather than construction.
Due diligence before signature, every time. Floor loading, clear ceiling height and available mechanical capacity. All three belong to the building, none can be bought later, and any one of them can make a tenancy unusable.
Then size the floor against the caseload. One-on-one work and small groups need very different areas, and the difference is forty square metres rather than four.
Do not lose the assessment room. It is the first thing squeezed when equipment is laid out, and the thing that makes the practice clinical rather than recreational.
Set the free-weight zone before ordering flooring. Isolation goes in where the load lands, and moving it later means moving the equipment on top of it.
Questions
How much floor space does an exercise physiology clinic need?
The exercise floor itself runs from about 60 square metres for one-on-one work to 120 or more if you run groups. With an assessment room, reception, amenities and storage, a practice typically sits between 150 and 220 square metres.
What ceiling height do I need for a clinical gym?
2.7 metres clear beneath the services is the practical minimum and three metres is noticeably better. Clear is the key word: office tenancies often measure 2.4 metres once the ceiling grid, ductwork and sprinklers are installed, which rules out overhead work.
Does floor loading really matter for gym equipment?
On a ground slab, rarely. On a suspended slab in an upper-level tenancy it is a genuine constraint. Racked dumbbells and plate-loaded equipment are concentrated loads that office design allowances do not always contemplate. Have a structural engineer check the specific building during due diligence, because it can rule the tenancy out.
Is a gym fitout the same as an exercise physiology fitout?
No. An exercise physiology practice is a clinical space where the treatment happens to be exercise. It needs an enclosed assessment room for private consultation, accessible amenities designed for clients who are deconditioned or have a disability, and more space around each piece of equipment than a commercial gym allows.
How much does an exercise physiology fitout cost?
Indicatively $950 to $1,500 per square metre on a warm shell, excluding equipment and GST, which is lower than a consulting practice because there is less joinery. A practice of around 190 square metres lands somewhere near $170,000 to $300,000 for the build alone, with upgraded mechanical services and impact isolation on top.
Sources and further reading
Registration standards for physiotherapists, chiropractors, podiatrists and psychologists, including the practice and record-keeping requirements a premises has to support.
Source for AS/NZS 4815 and 4187 reprocessing, AS 1428.1 access and AS 1668.2 ventilation. The standards themselves are purchased, not free.
The National Construction Code: building classification, fire separation, egress, sanitary provisions and access.
Building activity and construction cost data, useful for sanity-checking where trade pricing is heading.
Other allied health fitouts
Send us the floor plan
A site assessment tells you what the tenancy can take and what it will cost to get there, ideally before you have signed for it.