Sometimes, a name can tell you everything you need to know. We like to think that’s the case with Time Out Sydney, and it’s definitely true for Urban Oasis – the immaculately designed, tranquil wellness haven that’s opening its doors tomorrow in a busy corner of Surry Hills. Just five minutes’ walk from the buzz of Central Station, a former textile warehouse has been transformed into a light-flooded self-care sanctuary, and having visited for a sneak peek, we can confirm that it really is an oasis of calm in one of Sydney’s most high-energy suburbs. Titled Urban Oasis, the new fitness studio and recovery space is the latest venture from the One Playground team, whose empire of accessible gyms now spans Surry Hills, Newtown and Marrickville (with gyms in the works in Haymarket, Merrylands and north of the bridge).
Housed within a reclaimed textiles warehouse, the stunning new space is an extension of One Playground’s existing Surry Hills gym – adding new reformer and yoga studios and a gorgeous recovery suite to the brand’s Surry Hills offering. The aesthetic here is perfectly suburb-appropriate – with 750 square metres of polished concrete floors, exposed timber beams and original 1900's brickwork contrasting against modern design features, with sunlight flooding in through panelled sash windows. More than 100 real plants punctuate the space – in the relaxation spaces, fitness studios, sauna space and changing rooms – and the whitewashed walls are illuminated by custom brass light fittings. It’s all divinely beautiful – the kind of place that instantly makes you feel like you’ve escaped reality. Justin Ashley (CEO of One Playground and one of Time Out Sydney’s Future Shapers for 2024), explains that the feeling of escape is something they’ve intentionally tried to create here: “We want it to feel like a day spa, somewhere you come to forget about all of your worries, but somewhere that you can visit three times a week, not once in a blue moon,”.
The classes at Urban Oasis – set within the 20-bed reformer studio, the semi-private reformer studio and the infrared-heated mat room – will be added to the One Playground Surry Hills timetable, and members will have access to the recovery suite post-class. With infrared and traditional saunas, a cold plunge, magnesium and vitamin C showers and a stunning light-flooded seating area, the recovery space is arguably the room that earned Urban Oasis its name.
"This expansion represents our commitment to enhancing community wellness by providing a space where individuals can nurture their mind, body and spirit," said Claudia Howard, Head of Wellness at One Playground.
Alongside the movement classes, Urban Oasis will host additional classes, ranging from breathwork to sound healing, all with the mission of enhancing holistic wellbeing for the people who live and work in the Surry Hills area.
"Surry Hills has been in need of a wellness space where people can escape the hustle and bustle of busy city life," says Howard and, as a Surry Hills-based team here at Time Out, we couldn’t agree more.
One Playground's Urban Oasis will open to members tomorrow, Saturday December 14. You can learn more over here.
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