It's known as "The Beehive".
One of the biggest gyms in town, Studio 4 sits at over 12,000 square feet, and is full of inviting nooks, each room a new surprise.
There's the capoeira room – a Brazilian martial arts – full of percussive instruments. Also, there's weightlifting, a yoga studio, a dance studio, boxing, and more, all in what feels like a boutique gym setting, with beautiful lighting, plants, and an emphasis on the heritage of the building.
"We stripped everything back to the original brick walls and old wood from back in the day. It's got a really organic feel," co-owner Kevin Brett said.
Owners Kevin Brett and Darcy Dommett have arguably created a unique gym concept, and the impact of their vision has resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars going back into the community. It's a place of heart as much as it is of grit, self-improvement and sweat.
The concept for the Yates Street gym started when Brett, now 55, needed a new space for his Brazilian capoeira company. The new space he acquired was too big for a martial arts business alone, so he partnered with Dommett, who had a "tremendous amount of experience in the gym industry." They incorporated Studio 4, in October 2004, and eventually expanded, though not without challenges.
The gym expanded into the third floor in 2008, only for the financial crisis to hit. After surviving and thriving through that, they took over the ground floor when low and behold, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Forced to scale back due to lockdowns, they now sit where they are today, serving around 1,200 members.
"We took a risk, and here we are today," Brett said.
Community impact
Studio 4 is not just recognized for its atmosphere and extensive programs. It's also recognized for its contributions to the community and is the recipient of the Torch Award from the Better Business Bureau.
One of the gym's crowning achievements is its annual boxing charity event, Fight 4 the Cause. The popular event, which combines boxing and black-tie fashion, last took place in 2019 at the Victoria Conference Centre. Brett said it's in the works to bring it back for 2025.
Fight 4 the Cause is the perfect way to highlight the gym's strength in martial arts training while showing the impact of sport. Leading up to the event, community members who have never boxed and want to "fight for a cause" are trained by Studio 4 for eight intensive weeks. The money raised is then divided between four local charities.
"These are all just regular people with kids, jobs and in school and they put everything on hold for eight weeks," Brett said. "Some of the reasons that they had for doing it were so inspiring. Somebody just lost a parent and was fighting for that. There was one woman who had been abused and she wanted to take her power back from that experience."
The matches often play out as fun, friendly competitions between industries, such as police vs. firefighters or Lucky Bar vs. the Duke. The evening is made extra glamorous with a red carpet, dinner service and entertainment at halftime.
Brett said the event has raised over $250,000 during its run and is attended by around 1,500 people.
The gym's strong community ties wouldn't be possible without it being locally owned, Brett said. Local ownership comes with other member perks.
"The owners are on site every day. We work out with the members. If somebody has a suggestion, we're all ears," Brett said. "We actually, in the city anyways, pioneered the no-contract membership [because of customer feedback]."
Reflecting on their 20th anniversary, Brett said he and Dommett are proud of the gym.
"We're proud of the community that we've built and been able to surround ourselves with. And we're very grateful to our members who have helped us sustain business all this time," said Brett. "We look forward to another 20 years."
This article is from the 2024 edition of Best of the City.
