How to Design an Outdoor Gym: A Step-by-Step Guide

Start with who it's for

Before you look at a single piece of equipment, get clear on who will be using the space. It sounds obvious, but it shapes every other decision.

A primary school needs something quite different from a town centre park. Younger pupils need equipment sized for them, while adult equipment suits users over 140cm (4'7"), which is why Sunshine Gym splits its range into children's and adults' equipment. Secondary schools and colleges tend to sit happily with the adult range, and a mixed community site might want both.

Think about ability too. If you want the gym to work for everyone, that includes wheelchair users and people who are just getting back into exercise after time away. Add a few gentler stations to your list from the start so they're part of the plan.

Work out what you want it to achieve

Ask yourself what success looks like a year from now. Maybe it's busier playgrounds and more active lunchtimes. Maybe it's a park facility that gets people off the sofa, or something that supports a wider health and wellbeing programme.

Your answer points you towards the right mix. An outdoor gym built around getting people moving socially will look different from one designed for rehab and gentle mobility work. Write your goal down in a sentence or two and keep it handy. When you're staring at a long product list later, it makes decisions much easier.

Get to know your site

Walk the space and take notes. Then walk it again at a different time of day.

Things worth noticing:

• Ground and drainage. Where does water sit after rain? Is the surface flat and stable?
• Access. Can a wheelchair or pushchair get to the gym comfortably, on a proper route?
• Visibility. Spaces that are overlooked and well lit tend to feel safer and get used more.
• Neighbours. Consider houses, classrooms and play areas nearby, and how noise and footfall might affect them.
• Existing features. Trees, slopes, paths and fencing can all help or hinder.

Footprint varies a lot by equipment. Compact units like Tai Chi Discs or the Leg Stretch suit tighter sites, while double stations and games areas need wider safety zones and more room to move around. Sunshine Gym plans the access routes, resting areas and sightlines for you, so you don't need a finished layout in your head. You just need a good picture of the site.

Build a balanced mix of equipment

This is the fun part, and the temptation is to go straight for the biggest, most impressive-looking pieces. Resist that a little. The best outdoor gyms offer variety, so that a first-timer and a regular can both find something for them.

A simple way to think about it is in three groups.

Warm-up and mobility. These are the gentle, approachable stations that make people feel comfortable stepping in. Tai Chi Discs help with coordination and controlled upper-body rotation. The Waist Twister and Leg Stretch look after the trunk and hamstrings. The Double Slalom Skier and Twist N Step get the lower body moving in a coordinated way. Starting with mobility and balance also prepares joints and improves technique for the harder work that follows.

Cardio. Arm & Pedal Bicycles and Sky Steppers give people a way to raise their heart rate without needing any instruction. They tend to be popular because everyone instinctively knows how to use them.

Strength. Pull Up Bars and the chest press bring in the challenge for people who want more from a session.

There's also room for something more social. The Outdoor Table Tennis Table adds a bit of reactive footwork and hand-eye coordination, and it's a great way to draw in people who wouldn't call themselves gym-goers.

If you're not sure how to balance it all, that's a good moment to lean on the team. They can suggest a mix that suits your users and your space.

Don't forget inclusion

An outdoor gym that only works for able-bodied adults is missing a big part of its potential audience. Wheelchair Accessible Tai Chi Discs let seated users train alongside ambulant participants, so nobody is working out in a separate corner.

The point is to build inclusion into the design from the start. Adding it later as an afterthought rarely works as well, and it's usually a bit more awkward to fit around what's already there.

Consider a ready-made package

You don't have to build a gym piece by piece. Sunshine Gym offers pre-designed packages that range from three pieces of equipment (holding up to five users) to 13 pieces, which can accommodate up to 24 users at once. Each one is built from the existing children's or adults' range, so everything is tested to the same standard.

Packages are a good shortcut if you're short on time or want a sensible starting point. They're also flexible: you can browse the ready-made options, or put together your own. Primary schools can look at the packages sized for younger pupils, while secondary schools and colleges can go for the adult packages.

Think about safety from the start

Safety is one of the first things any decision-maker will ask about, and rightly so. A few things are worth knowing.

The Adults' Outdoor Gym Equipment is tested to BS EN 16630:2015, and Sunshine Gym tests its children's range to the same standard. The equipment also has a unique safety stop system built in. On multi-user equipment, the design means a child never has to step on or off while it's moving because of another child's actions, which removes a significant accident risk.

Each machine also comes clearly labelled with operating instructions and the muscles it works. That makes life much easier for teachers supervising a class, and for anyone using the gym for the first time.

Plan the flow around the equipment

Once you have a rough list, think about how people will move through the space. A well-planned gym has logical routes between stations, room to queue or wait without crowding a machine, and somewhere to stop and catch a breath.

A sensible layout often mirrors a normal workout, with warm-up and mobility stations near the entrance, then cardio and strength further in. That way people naturally start gently and build up, and you avoid a pile-up around the most popular pieces.

Think about the space around the gym too. Seating, bins and cycle parking make a real difference to how welcoming a place feels and how long people stay. Since Sunshine Gym is part of Broxap, these can be planned as part of the same project rather than sourced separately.

Think about funding and timing

Outdoor gyms are free to use once installed, which makes a strong case to funders, and that's worth building into your plans early. Whether you're drawing on school budgets, council capital, grants or community fundraising, having a clear picture of who the gym is for and what it will achieve makes any application much stronger. It also helps to have a rough budget in mind before you talk to suppliers, so the conversation can be about what's realistic.

Timing matters as well. If you're a school, installing during a holiday means the space is ready for pupils when they return. For parks, avoiding the busiest season can help keep disruption down.