Meet Caroline Knipe of Love Athletica in Camberwell
L-R: Love Athletica co-owners Mat and Caroline Knipe.
It isn’t surprising to learn that Love Athletica business co-owner Caroline Knipe is an interior designer.
The calm beauty of the light-filled Camberwell studio is no accident. It is a considered aspect of the overall exercise experience on offer, and was designed by Ms Knipe.
Love Athletica’s classes offer a well-rounded program combining reformer Pilates, bouts of cardio, and ending with some gentle yoga.
“The sessions themselves offer everything you need, so people don’t have to class-hop trying to get what they need in different places,” Ms Knipe said.
“And we believe the ambience is as important as the class, so the studio is bright and warm and inviting, and the music is curated for each part of the exercise.
“The surroundings and the music shouldn’t just be incidentals; they should be designed to be part of the class. At Love Athletica we want to offer a rounded, holistic experience.”
Creating something new
Ms Knipe left her interior design career to join her husband in launching the Love Athletica studios and that brave decision is paying off.
The Camberwell studio was the first to open and there are now also studios in Windsor, Malvern and a pop-up on a rooftop in South Yarra.
“I started creating the studio designs just before COVID-19 hit,” Ms Knipe said.
“So, 2020 was not the year I expected. I ended up doing all sort of other things related to the business, but we are back on track now and our next studio will launch in Richmond.”
It took a few years to build the business and Ms Knipe found a lot of inspiration overseas.
“I found that overseas many people running a fitness studio took it very seriously and considered it a career,” she said.
“When I came back (to Australia) I couldn’t find anything that reflected what we had found abroad and we began creating it ourselves.”
Ms Knipe’s husband left his music industry career and the couple began their Love Athletica journey.
“Starting our own fitness business was a risk and a big step, but I think to be successful you have to take a risk and work hard,” Ms Knipe said.
“You can’t just launch and leave it at that; you have to continually work at it and nurture it and allow it to evolve. Our studios are our babies.”
And that creative passion is reflected in Love Athletica, with carefully crafted sessions in beautifully designed studios.
“People should not only see results fairly quickly, but they should also enjoy coming and feel good when they are here,” Ms Knipe said.
“Seeing the results of their efforts combined with having fun means people come back.”
Location, location
Love Athletica Camberwell is a buzzing studio now.
“We aren’t right in the shopping hub of Camberwell but our choice of location paid off. This is a big and varied community open to trying something new, and also loyal when they find what they want,” Ms Knipe said.
“Within four months our studio was very busy.”
With an interior designer and passionate music lover at the helm, Love Athletica has put fitness into a comforting, supportive environment.
“We want coming here to be the best part of your day,” Ms Knipe said.
Visit the studio
136 Camberwell Rd
Phone: (03) 8060 6725
All images courtesy Love Athletica.
A physio and pilates clinic in Camberwell is implementing a pioneering approach to give their patients a unique experience.
Life Ready Physio + Pilates opened its first Melbourne clinic in Camberwell, in the heart of Burke Rd, in November 2017 following unprecedented growth in Western Australia.
With a vision and strategy for a clinic with a difference, CEO Ben Trinh has created an environment dedicated to inspiring patients that use the space while allowing them to quickly and carefully rehabilitate.
“We really want our clinic to reflect our commitment to community, so we’ve created an environment where patients can connect with each other and build really authentic relationships with their physios,” Trinh said.
The decision to expand to Melbourne and set up shop in Camberwell came about when Trinh noticed a growing community of health-conscious types.
“We also love that we attract patients of all ages to our Camberwell clinic. There’s a really diverse mix of people here which is great,” Trinh said.
A clinic with a difference
As a qualified physio, Trinh entered the profession with a mission to help people. But he quickly felt disillusioned with an industry that required physiotherapists, with a scientific background, to run a business.
“I realised that the commercial side of it was very different… You can’t treat patients all day and manage staff and run a business all at once. That problem is rife throughout the whole industry,” he said.
That’s why Trinh decided to start a new kind of clinic, where the physios could focus on their patients and staff and leave the behind the scenes business operations to business experts.
The Life Ready Physio + Pilates group gives practitioners the chance to buy into a clinic so they can run it, while business aspects like graphic design, HR, legal, accounting, bookkeeping and insurance are all taken care of by Trinh’s business-savvy team.
“It means the owners can get on with running the clinic completely, which means the patients get better treatment. We’re trying to change the face of how clinics operate,” he said.
The goal for Life Ready Physio + Pilates is to be a one-stop shop where patients can journey from injury to full recovery under one roof. Patients can work collaboratively with their clinic specialists and they don’t have to visit multiple businesses to treat different aspects of their health or injury.
The clinic is also big on gathering feedback from patients, so they can make improvements and roll out changes quickly. They regularly measure NPS (Net Promoter Score), to see how likely their patients would recommend the clinic to a friend or colleague, and obtain high scores.
One improvement they are looking to introduce at their Camberwell clinic is an in-house creche, so parents can leave their children in care while they attend a class or undertake a rehabilitation session. This is something that has been purely based on feedback from clients.
Designed to inspire
In addition to its holistic, proactive and considered treatment approaches, Life Ready Physio + Pilates engaged some of the most brilliant minds in Australia to help reimagine the stereotypical clinic design experience.
“Studies have shown that the environment in which patients receive rehabilitation care impacts the rate and speed of recovery. This is why it was so vital for us to create a thoughtful, communal space that lends itself to an open flow,” Trinh said.
Designed by architecture firm Russell & George, the clinic’s aesthetic seeks to challenge long-held expectations of traditional, stark and cold medical environments by incorporating crisp Scandinavian tones, external wood features, high ceilings and warm lighting.
“Fundamentally it’s about movement, which has been reflected in the floorplan. The curved walls create the illusion of openness and makes the space feel open and collaborative,” Trinh said.
“A typical clinic is very cold and impersonal, and we wanted to offer the opposite of that. We want our clients to enjoy the space but equally feel inspired by it.”
