Fitness First Australia founder Tony de Leede has announced that he is to relaunch his Fit N Fast health club in Sydney city as YogaBar – a ‘boutique village’ concept offering classes, health foods and retail.

Tapping into the trend of boutique studios and 360-degree wellness, the imminent rebrand will see De Leede first relaunch the Sydney site, with a view to potentially transforming all 18 of his Fit N Fast gyms into YogaBars should the concept prove successful. The sites would feature a range of boutique concepts, with membership prices ranging from AU$29 (US$22, €20, £15.50) per week.

A typical 10,000sq ft (939sq m) site would feature a gym space, sizeable yoga studio, a barre studio, a couple of free-form studios, plus an athleisure retail section predominantly stocking lululemon products.

Meanwhile, a wellness cafe stocking a wide range of healthy and organic foods, juices and smoothies would be open to the public, with many backing onto food courts where the sites are situated in a Westfield shopping mall.

“We want to bring all of the best bits of boutique fitness under one roof and create villages suited for wellness lifestyles,” de Leede told Health Club Management.

“Fit N Fast members have generally responded well to the changes and we’re expecting to attract a lot of new faces as well with this one-of-a-kind concept.”