Fitness News

By Helen Andrews

www.healthclubmanagement.co.uk

Tim Gurner, Australian developer and founder of Gurner Group, is expanding the Saint Haven wellness concept across Australia, with plans for its first locations in the UAE (in Dubai) and the US by the end of this year.

Gurner Group aims to open 20-30 sites globally under its various brands by 2030.

Saint Haven private members clubs are designed to be immersive wellness locations that act as second homes, elevating health and providing wellness as well as social connection.

Each offers a mixture of personal training and group fitness, meditation, breathwork, food and nutrition, health check-ups, massage, ancient baths, recovery facilities and longevity treatments.

The concept also offers tech-led preventative wellness and recovery options. These include hyperbaric oxygen chambers, cryotherapy suites, steam rooms, IV infusions, and red-light beds.

The sites usually also feature a bathhouse with various pools, such as magnesium and cold plunge.

There is typically a wholefoods restaurant, cafe and business lounge with a variety of coworking spaces.

The company is building on the success of its Saint Haven luxury membership club locations in Melbourne with two new locations being developed in Sydney – a flagship club in Bondi Beach and a 3,000sq m site for a second club in a boutique commercial building in North Sydney.

The Bondi Beach location is due to open in Q2 2026 and is expected to reach capacity before opening due to having a limited number of memberships – this figure has not yet been confirmed but it’s estimated to be around 400.

“Since launching our first Saint Haven in 2023, we’ve had thousands of Sydney-based individuals join the waitlist, eager to experience something that doesn’t yet exist in their city,” says Gurner.

“Bondi is a global icon of health and wellness – and Saint Haven will take that to another level,” he added. “This will be unlike anything Sydney has ever seen.”

Gurner says there are a substantial membership waiting lists in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. He has plans for clubs on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

The existing clubs in Melbourne are in South Yarra, Toorak and Collingwood. Collingwood was the first location, which opened in 2023.

Saint

There is also a sister private wellness members club called Saint in St Kilda. This is a concept aimed at over-25s that will be less performance-driven and more focused on social wellness.

Saint is meant to be a more cost-effective option, with memberships starting at AUS$89 (US$58, €50, £42) a week, compared to Saint Haven memberships – which start at AUS$179 (US$116, €100, £85) a week and can exceed AU$40,000 (US$26,000, €22,000, £19,000) a year.

Saint Black

Gurner Group and its real estate partner Qualitas will open a build-to-rent development in south Melbourne called Madison Grand in July, with a range of studio and one- and two-bedroom apartments across 40 levels. Saint Black is the name of this scheme’s 2,500sq m private social club.

Spread over three levels, the space is described as a ‘sanctuary of contrasts’ with an outdoor rooftop pool, wood-barrel saunas, more than 200 weekly classes in yoga, Pilates, strength, meditation and breathwork.

Elysian Fields

Last year Gurner Group announced plans for a luxury wellness hub in Melbourne called Elysian Fields on the city’s waterfront to become a haven for residents to experience anti-ageing treatments.

It will have a facility called the Elysian Reverse-Ageing Medical Clinic offering personalised health plans and treatments using advanced medical diagnostics, cryotherapy, MRIs and DEXA scans.