Get in shape: CSMM develops workplace design for the FitTech startup Freeletics

Munich, 1 February 2022 – Architecture and consulting firm CSMM has developed a cutting-edge corporate design for the Munich-based FitTech startup Freeletics. Taking up almost the entire M4 building in the up-and-coming “Macherei” complex, the design brings the company’s new work strategy to life: 6,500 square metres of indoor and outdoor sprint tracks, workout spaces, a communal kitchen and a flexible open plan workplace that embody the Freeletics lifestyle. 

With 53 million users in more than 160 countries, Freeletics is one of today’s leading suppliers of AI-based fitness and lifestyle coaching. The Freeletics App is not only the number one fitness app in Europe; it also boasts the most advanced AI technology in the industry. According to Daniela Labus, the start-up’s Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), the office that opened late 2021 is designed “to give the team brand new opportunities to live the Freeletics corporate culture.” The start-up chose CSMM’s Munich office to design its new headquarters: “To succeed in translating our company dynamic into a three-dimensional space and create a vibrant, vital workplace that really captures our corporate culture, we needed the right design partner,” Labus recalls.

Working closely with the clients, CSMM came up with a new visionary workplace concept that combines rooms for collaboration and contemplation, spaces for serendipity and social interaction as well as communal areas where the team can hold major presentations or work out. “Challenging and inspiring each member of our team to become the best version of themselves mentally as well as physically – that has been our vision since we founded Freeletics in 2013,” Labus says. “Every one of us lives this brand mindset. When you have the right spaces for agile workflows, it can really unleash inspiration and productivity. Fitness is not only our core business; in this new design, CSMM has found a playful way to make it an integral part of our workday as well.”

The CSMM team designed a massive open-plan space extending over four floors that culminates in a 360-square-metre roof terrace. Staff often arrive as early as 7 a.m. for a workout: In addition to the 35-metre indoor running track, the design features a 25-metre track outside on the 6th-floor terrace as well as a calisthenics gym. “In our discussions with the team, it quickly became clear that the incredible team spirit is what drives Freeletics,” Kerstin Little, project manager at CSMM explains. “That’s why we designed a huge kitchen for everyone to eat breakfast and lunch together. The kitchen is the building’s true social hub, where staff can experience the corporate culture first-hand.”