The Basement Gym + Studio opens in Camden Town
May 29, 2025
Camdenist readers get 50% off their first month’s membership, too
In partnership with The Island
The Island is the new Reformer Pilates studio based in the heart of Kentish Town.
They offer popular transformative exercise classes using the latest machines to unlock your true potential through movement.
Tell us a bit about the origins of The Island starting in Hackney Wick and how your interest in Pilates began.
Sol (Founder): I came to Pilates through dance. After years of performing, my body started asking for a smarter way to stay strong and injury-free, so I swapped the stage for the reformer pilates.
When I moved to London I began teaching, fell in love with the craft, and—after a lot of 6 am classes and late-night planning sessions—took the plunge in 2022 to open our first studio in Hackney Wick, where I’ve lived for six years.
The area’s mix of artists, canalside cafés and start-ups felt like home from day one; the local crowd welcomed us, and the studio quickly became a little hub for neighbours, the sense of community is still the heartbeat of The Island.
How did Kentish Town become the destination for your next studio?
About 18 months after Hackney Wick launched, we started walking the length and breadth of London looking for neighbourhood number two—somewhere with the same independent spirit and a high-street energy. Kentish Town ticked every box: thriving local businesses, leafy backstreets, brilliant transport links and a real appetite for wellness.
Finding the right unit, though, was its own marathon. We spent nearly a year viewing spaces and sketching floor plans—until this spot on Kentish Town Road appeared. The light was perfect, the footprint let us lay out the reformers exactly as we imagined, and the landlord actually understood what we wanted to build. Opening week confirmed we’d chosen well: the Kentish Town community has been amazing from day one.
The Island operates in the space one home to the legendary Pro Perc, the drums specialists. How are your studios different from the usual Pilates and Reformer spaces elsewhere?
We keep everything deliberately minimal and pristine—high ceilings, huge windows, soft neutral tones, no clutter along with Premium Merrithew equipment. But the real difference is what you can’t photograph: the class-planning obsession that happens behind the scenes.
I spend hours working on having the right class, layering progressions and coaching our teachers so that every 50-minute block lands exactly where it should—challenging, safe, never repetitive and always fun. The room looks beautiful, but the programming is what makes people stay.
What do you tell people who are new to this kind of exercise?
Start where you are, not where Instagram tells you to be. Pilates isn’t about touching your toes or crunching for the perfect core; it’s about learning how your own body moves. We’ll guide you through the basics and keep the class small, so you’re never lost. Give it three consistent sessions and you’ll feel the difference.
What do you like most about the people who come to the studio?
They’re wonderfully local and wildly supportive—teachers, creatives, NHS staff, new mums, retirees, it really is an amazing community. We’re deep in a build-out mode for studio number three: Wood Wharf in Canary Wharf, opening summer of 2025. Expect more sunlight, more reformers and the same community-first spirit there, too.
If you enjoyed this interview, find more at Camdenist.
The Island is at 205 Kentish Town Rd, NW5 2JU
Camdenist readers get 50% off their first month’s membership, too
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