Early risers who want a structured strength class rather than a solo gym session before work. Anyone who cares about the building they train in as much as the training itself. Those wanting focused upper-body work with close coaching on form.

BLOK Clapton — A Tram Depot, Repurposed

Name: BLOK Clapton — A Tram Depot, Repurposed
Item: BLOK
Rating: 9.2
Author: James B. Stoney

Movement — BLOK

By James B. Stoney, Editor · 1 August 2026

Before BLOK Clapton was a gym, it was a derelict Victorian tram depot nobody wanted. The building still shapes what training there feels like.

BLOK Clapton — the converted Victorian tram depot interior, exposed brick, kettlebells and Lonsdale pads racked along the wall — Image: BLOK

The Building First

Ed Stanbury was looking for warehouse space for his construction firm.

The tram depot next door wasn't what he was looking for. Cast iron pillars, vaulted ceilings, tramlines still set into the floor. Derelict, cheap, unwanted.

He took it anyway. What to do with it came later.

From Depot to Studio

Stanbury, his wife Reema, and photographer Max Oppenheim opened BLOK's first site here in 2017. The building's bones stayed largely as found. Brick exposed. Ceiling vaulted. Ironwork left visible rather than boxed in.

Studio 1 carries this furthest. Training equipment hangs from cantilevered steel beams rather than a false ceiling built to hide the original structure. The room looks like what it is — repurposed, not redesigned from nothing.

BLOK Clapton boxing hall — Lonsdale bags hanging from the vaulted tram depot roof beams above a ring — Image: BLOK

BLOKSTRENGTH, Upper Body, 6:30am

Compound lifting, organised into structured sets — barbells, dumbbells, bodyweight work, built around the major upper-body muscle groups rather than left to whatever equipment happens to be free.

At 6:30am the room is cold enough that brick and concrete hold it. The first sets feel it more than the later ones do.

Rest periods are tight and timed rather than improvised. Form is watched closely — the instructor corrects rather than just counts reps. There's very little wasted movement in the class, which is the difference between a demanding session and an exhausting one.

By the end, the fatigue is specific rather than general. Shoulders, chest, back — the parts of the session that were actually worked, rather than a vague full-body tiredness that could have come from anywhere.

BLOK Clapton reformer studio — rows of reformers under warm lighting in the converted depot — Image: BLOK

What the Building Adds

A converted industrial space does something a purpose-built studio can't fake. Height in the ceiling changes how a room sounds. Cold brick changes how it feels at half six in the morning, before the day has warmed anything up.

BLOK Clapton also carries a small gallery space near reception — a sculpture by Arran Gregory, rotating light installations — and a café serving bone broth rather than the standard smoothie menu. None of it reads as decoration added afterwards. It's the same instinct that kept the tramlines in the floor.

BLOK Clapton contrast therapy — dark tiled plunge pools lit by blue neon — Image: BLOK

Wider Context

BLOK's other site, in Shoreditch, runs the same programming in a newer-built space. The training is comparable. The atmosphere isn't.

Clapton has the history. A building nobody wanted, kept largely as it was found, now holding barbells where trams once ran. That's not something a new-build studio can replicate, however good the lighting design.

Why It Earns Its Place

Because the room does half the work. Structure in the class, structure in the building holding it — cast iron, vaulted brick, a session that starts cold and ends specific.

Turning up at 6:30am to train inside a repurposed tram depot doesn't feel like a compromise before the working day starts. It feels like the better version of the thing you were going to do anyway.

Related reading: BLOK — Strength as Practice on the wider programme across both sites, and BXR, Marylebone for another London studio built around structured coaching.

Vitae Lifestyle Scorecard

Building & setting9.5 / 10
Class structure9.1 / 10
Atmosphere9.3 / 10
Overall experience9.0 / 10

Overall9.2 / 10

Who it's for

Early risers who want a structured strength class rather than a solo gym session before work.
Anyone who cares about the building they train in as much as the training itself.
Those wanting focused upper-body work with close coaching on form.

Questions

What is the BLOKSTRENGTH class at BLOK Clapton?

A compound strength class organised into structured sets — barbells, dumbbells, and bodyweight movements. Sessions are often split by muscle group, with upper body a regular focus. Rest periods are tight and timed, with close attention paid to form throughout.

What building is BLOK Clapton in?

A converted Victorian tram depot on Upper Clapton Road, found by founder Ed Stanbury while searching for separate warehouse space. Original features — vaulted ceilings, cast iron pillars, exposed brick, tramlines in the floor — were retained rather than covered over.

How is BLOK Clapton different from the Shoreditch studio?

The programming and coaching are comparable across both sites. The building isn't. Clapton occupies the original 2017 tram depot site; Shoreditch, opened in 2018, is a newer-built space with the same design language but without the same industrial history.

When did BLOK Clapton open?

2017, as BLOK's first site, founded by Ed Stanbury, Reema Stanbury and Max Oppenheim.

Is BLOKSTRENGTH suitable for beginners?

Instruction is close and hands-on, with the instructor correcting form throughout, though the pace and structure suit someone wanting a genuinely demanding session rather than a gentle introduction.

This article appears in Edit No. 25 — London at 7am