Pilates instructor 'excited' to relaunch popular studio in Cookham

'Excitement' is mounting for a new Pilates studio being relaunched under new management in Cookham next week.

The owners of Studio at Drummond in Gardner Road had announced its closure at the end of last year much to the dismay of its longstanding members.

In a ‘quick turnaround’, Pilates instructor Corinne Hutchinson, 43, decided to take over, rebrand and relaunch the studio in January.

My Pilates House is a new reformer Pilates studio based in a ‘beautiful’ converted barn in Choke Lane, five minutes from the original Switchback Office Park site.

The new space will open to the public on January 13 and features 10 new Merrithew reformer machines with towers.

Corinne said the response to her takeover was met with ‘lots of excitement’, adding: “It's been very receptive and there's lots of interest around it.

“It's been really exciting because it's the next step in my career.”

Originally from a marketing background, Corinne’s journey with Pilates started while recovering from a herniated disc in her back.

“I trained when I was suffering and used Pilates to overcome that injury so I've helped a lot of people over the years [with] my own reformers,” she told the Advertiser.

Corinne switched careers in 2016, looking for ‘something a little bit different’, and said: “I always liked fitness, and I like helping people and so it was a good transition.”

She trained and worked in a Windsor studio before launching her own business – Coz Pilates – during the pandemic offering online mat classes and one-to-one sessions in Hurley.

“Reformer Pilates is an up-and-coming industry that’s building because it's such an amazing piece of equipment for people. It's helpful for everybody [and] it's becoming very popular,” she said.

Corinne was teaching Saturday classes at Studio at Drummond and believed the ‘next step’ for her business was to have a dedicated studio providing both mat and reformer Pilates.

“It all happened very quickly because they decided to shut, and it had to happen for January," she said.

“It's been a very, very quick turnaround in finding a property, getting all the reformer beds but it's all come together. We're getting there.

“The members at the Drummond are happy it's not shutting. Existing members don't mind – they want their Pilates so it's about getting something ready for their classes.

“We plan to add more classes once we get going. We've got 30 classes a week to start.”

My Pilates House will be open daily, and the nine-person team will run classes using reformer equipment based on Pilates principles.

“We are very hot on adaptations and making sure individuals are given modifications in their classes," added Corinne.

"Reformer Pilates is open to everyone. We are happy to discuss individuals' situations before they commit to classes but is great for fit and athletic individuals as well as people recovering from injury, pre/post-op with no age limit attached.

"Joseph Pilates said many years ago, we are only as old as our spines.”

Visit mypilateshouse.co.uk for details.