Sanctuary Club Penarth, described by its founders as “Penarth’s first luxury private wellness club”, is due to open on Ludlow Lane opposite Hamptons, with an official launch planned for autumn 2026.
The club is being created by local couple Cora and James Darlington, who together have more than 55 years’ experience in the wellbeing and coaching sector. Cora, 51, specialises in women’s wellness including menopause support, burnout and conscious leadership in corporate settings while James focuses on male longevity and long-term health.
Much of their work to date has been delivered online and internationally, and they say Sanctuary is the physical “culmination” of years spent running community-focused programmes.
Penarth was a deliberate choice for the pair, who live locally and have a teenage daughter at school in the town. Cora says they want the club to contribute meaningfully to the community, and that their family’s existing links through local activities helped shape the decision to base the project in Penarth rather than elsewhere.
Sanctuary Club Penarth is pitched as “not another gym” and “not another wellness trend”, but as a place where members can “restore what the world takes from you” and reconnect with their bodies, each other and what matters to them.
Central to the design is a biophilic approach an architectural philosophy that prioritises natural materials, planting and sensory textures to reconnect people with nature and support mental wellbeing. The club interior is planned around greenery to improve air quality, alongside surfaces, shapes and zones that echo open and enclosed spaces found outdoors.
Inside, the club will feature hydrotherapy and heat‑and‑cold contrast facilities designed to encourage ritualised, daily self‑care rather than one‑off spa visits.
Along with a hydrotherapy Jacuzzi, bespoke cedar sauna and steam room, cold plunge therapy, a Himalayan salt cave and hyperbaric oxygen treatment, all arranged within a calm, earth‑toned environment. Cora describes the sauna, cold plunge and other experiences as tools to bring people “back into being present with themselves” as an antidote to modern stress.
Membership is capped at 180 and run on a private‑members‑club model, with three tiers rather than pay‑as‑you‑go sessions.
The founders say this limit is intentional to preserve an intimate atmosphere and foster a sense of belonging, focusing on “back to basics” human connections rather than a high‑volume commercial gym environment.
Alongside the core facilities, the club will host menopause and male longevity coaching, monthly clinics, half‑day retreats and themed workshops on topics such as emotional literacy, stress management and conscious leadership. A small on‑site podcast studio will be used to record conversations with visiting experts on emerging wellness technologies and modalities, aiming to position Penarth as a hub for forward‑thinking health and wellbeing.
Sanctuary also plans to collaborate with other local businesses providing complementary services it does not offer in‑house, creating a network of referrals and co‑created events. Cora says this emphasis on partnership is central to their vision of “community co‑creation and collaboration”, with the club acting as a connector rather than a closed bubble.
For the founders, Sanctuary’s strapline – “Restore. Reconnect. Return. For a whole life, well lived” – sums up their ambition for the space.
They hope the club will become a second home for members looking beyond fitness towards long-term physical, emotional and social wellbeing, rooted firmly in the Penarth community they call home.
Further details : Instagram – @sanctuarypenarth,
