Concept project · Website + studio management system
End-to-end studio management for pilates and fitness — with its own website
Kinē · Reformer & Pilates Studio is a Primessio concept project: a four-language website for a pilates studio connected to a complete studio management system. Clients pick a class and a specific reformer on the room map, pay with a class pack, join the waitlist or cancel with a refund — and the studio runs its timetable, attendance and KPIs in a panel. The studio, people and data are fictional; the backend, processes and tests are the same as in our client work.
A Primessio showcase for the fitness industry: design, content in four languages, bookings, class packs, a free first class, notifications and a studio panel — with a PHP 8.3 and SQLite backend on ordinary web hosting, checked by automated tests with real clicks, including on the live site.
Primessio (ACTIVE IT) is a software house based in Warsaw: websites and online stores, custom software and IT systems, SEO and AI SEO, social media and content, branding and project management — for clients in Poland and the DACH region. Below is one of our projects.
Live site
A working demo at kine.primessio.com — the timetable, reformer map, bookings, client account and studio panel run on a real database with fictional people; the demo data refreshes daily. · Open the site in a new window ↗
Challenge
A reformer pilates studio sells a limited number of places: the room has 12 reformers and the tower 6 spots. Typical booking tools don’t show which reformer is free, get the waitlist wrong and don’t enforce the rules — how late you can cancel with a refund, who has already used the free class, how many bookings a partner card allows at once.
On top of that, the studio needs a website that brings in new clients from search, speaks Polish, German, English and Ukrainian, and runs on ordinary hosting — with no separate server and no booking-software subscription.
Solution
We built the website and the studio management system as one product. The timetable shows free places live, and in the booking flow the client picks a specific reformer on the room map. A booking reserves a credit from the class pack; when a class is full the client joins the waitlist and is promoted automatically if someone cancels at least 2 hours before the start. Cancelling up to 12 hours before returns the credit; later, it is lost.
The studio runs everything in the panel: a weekly timetable from templates, attendance, cancelling a class with a refund for everyone, balance corrections, pausing a pack and KPIs — occupancy, conversion from free classes, no-shows. Emails and reminders 24 hours before class go out through a queue with retries, and integrations receive signed webhooks.
Scope — what we delivered
Design
A “kinetic editorial” direction: Bricolage Grotesque typography, a room map of reformers in the hero, class video and levels shown as a number of springs.
Content PL · DE · EN · UK
Transcreation per market, localised page URLs and Cyrillic on the Ukrainian site (a separate typeface with the full character set).
Booking a specific reformer
A room map with live free places, a waitlist with automatic promotion and protection against the race for the last spot.
Class packs and free class
Single classes, packs of 5/10/20, an unlimited month, pausing for holidays; the first class is free once per person — checked by email and phone.
Client account
Bookings, balance, history, cancellation with refund information and a private iCal feed with a replaceable key.
Studio panel
Weekly timetable, attendance for instructors, class cancellation with refunds, clients, timetable templates and KPIs with an occupancy chart.
Notifications and integrations
An email queue with retries, reminders 24 h before class in four languages, HMAC-signed webhooks and a test payment page.
SEO / AEO
Pages for six class formats and a reformer pilates guide with the answer up front, FAQPage, hreflang in four languages and llms.txt.
Tests and deployment
Backend tests, tests with real clicks, a test of the package on an Apache server before upload and an automatic live check after every deployment.
In numbers
A concept project has no sales results — these are verifiable facts from the repository and from tests on the live site.
How we worked
Three stages, each with its own plan and review: backend first, then the website, finally the panel and deployment — each closed with tests before the next began.
Specification
The studio’s rules written down as rules: booking window, refunds, waitlist, free class, partner cards.
Backend
PHP 8.3 and SQLite without a framework: transactions that never sell one reformer twice, and tests for every rule.
Website
Astro with Preact islands, the timetable and booking flow, content in four languages, no repeated photos.
Panel and hardening
Studio panel, notifications, a security review and an independent code review with fixes covered by tests.
Deployment
Package tested on an Apache server, upload over FTPS and an automatic check of pages, API and access blocks on the live site.
Technology
A PHP 8.3 backend without a framework, with an SQLite database — it runs on ordinary shared hosting, with no separate server. Application code and data are blocked from the browser, and the system won’t start without its configuration file. The site itself is static (Astro), so it loads fast; small interactive islands fetch the live data.
- PHP 8.3
- SQLite
- PHPUnit
- Astro 7
- Preact
- TypeScript
- Lenis
- Scroll-driven animations
- iCal
- HMAC webhooks
- Schema.org
- hreflang
- Playwright
- PL · DE · EN · UK
Frequently asked questions
Is this a real studio’s website?
No. Kinē · Reformer & Pilates Studio is a Primessio concept project — the studio, instructors, prices and contact details are fictional, and payments run in test mode. The studio management system, panel and tests are real and the same as in our client projects.
Does the system need its own server?
No. The backend runs on PHP 8.3 with SQLite on ordinary shared hosting. Code and data are blocked from the browser, and notifications go out without a separate background process — optionally, a cron job in the hosting panel is enough.
How does the system stop one reformer being sold twice?
Every booking runs in a transaction with a database lock, and each spot has a unique index. A test starts four processes at once racing for the last free place — exactly one always wins, and the others get a clear message and a refreshed room map.
Can online payments and partner cards be connected?
Yes. The demo uses a test payment page and checks test partner-card numbers. In a real project we connect a payment provider and the card operator’s verification — the rules for packs and booking limits stay the same.
How does the studio panel work?
Instructors see the timetable and mark attendance; the front desk can also cancel classes with refunds, correct balances, pause packs, manage the timetable templates and see KPIs. In the demo you can sign in as an instructor or the front desk — real visitors’ data is hidden.
Does the site help bring in new clients from search?
Yes — each of the six formats has its own page with the answer up front, the class structure, who it suits and an FAQ, and a reformer pilates guide ties them into one topic. All in four languages, with structured data and llms.txt for AI assistants.
Related services and projects
Do you run a pilates, yoga or fitness studio?
We’ll design and build an end-to-end system for your studio — booking, class packs, a waitlist and a front-desk panel — together with the website, on your rules and on the hosting you already have.
Let’s talk