Fondaco Gym

Rainwater runs down the iron-ribbed glass roof into long gutters, then drops through iron spouts into the dark basin of the old covered dock. Moored at each corner by tarred ropes to iron rings, a broad timber platform floats at the centre of the water and serves as the battle floor. Brick walls run the full length of the shed, and timber benches climb both of them in steep steps toward the glazing. Rails on the eastern stand are dented and rubbed bright at hand height, worn far harder than the western side, as if beaten on for years. Gas lamps on brackets warm the corners with yellow light, while grey daylight falls through the long panes and lies flat on the water. Chained shut, the old dock gates close off the far end, and a thin seam of river light leaks under them across the basin. Wet brick, river mud and tar thicken the air, and rings spread from every spout to break against the platform's planks.