ERE Studios manages to do the impossible: make sweat look sleek. With square panels of soft, diffused light and dimmable LEDs, this new fitness center, in the space between Griffintown and Old Montreal, eschews the fluorescents of typical gyms and corporate aesthetics of Equinox. Instead, Ivy Studio, local interior architects that were part of AN Interior’s Top 50 designers of 2025, puts its hospitality and retail experience to new use—and it’s a fit. The untraditional approach aligns ERE Studios with its clientele of young, elevated professionals.
The center is located on the ground floor of Cité du Multimédia, a 7-story office building. Ivy Studio embraces the site, exposing the concrete floors, metal ventilation ducts, and expansive windows. The industrial background sets the scene for steel and warm colors.
The reception area is a blend of steel, butter yellow, and blue, colors that reflect the center’s branding. Steel outfits the sculptural, rounded reception desk. It’s also used to clad soffits, frame the soft pink lockers, and as the legs on a custom U-shaped bench, topped with natural oak. A juice bar, finished in curved blue ceramic tiles, offers a refreshing stop at the back of the reception.
Beyond it, rounded walls make way for the locker rooms. Baby blue takes center stage here, completely covering the walls, lockers, and cubbies. It’s accented with marbled gray sinks, keeping up with the reception’s sleek yet warm language.
Three fitness studios make up ERE’s program: the Ride Room for spin classes, the Build Room for low-impact workouts and mat pilates; and the Align Room for reformer pilates. Ivy Studio designed each as distinct “cocoons.” Whereas communal spaces are bright, the studios follow dim, almost club-like atmospheres.
The Ride Room accommodates 40 bikes, underneath a color-changing LED system that synchronizes with music to create a highly energized, intense workout space. The Build Room is less intense but no less compelling. Warm, dim cove lighting perimeters the space setting a moody, brown tone. Mats line the floors facing a mirrored wall. The studio also offers infrared heat, via the walls and floors, for additional training.
On the other hand, the Align Room offers a well-lit environment. Housing 10 reformer machines, the black-walled studio is brightened by linear lights and softened by long, sheer curtains. Natural light enters the space from large windows. Like the other studios, the design conveys the type of workout offered by ERE: a curated, elevated approach to fitness.