YYoga studio coming to Telus Garden in downtown Vancouver

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Goertz noted that the Telus Garden complex will include a 53-storey residential tower and a 24-storey office building in the block bounded by Robson, Seymour, West Georgia, and Richards streets. The developer is Westbank, which built the Shangri-La Vancouver, the Woodward's complex, and the Fairmont Pacific Rim.

“The office tower residents are going to use the space to keep fit and productive at work,” Goertz said. “And of course, the residents of the condos at Telus Garden are going to have unlimited access to YYoga. I’m really excited about all the possibilities and potential for both the office [occupants] and the residents.”

McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, said that he believes wellness centres in new buildings will soon become the norm in the development industry.

“Gone will be the days of the amenity gyms that no one uses or the pools that no one uses,” he declared. “We’re here to create community centres.”

He also said that the existence of YYoga at Telus Garden “changes the energy of the building”. To emphasize this point, McBride noted that people will be able take a break from their work, head down to the studio, and grab a tea or possibly even a healthy dessert created by OrganicLives, which is a Vancouver-based retailer and distributor of natural foods.

“That change will ripple out and will have a profound effect on a lot of future developments,” McBride predicted.

He invited the founder and CEO of OrganicLives, Preet Marwaha, to the announcement to discuss the origins of his company.

“We’re an organization that’s really dedicated and committed to supporting organic, sustainable, fairly traded food that’s good for the body and good for the planet,” Marwaha said.

Later, Marwaha added, “My anticipation is as YYoga grows in bigger and bigger centres, we’ll have a bigger and bigger presence inside of each centre.”

Following the announcement, McBride conducted a tour of his new Kitsilano facility, which he said is attracting 14,000 visits per week.

Terry McBride leads a tour of YYoga in Kitsilano.

It includes two yoga rooms, an infrared sauna, showers and changeroom facilities, a mat and towel service, and a lounge serving up treats from OrganicLives. In addition, there's an outdoor second-floor patio with a capacity for 60 people.

"We felt that a patio was more coded for Kitsilano than maybe adding a couple of wellness rooms," McBride said.

He explained that within the Kitsilano YYoga, there's a social area and a quiet area, which are separated by glass doors.

"We found out early, in the creation of our studios, that the most social spot ended up being the infrared sauna," he said with a smile. "That makes no sense at all. You might nod at someone or say hi to someone in a classroom. For whatever reason, the minute you walk into an infrared sauna, it's like verbal diarrhea."

Because infrared saunas build a sense of community, McBride said that he decided to create the biggest one possible in the Kitsilano facility.

"It's a great way to boost your energy, especially if you feel a cold coming on," he stated.

On the quiet side of the facility, McBride noted that there's a sealed heat room with a bamboo floor and an "incredible HVAC system". He pointed out that bamboo goes from being a seed to a tree within seven years, which means it's an extremely renewable wood product.