Jaybird’s Second Vancouver Studio Solidifies Its Place as a Leader in Luxury Fitness
Designed by Futurestudio, the latest location is set to open in June.
What does it mean to be out of your mind?
In Jaybird’s case, there’s no negative connotation. Quite the contrary—it’s something to strive for.
The luxury fitness studio debuted in Vancouver’s Yaletown in 2019, the brainchild of co-founders Ariel Swan and Barbie Bent. In the six years since, it has grown into a multilocation business loved as much for its aesthetic as for its innovative movement classes.
“We really wanted to create a space that lived at the intersection between mindfulness and fitness,” Swan says. “The idea behind Jaybird is to get you out of your head and get you into your body, and to use movement as a tool for personal growth.”
That shows up in a few key ways. First of all, the actual workout space bucks tradition by not having any mirrors on the walls. The idea is to take away the element of competition usually found in fitness studios, because attendees can’t watch their own reflections—or others’.
“I think that we are sold this idea that it’s an upward trajectory always, and that’s just not true—life is made of peaks and valleys, and Jaybird really wants to meet you where you’re at every day when you come to the mat,” Swan says. “By taking away the mirrors, you’re taking away this, like, outside competition with yourself or judgement with yourself. It allows you to care less about what you look like and more about how the movements feel in the body. We really want it to feel good rather than necessarily look good.”
Jaybird Yorkville
Adding to that is the fact that the studio is dimly lit, with the typical fluorescent gym lighting giving way to a darkened room dotted with warmly glowing candles. It creates an instant sense of calm and further drives home the idea that a Jaybird class isn’t about sizing up the person next to you—it’s about feeling the sensation of your body in motion.
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“When you take one of your senses away, all the rest of your senses get heightened,” Swan explains. “Darkness really allows us to let go of judgement—let go of comparison—to feel deeper in our body.”
The workout space is also heated by an infrared sauna, which offers health benefits including detoxification, increased mobility, joint support, and inflammation relief. It makes Jaybird’s mat-based classes—which range from flow yoga to Pilates that targets the glutes—more challenging, which in turn helps attendees stay mindful and present.
It’s perhaps no wonder, then, that Jaybird’s Yaletown location was pretty much an instant hit, inspiring its founders to set their sights on Toronto for a second—and third—studio.
“Barbie and I felt that what Jaybird was doing was very unique—this idea of making mindfulness accessible, authentic, and grounded in this movement practice,” says Swan. “So we were like, ‘If we’re going to grow—if we want to know if this is actually going to be successful—we need to go to the biggest market in Canada.”
Jaybird Yorkville
Jaybird Queen West opened in 2022, while Yorkville launched in 2023. The Yorkville location was the testing ground for an expanded concept, which sees the classic darkened, heated Jaybird studio paired with a separate space for Reformer Pilates (and that room does have mirrors, which can be very helpful with balance on the Reformer machines). That duo concept is now being introduced in Vancouver for the first time at Jaybird’s fourth location, which is set to open on Kingsway in June of this year.
“We’ve been looking actively in Vancouver since our first location,” Swan says. “We really knew that there was a market for another location here. We’re just very specific and picky about our spaces, and we hadn’t found one that was suitable until this.”
Jaybird Kingsway was designed by Futurestudio, which was also responsible for the Yorkville location (the first Vancouver spot was by Ste Marie). Attendees can expect the same level of attention to detail and upscale vibe Jaybird has become known for: loud music, a beautiful scent pumping through the lobby, curved architectural silhouettes, and moody candlelight.
Aside from Kingsway, Jaybird has plans to open a location in New York in 2026. When asked how she and her co-founder know when the time is right to expand, Swan answers simply. “To be honest, I don’t think you ever truly know that you are ready,” she reflects. “I think at the end of the day, you just have to trust the process—trust and be courageous.”
