Simone Ferkul Projects - Solis Movement Expands East - A Sun-Washed Sanctuary for Strength and Motion

2026-03-11

In Toronto’s East End, Solis Movement has opened a new studio, offering a refined setting for high-intensity hot yoga and Reformer Pilates. Designed by boutique firm Simone Ferkul Projects, the space explores a quiet tension between softness and strength, using material, light, and form to guide the body through the experience of movement. The design balances intensity with calm, creating a place where discipline and restoration coexist.

Reception and lounge: a calm arrival

From the moment one steps inside, the reception and communal lounge create a gentle contrast to the city outside. A skylight carved into the ceiling draws daylight deep into the interior, establishing an immediate sense of stillness. Softly curved ceiling forms and diffused lighting hover above, shaping an atmosphere that is calm, yet energized. A restrained palette of warm, sun-washed neutrals carries throughout the studio, lending the interiors a sense of continuity and ease. The monolithic reception desk anchors the open lobby, while softly illuminated niches integrated into the custom millwork blur the lines between storage, retail, and circulation. Nearby, a printed quartz water-refilling station marks the simple, essential ritual of hydration, emphasizing the body’s renewal.

Reformer Pilates studio: clarity in motion

The Reformer Pilates studio opens as a light-filled volume, framed by expansive perimeter windows that bring daylight deep into the space. Sculpted ceiling details and warm, sun-washed finishes echo the material palette of the rest of the studio, supporting focus, precision, and fluid movement. Every element is designed to enhance concentration, while maintaining a sense of openness and calm.

Sun Room: intensity and immersion

Designed for high-intensity practice, the hot yoga studio - referred to as the Sun Room - integrates infrared heating panels within a carefully articulated ceiling. Layered lighting enhances the sensory experience, enveloping the space in warmth, while maintaining a controlled, immersive environment. The design supports both performance and restoration, allowing practitioners to move through intensity with focus and ease.

Change rooms: transition and pause

The change rooms continue the studio’s considered approach to wellness. Soft lighting, warm materials, and integrated millwork create a spa-like atmosphere that encourages transition and pause. Thoughtfully detailed vanities, storage, and finishes reinforce privacy and comfort, allowing moments of preparation or recovery to feel restorative and grounding.

A holistic approach to wellness experiences

Throughout the Solis East Toronto, Simone Ferkul Projects treats material, light, and form as a continuum, shaping how the body moves through and experiences space. The result is a studio that feels both grounded and elevated - a place where calm and discipline coexist, supporting wellness in every detail.

About Simone Ferkul Projects

Based in Toronto, Simone Ferkul leads a multidisciplinary practice that spans various scales and disciplines, from intricate objects to expansive spaces. Her work is characterized by a commitment to celebrating materiality, form, function, and meticulous attention to detail.

Simone Ferkul Projects embodies a philosophy rooted in creativity, innovation, and a deep appreciation for the interaction between design and human experience. Driven by a passion for making and experimenting, the studio explores the intersections of artistry and practicality, crafting environments and objects that inspire delight and meaningful engagement. Each project is approached with a unique sensitivity to the narrative it tells, ensuring that design not only enhances functionality, but also resonates with personal and collective stories.

Simone Ferkul sees design as a powerful tool for storytelling, believing that every space and object has the potential to convey identity, history, and emotion. This belief is at the heart of her practice, where each creation is an opportunity to create lasting impressions that enrich the human experience through thoughtful and purposeful design. For Simone Ferkul Projects, innovation and creativity are not just aspirations, but guiding principles that drive the exploration of new possibilities and the creation of environments that inspire and delight.

Photo credit: Riley Snelling