Pura Vida, a new fitness facility and spa, comes to Cherry Creek providing the ultimate in luxury in the old Tattered Cover space.

J Madden is palpitating with pre-opening enthusiasm, his smile stretching from ear to ear as his small, limbered frame bounds up the stairs, leaving me in the dust of construction chaos, gasping for air.

"I can promise you that you won't see anything else like this in Denver," he says, reaching the top and gesturing toward the sweeping, curtained glass walls of windows, their panes flooded by late afternoon sunlight.

Madden, managing partner and founder of Pura Vida, the touted new fitness emporium and full-service spa in coveted NorthCreek, is embarking on a mega-project that he says will "start a brand new culture" for Denver spa-goers and fitness gurus.

Most recently home to the Tattered Cover Book Store, which relocated to East Colfax Avenue in 2006, the dramatically redesigned, 30,000-square-foot, four-story space, with its exotic textiles, high ceilings, natural sunlight, kaleidoscopic artwork, eco-friendly practices and eye-spanning views of the Rocky Mountains and tree-topped city skylines, reflects Cherry Creek's surge of cosmopolitan renovations.

To be sure, Pura Vida and Nectar (the fourth-level spa), both of which opened in April, are privileged playgrounds for Cherry Creek's affluent – and often demanding – socialites and athletes, offering a tony sanctuary that echo the club's mantra to "embody the good life."

All of this comes as no surprise, considering the prolific tag team of well-known players responsible for the sweeping metamorphosis of beloved bookstore to hard-body boulevard.

David Sturm, a Denver real estate maverick known for his visionary developments, and Semple Brown Design, the innovative interior design and architectural firm behind the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, The Corner Office, Steuben's and the Lowenstein Retail Development, collaborated on the project. It was Sturm's foresight to transform the concrete building into a glass menagerie. "We capitalized on all the strengths that we inherited," acknowledges Madden, adding that Sturm "brought the building back to a structural skeleton and tore out the inside" before rebuilding from the ground up. "We've now got a building with fun dimensions, lots of different shapes and geometries and movement, intrigue and a fresh, clean and new feel."

He's not kidding. While club members and spa visitors can enter the reception area through the covered, pedestrian level walkway at First and Milwaukee, the second-floor entrance, on the third deck of the Fillmore parking garage, really tells the story of a club and spa that strives to be design-forward. Walk inside and you're greeted by a floor-to-ceiling feng shui waterfall, pillow-tiled in stark white. Meander down the hallway into the unusually large lobby area and the golden embers of a glass fireplace roar under a contemporary chandelier. Hallways are comfortably wide, giving you the ease and flow of space. Upscale fitness wear, designed by local trendsetter, Evey K, shares space with an honor bar stocked with chilled, filtered water, coffee, tea, fruit and granola bars.

Locker rooms are state-of-the-art, trumpeting lofty ceilings of varying slopes, walnut lockers, measuring 60 inches tall and 15 inches wide – large enough to hang a business suit. Women's locker rooms are bedecked with upholstered benches, nine showers glassed with opaque panels, the hue of aqua, a long make-up counter enhanced by streams of natural sunlight, a flat-screen television lounge and oversized stainless steel whirlpool.

The men's locker rooms, not surprisingly, aren't quite as posh as their female counterparts, but the grooming area is large, showers are tiled in warm espresso and again, the pervading sunlight does wonders for your body, mind and soul.

All locker rooms feature oversized showerheads, speckled stone countertops, whirlpools and steam rooms, lounging areas, fresh fruits, bottled water and healthy snacks.

Don't expect walls tacked with the ubiquitous body builder prints. Instead, Madden enlisted the talent of local artist Lynn Heitler, whose bold designs, jolted with vivid color schemes, are mounted internally within the glass panes surrounding the locker rooms.

There are 34 pieces of art, of varying sizes, strewn throughout the four-tiered space, including works from the William Havu, Ron Trujillo, Plus and the Robischon galleries, all of which are local. "We wanted to use as much local art as possible as part of our unique design intent," says Madden.

Also unique to Pura Vida are the fitness areas, which include a group exercise studio sporting a wooden ceiling and stained maple wood floors, a mirrored weight room, a group cycling studio, climate-controlled yoga studio, Pilates studio and a Kinesis studio. All cardio equipment has an iPod deck, flat-panel television and are wired for HDTV.

A fitness concierge is available to "help members with adjusting equipment, spotting and anything they else they need," says Madden, who stresses that while the design aspects of Pura Vida are "stunning," his main goal is to "exceed customer expectations by providing a classroom model of high service," which may to go explain why there's also an on-site men and women's shoeshine area and a commitment on the part of Madden himself to keep his glass door and the doors of his staff, wide open. "I don't want there to be any boundaries between staff and members," he says.

"If you do it right," reasons Madden, "you keep your audience." He pauses, before adding, "There is no substitute for being smart and we plan on being smart."

Membership:
Single: $700 initiation fee; $150 monthly dues
Dual: $1,000 initiation fee; $225 monthly dues

Guest fees:
$30 – and only when accompanied by a member

Nectar Spa services:
Massages, facials, manicures and pedicures, body scrubs and wraps
Price range: from $15 for a lip or chin and waxing to $250 for a three-hour spa package.

Pura Vida
2955 E. First Ave. | 303.321.7872
www.puravidaclub.com