The Charlevoix region of Quebec is known for its breathtaking scenery: the Laurentian Mountains, the St. Lawrence River, even fjords. When Station Blü, a Nordic-style spa that encourages a sauna or steam room session immediately followed by a dip in icy water, opened last June in Saint-Tite-des-Caps, it was the perfect backdrop.

“Station Blü was a plan for my retirement, [but] I realized it a little bit sooner,” jokes owner Martin Gladu, a former regional marketing director of an insurance company who developed the concept for this tranquil wellness center (he has eight partners). “It is now a lifestyle.”

Given the surroundings, Alex Blouin of Montreal-based Blouin Tardif Architecture-Environnement says his design scheme for Station Blü was simple: “To create a spa complex in contact with nature yet using a formal vocabulary-architecture-that reflects a contemporary approach.”

The spa is comprised of a trio of buildings (in January fire destroyed one of them, and Blouin is in the midst of resurrecting it with the same materials and specs; the entire property is slated to re-open in mid-May) “articulated around a public space with pools. The buildings shape, and openings magnify, the surrounding nature by framing views-of the river, forest, mountains, cliff,” Blouin explains. Terraces and patios essentially “extend the rooms outdoors.”

Throughout the property, Blouin abides by a clean, muted palette that blends in with the environment. Buildings are sheathed in dark wood, a metal roof references the area’s old farm structures, and black-painted aluminum mullions frame windows, essentially disappearing into the wood clad background. Inside, a steam room covered in bright tiles adds a rare pop of color.

“We planned the project as a series of promenades, in and out and through the buildings,” notes Blouin. “We had to emphasize nature. The show is the environment; not the buildings.”