Living Shangri-La hotel and condominiums has been one of the most talked about projects this past year on UrbanToronto. Expected to be completed later this year, its recognizable silhouette is already being made known on Toronto's growing skyline, while its street-level presence is the centre of some heated debate. Developer Westbank broke into the Toronto market with this project, bringing the Hong Kong-based hotel chain to the city, along with some new ideas as to how to approach the traditional tower-podium architectural style.

Living Shangri-La base as seen from Queen and University, image by urbandreamer

Designed by James Cheng along with Hariri Pontarini Architects, Shangri-La's podium can be difficult to dissect —rather than placing a three- to five-storey slab podium on the site, the architect splintered the base, creating three distinct volumes. The northeast corner facing onto University Avenue is a transparent crystalline form, which will be home to the eagerly-anticipated Momofuku restaurant by NYC-based chef David Chang.

Future home of Momofuku restaurant, image by urbandreamer

The southeast corner at University and Adelaide is more traditional in form, with uniqueness coming from its dramatic angle away from the tower, presenting a strong glass façade presence towards Adelaide.

Northwest corner of University and Adelaide, image by urbandreamer

The southwest corner of the site is where the debate begins. Faced with the preservation of the circa-1829 Bishop's Block, Westbank incorporated the building into the podium. Extensive restoration is wrapping up, and the photo below shows the beautiful job done so far. As of UrbanToronto's site tour last fall no word had been released as to what retail or restaurant may fill the space.

Bishop's Block with Shangri-La tower in the background, image by urbandreamer

While it is more than easy to critique that which we are not familiar with, we here in Toronto should not be so quick to derive negative opinions about new built forms, especially before they have been completed. Toronto contains dozens of repetitive tower and podium glass condominiums, and the introduction of a new urban form should be applauded. We here at UrbanToronto can't wait to see the final touches applied over the coming year, and look forward to this noteworthy addition to University Avenue.