Shangri-La Toronto
| Shangri-La Toronto | |
|---|---|
 Shangri-La Toronto under construction in June 2011 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Opened |
| Type | Hotel, Condominium, Retail |
| Location | 180 University Avenue Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Coordinates | 43°38′56″N 79°23′10″W / 43.649°N 79.386°WCoordinates: 43°38′56″N 79°23′10″W / 43.649°N 79.386°W |
| Construction started | February 2008 |
| Estimated completion |
Topping out: April 2012 Completion: July 2012 |
| Opening | October 2012 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 214 m (702 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 65 |
| Floor area | 81,129 m2 (873,270 sq ft) |
| Lifts/elevators | 6 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | James Cheng |
| Developer | Westbank Projects Corp. |
| Other information | |
| Number of units | 334 |
Shangri-La Toronto is a hotel and condominium tower in downtown Toronto, Canada. It was designed by Vancouver based architect James Cheng and was built by Westbank Projects Corp. This is the same team that was responsible for building the 201m Living Shangri-La, the tallest building in Vancouver as well as a number of other structures in that city. Shangri-La Toronto is 214 meters tall, and is one of the ten tallest buildings in Toronto. The hotel component is run by Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and is planned to have 202 guest rooms. The condominium portion occupies the upper floors of the building and consist of 353 units. Excavation of the site started in 2008, and work on the parking garage began in early 2009.
The Toronto Shangri-La is located on University Avenue and Adelaide Street, in an area just west of the Financial District that has seen rapid growth in recent years. The site was previously home to a number of smaller structures, most notable the historic Bishop's Block. The Bishop's Block was built in the 1830s by John Bishop who built a series of Georgian row houses on the site and developed it as a high end residential district. One of the first residents was author Anna Brownell Jameson.
Most of the buildings were eventually torn down and replaced with a large parking lot. The one exception a structure that served as one of the city's first hotels and then as a pub for many decades. It too was abandoned for several decades, but as a heritage structure was not torn down. This building was disassembled for the construction of Shangri-La, but the developers have pledged to rebuild and restore the Bishop's Block as part of the project. Prior to excavation the site was the subject to several months of archaeological exploration, and many artifacts from the city's early history were found. Shangri-La was the second deepest excavation for a building in Canada's history at 102 ft (31 m), with only Scotia Plaza being deeper. This was done to create an 8 level below grade parking garage.
On January 23, 2013 a pane of glass from an upper floor fell and resulted in the partial closure of streets nearby.[1]
References
Media related to Shangri-La Toronto at Wikimedia Commons
- Gray Jeff, "Hotel-condo complex gets committee nod" The Globe and Mail
- Hume, Christopher. "Brief window into the past: Archeologists have 4 months to excavate a former upscale neighbourhood before another is built." Aug 06, 2007.
- The deepest excavation in the City of Toronto at a depth of 31m (of any u/c buildings) http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2009/24/c3614.html
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