Design Buzz: Manila Shangri-La, The Gregory in New York

From the Philippines to Manhattan, luxury hotels are in for some interesting design projects over the next few years. We've rounded up three properties to keep on your radar. 

manila shangri-laHandel Architects, Hirsch Bedner & Associates Collaborate on Manila Shangri-La

Shangri-La at the Fort, a new mixed-use development from Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, is set to debut later this year. Helmed by Handel Architects, the project will include a Shangri-La hotel and residences, plus a selection of Shangri-La managed homes on the highest floors, dubbed Horizon Homes. 

Hirsch Bedner & Associates will design the hotel’s public areas, guestrooms and residences. Sydney-based Stack Studio is doing the development's Kerry Sports Manila lifestyle and leisure club facility and Raging Bull Burgers restaurant.

Other firms involved include masterplanners AECOM, working on the landscaping; Rockwell Group, working on the High Street Café and Limitless restaurant; Steve Leung Designers, working on the Canton Road restaurant and Avroko East for Raging Bull Chophouse & Bar; and Manny Samson & Associates, working on the interiors for Horizon Homes, as well as the Samba Poolside restaurant and bar.

The hotel will have 576 guestrooms and suites with a minimum of 484 square feet and having city and bay views.

The complex will have 97 residences, with a choice of one-, two- or three-bedrooms, measuring between 969 square feet to 1,335 square feet. Each residence is fitted with a kitchenette, a living room/dining zone, walk-in wardrobe and modern amenities.

While details of the spa are yet to be finalized, it will hve nine treatment rooms and will be located on levels five and six of Kerry Sports Manila. This lifestyle club will also include an NBA-grade indoor basketball court, two tennis courts, two squash courts, an outdoor lap pool, gym facilities, exercise studio and Adventure Zone – a multi-level indoor playground for children, that includes party rooms.

the gregory nyc

Bill Rooney Studio Brings The Gregory to Life

The Gregory, a new 132-room boutique hotel, recently opened its doors at 42 West 35th Street in Midtown Manhattan

New York-based design firm Bill Rooney Studio was in charge of the project. The company created a design influenced by the early 20th century heritage of the original hotel. (The hotel first opened as The Gregorian in 1903 to cater to the overflow of guests checking into the original Waldorf-Astoria, now the site of the Empire State Building.) The rooms were reinvented by using black, white and gray, which highlight vintage architectural elements such as the bay windows, high ceilings, moldings and entry doors. Bathrooms, many of them with windows, feature amenities crafted exclusively for the hotel by Brooklyn-based skin care line Apotheke.

The Gregory's interactive lobby has a walnut herringbone floor; 1950s-style check-in desk; large wall clock; marble bar; a fireplace; as well as an art collection consisting of vintage industrial sewing machines and architectural artifacts.

jw marriott beach resort los cabos

Jim Olson, IDEA Asociados Partner on JW Marriott Los Cabos

With the new JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa set to open this fall, architect Jim Olson and Mexico City-based design firm IDEA Asociados have their eye on using the property to showcase Los Cabos' natural environment and traditions. 

Situated in the Puerto Los Cabos community, JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa will be located in the desert dunes of Baja California Sur, Mexico, at the point where the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean converge. Upon entering the open-air lobby, guests will be greeted by the sea and the resort's infinity pools, creating the effect of the ocean merging with the property itself.

The resort will offer rooms and suites with ocean views, seven restaurants, a spa and fitness center, beach club, banquet and meeting facilities and retail shops.

The resort's architectural design will also provide spaces to display international works of contemporary art from renowned international artists.