Bisha Bash

Published in Canadian Interiors. Toronto’s newest five-star hotel (and residences), the Bisha, rises 44 storeys above Blue Jays Way, its modernist, Wallman Architects-designed curtain wall anchored by the retained red-brick and stone heritage façade of the former Diesel Playhouse, erstwhile home of the Second City comedy troupe. The hotel is the vision of Charles Khabouth, CEO of INK Entertainment (Iconink), who has created many of the city’s trendiest clubs, dating back to Stilife and Guvernment, and whose childhood nickname provided the hotel’s moniker; Lifetime Development; and hotel manager Loews. Aside from ninth-floor rooms by Kravitz Design, the property’s interiors were created by Studio Munge. Their mandate extended to the rooftop eatery, the first in Canada to feature Baja cuisine, a nouvelle fusion of Mexican and Caribbean, emphasizing fresh produce and seafood, which the summery, blond-wood décor certainly evokes.