You know that feeling you get when you’re around someone who seems to live and breathe their craft? When you can almost feel their passion oozing out of their very being? Well, that’s exactly the feeling we had when we visited the presentation centre for Bisha Hotel & Residences earlier this week for an opportunity to mix, mingle and hear directly from the masterminds behind the project.
In attendance were Mel Pearl of Lifetime Developments, Charles Khabouth of INK Entertainment, Alessandro Munge of Munge Leung and Rudy Wallman of Wallman Architects.Bisha was born out of a longtime desire to provide the city with a taste of luxury, at the same time maintaining a level of “hip-ness” and keeping the vibe down to earth. Unlike the other luxury projects he saw in the city, Charles Khabouth felt that Toronto was “lacking a luxury project with a bit of kick or lifestyle to it”. Having observed the social scene in LA and New York, he pointed out that you’d find people from all walks of life mingling in the same upscale locales, and it was that marriage of “luxury and hip” that he wanted to bring into a residential project here.
It was through his friend Alessandro Munge and a subsequent introduction to Mel Pearl and Rudy Wallman that this dream began to unfold. Through their many travels together, Khabouth and Munge discovered inspiration from one end of the globe to the other. What’s become of this is a little eccentric, and as Munge described, they “took 15 years of their worldly experiences and wrapped [them] up into a building.”
And it shows. From the mid-century chairs that sit in the lobby of the Bisha sales office to the gorgeous, multi-functional showpiece with the appearance of metal origami in the model suite, it appears as though everything is a fine work of art. Each living space and design feature has meticulously been laid out, and it’s the subtle details – from suede-covered closets to corseted support columns – that bring the eclectic mix of elements together just perfectly.
This definitely isn’t a cookie-cutter condo. There’s real substance here. And if the passion that shines through the presentation centre is any indication, Bisha Hotel & Residences is bound to be something exquisite.
