The Shangri-la Vancouver Hotel/ Residences was the first high-rise permitted under the City of Vancouver’s Tall Building Policy to exceed the 450' maximum height limit. At 646' it is currently the tallest building in Vancouver and it represents a new mixed-use and sustainable typology for the downtown. This 696,318 sf, 60-storey project consists of a 119 room 5-star hotel; 234 live work units; 66 residential units, a 25,000 sf food store, three restaurants, ground oriented CRUs (commercial retail units) and a public art site managed by the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The site is a long (over 700') and relatively narrow (131’) site in the Central Business District of Vancouver. The placement of the tower at the corner of the cite anchors it to the ceremonial Georgia Street to the north. Bi-level permeable mid block connections provided pedestrian pathways as well as outdoor resting places. The ground plane is designed to be as transparent as possible to further enhance the pedestrian experience. All vehicular traffic, including loading and hotel arrival court are located one level below ground. This arrival court is open to the sky and served by a pair of glass elevators.

The public art court, with an endowment for three installations a year,  is placed on Georgia mid block to provide active animation and engage pedestrians. The podium green roofs matches the height of the neighbouring heritage church and the exoskeleton of the church's seismic braces are accommodated on this site in order to preserve the interior of the heritage church. 

 A 45' tall bamboo grove provides a diagonally link from Georgia St to Alberni St and to the second level podium restaurants. This bamboo grove with reflecting ponds provides a serene oasis in the heart of the city and contributes to the overall storm water retention strategies. The tower skin is studded with a grid of 2'x2' squares to provide outlets for kitchen and bath exhausts. These squares are covered by a special coating that absolve ultraviolet rays during the day and give off a soft light at night. They are combined with a special refractive glass to provide ever changing colours to provide active animation of the large formal facades. All this is done without energy consumption or mechanical wiring. 

A geothermal system below the six storey underground garage provides a major heat source and in combination with the heat recovery systems of the commercial units help to balance the energy requirements of the residential components. In addition, a car CO-OP and 48 hectares of trees were planted  to offset carbon generation. Glass of different thermal qualities are employed in response to various solar orientations. The project is LEED Silver equivalent.