Ace Hotel has partnered with Shim-Sutcliffe Architects and Kengo Kuma & Associates for two 2020 openings in Toronto and Kyoto, respectively.

Founded in 1999, Ace has eight locations across North America and one in London.

The boutique operator seeks to embrace local culture with each of its hotels, which can result in strikingly different designs from place to place.

Ace Hotel Toronto, which is slated to open in mid-to-late 2020, will house comprise 124 rooms in the city's Fashion District.

Its design will reference the red brick industrial and warehouse buildings of the surrounding area, with board-formed concrete left exposed "as a celebration of process."

Other architectural elements will include exposed joints and knuckles, while the hotel's interior public spaces will feature "North American materials valued for their intrinsic strength and integrity," like Douglas fir and steel.

The hotel's lobby has been conceived as an animated cultural hub and will provide views of the nearby public park.

Shim-Sutcliffe Architects said: "We share core elemental values with Ace and worked together to build a civic space that feels warm and welcoming. A local place to gather, Ace Hotel Toronto is a contribution to the neighbourhood and city itself, elevating Toronto’s rich history through form and materials, energized by its inhabitants and visitors."

News of the Toronto opening followed an announcement in April that the Kengo Kuma-designed Kyoto destination is to become Ace Hotel's first in Asia.

Recently released new details indicate that the hotel will be "a monument to the city’s abundance of art, nature, ever-evolving culture, sophistication of craft and profound history."

Working in collaboration with long-term Ace Hotels partner Commune Design, Kengo Kuma & Associates will combine a converted 1926 building with a new-build element.

It will incorporate a large groundfloor marketplace and the hotel's interiors will be inspired by the intersection of Eastern and Western design, taking influence from Charlotte Perriand and JB Blunk.

Roman Alonso, design Principal at Commune Design, said: "The design concept for the hotel is rooted in an exchange between East and West through arts and crafts. Although we looked all over Japan for artisans and craftsmen to collaborate with on the project, there is a high concentration of artists from Kyoto prefecture involved in the project."

Ace Hotel Kyoto is expected to open in early-to-mid 2020.

ACE Hotels announce Kengo Kuma will design its first property in Japan

Ace Hotel, London – by Universal Design Studio – sold for $222m

Ace Hotels launches in Los Angeles' famed United Artists film studio