The world’s first hotel built in an abandoned water-filled quarry.
Built into the side of an abandoned quarry that reaches 88 metres below sea level, InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland is a remarkable example of architecture born out of nature. It has 18 floors with 16 underground, underwater suites and 336 rooms.
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Distant about 20 miles from Shanghai, the hotel includes two underwater floors and a green rooftop that blends into the surrounding countryside. The unique design takes advantage of the location and natural elements such as the rocky cliffs, waterfalls, and surrounding hills. A glass waterfall atrium pours over the façade, where all 14 floors of above the water level rooms have balconies and views of the quarry.
The hotel features a large conference center/ballroom together with water-based leisure facilities and swimming pools at the base of the quarry. externally, visitor facilities include an outdoor themed entertainment park and a cantilevered glass walkway. meanwhile, the hotel’s vertical circulation core is housed within a dramatic ‘glass waterfall’ that appears to cascade down the cliff face.
The luxury resort hotel is not only a dazzling design concept: It was built to prevent further ecological damage to the environment around it and features an extensive sustainability program. The hotel is in fact an example of ‘Passive ‘sustainability, using the micro climate of the quarry and the thermal inertia if the rocky cliffs cooling in the summer and heating in the winter.
