It is a contemporary architectural miracle. InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland does not offer city views, mountain peaks, beaches. It offers something different: view of the “underworld”.
This special hotel was built in the city of Songjiang, 35 km southwest of Shanghai, in a formerly abandoned quarry of 88m depth. After ten years of construction, the hotel was inaugurated just this month. It has 337 rooms on 18 floors, 16 of which are built underground and the two remaining are in the water.
All rooms – apart from the “underwater” – have their own balcony overlooking the waterfalls diving down to the walls of the quarry and the glass “waterfall” built in the center of the luxury hotel.
On the top floor, a rich rooftop garden. On the two floors in the water, restaurant and hostels overlooking a 10 meter deep aquarium. The ground floor hosts a swimming pool and other relaxation facilities.
For adrenaline maniacs, 61,000 square meters of accommodation offers bungee jumping and climbing on the sides of the quarry.
According to British design office Atkins, the building is an astonishing achievement of architecture and engineering, requiring more than 5,000 architects, engineers, designers and workers to be completed. Chief engineer Chen Shiyang added that the project was so unconventional – they called it “a fight against gravity” – that his team developed new methods which resulted in 39 patents.
As for its “green” identity, its design was made under Environmentally Friendly Authorities, and it will produce energy, heating and lighting from geothermal and solar sources.
The location is eminent: the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland is close to the Sheshan Mountains, Sheshan’ s National Forest Park and the Chenshan Botanical Gardens.
