While Shanghai is well known for its skyscraping hotels, one construction project has decided to turn that image on its head.
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The Shimao Wonderland InterContinental Quarry Hotel is built into an 80-meter-deep disused quarry in the city's Songjiang district. Photo provided to China Daily |
Developer Shanghai Shimao Property Group has reported groundbreaking advances during construction of the Shimao Wonderland InterContinental Quarry Hotel which is located in an 80-meter-deep disused quarry in the city's Songjiang district.
The five-star hotel saw construction begin in 2013 and celebrated the completion of its underground main structure in September this year. The site served as a quarry from 1950 to 2000.
The National Geographic Channel's Megastructures TV series is filming the creation of the hotel. It will broadcast the resulting documentary in more than 200 countries and regions upon completion, according to Shimao.
The hotel will consist of 18 floors, only two of which will be aboveground, the lobby and conference centers.
The hotel's main structure will be underground, spanning the distance from the surface to a lake at the base of the quarry. Most guest rooms, as well as dining and entertainment facilities will be located within this core structure.
The two lowest floors will be set underwater, where some of the most luxurious suites and an aquatic-themed restaurant will be located.
According to the project plan, each of the hotel’s some 300 rooms will have their own viewing balconies from which guests will be able to see the 60-meter-high waterfall on the other side of the quarry.
There will also be a sightseeing platform on the opposite side of the waterfall, where visitors can take in the whole view of the stunning structure.
The hotel developers are considering taking advantage of the quarry's cliffs to develop some extreme sports facilities, such as bungee jumping and rock climbing.
It took seven years for Shimao to evaluate the possibility of building such a hotel in the deep quarry. The hotel was designed by British architect Martin Jochman of JADE+QA and architects from the world leading design firm Atkins, who were also responsible for the design of the super-luxury hotel Burj Al Arab in Dubai.
Representatives from Shimao revealed that the construction team met many challenges during the development process, some of which the construction industry had never before experienced. For instance, engineers had to consider how to ensure that the hotel can firmly stay on the cliff, because the geological structure of Shanghai is not very stable.
"It was a big challenge. We had to evaluate whether the quarry cliffs were strong enough to support the hotel,"said an engineer. "Luckily, the geological structure in Sheshan is better than in the urban area of Shanghai."
Hotel developers also paid significant attention to fire fighting facilities. "All the rooms are connected to escape routes, so guests can leave the hotel safely in a fire incident," said the engineer.
In addition to fire-related precautions and the hotel's structural safety, developers have also carefully considered how to deal with various emergency situations, such as earthquakes and rainstorms, so that tourists can enjoy a comfortable and safe visit to Sheshan.
The construction company has registered five invention patents and 14 practical new patents in the past four years to address problems such as materials transportation in the deep quarry.
