GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT
The world’s first ‘quarry hotel’ opens in Shanghai
After a decade of construction, the world’s first underground hotel has opened in
Shanghai, buried almost 90 metres deep in an old quarry. Built into the side wall of a
decommissioned quarry, the 18-storey InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland is almost
entirely subterranean. The luxury hotel has two floors above ground and 16 below
ground, including two floors that are submerged inside a 33-foot-deep aquarium.
Inside, the 336 rooms and suites are designed to mimic the quarry’s landscape, with
incredible views of the surrounding quarry and purpose-built waterfalls. There are also
underwater suites featuring an in-room aquarium where guests can watch shoals of fish
swim past. The subterranean levels will include a restaurant, guest rooms, an aquarium,
pool and watersports centre. For adventurous patrons, the hotel makes use of its position
inside a craggy pit to provide bungee jumping and rock climbing opportunities.
The property was built by British firm Atkins, also behind the Burj Al Arab in Dubai and
skyscraper Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City. Chief engineer Chen Xiaxiang said
while normal projects use tried and tested technology to transport materials upward,
this undertaking has required novel solutions to achieve the opposite.
The project has mustered more than 5 000 architects, engineers, designers and workers,
from initial design in 2006 to interior decoration today. Along the way, Chen’s team has
registered 39 patents and made hundreds of technological breakthroughs.
One innovation, for example, solved the problem of pumping concrete downward by
77 metres without blockages, or separation of sand and cement, by changing the ratio
of constituent materials and adding a damping device.
The architectural plan was designed to reduce impact on the environment by keeping
the majority of construction within the disused pit. In addition, the hotel plans to
generate its own geothermal and solar energy to power everyday functions.
Bertil de Kleynen, sector director for architecture, planning, landscape and interiors
at SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins in Asia Pacific, told the Independent: “Every once in a while,
architects create something truly extraordinary, truly unique, reminding the world what
great architecture is all about.”
Sources: China Daily, Independent and CNN
ISSUE 36 - DECEMBER 2018
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