Imagine this: a gaping wound in the earth, carved away by decades of mining, left to fill slowly with rainwater and neglect. Most cities would forget it, fence it off, maybe plant a sign. But in 2006, British architect Martin Jochman looked at a massive abandoned quarry near Shanghai and saw something nobody else did. Instead of filling it in or leaving it to decay, he envisioned building not up, but down—creating a five-star hotel that would plunge deep into the stone and transform a scar on the landscape into an architectural wonder. After twelve years of relentless design challenges and engineering headaches, the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland finally opened its doors, proving that sometimes the most extraordinary ideas require you to think in reverse.
The Pit That Nobody Wanted
In Songjiang, about 30 kilometres from Shanghai’s bustling centre, the Shenkeng Quarry stood as a monument to extraction and abandonment. Carved nearly 100 metres into the earth by decades of stone mining, it had been left dormant, slowly filling with rainwater until a murky lake pooled at its base. For most developers, such a site represented a liability—a environmental blemish in the middle of prime real estate. Local regulations made matters worse: new developments in the district had to demonstrate genuine commitment to environmental regeneration and landscape preservation. Building upwards wasn’t an option. Building downwards, however, was something else entirely.
When Shimao Group acquired the land, they launched an international design competition in 2006. Martin Jochman, a British architect trained at the Royal Institute of British Architects, emerged as the winner, with a concept so unconventional that nobody was quite sure if it could actually be built.
The Visionary Who Saw Possibility in Stone
Jochman describes his approach to architecture as “Sensitive Design,” which draws on human intuition and artistic thinking to solve complex architectural problems, embedding into buildings intuitive and personal messages. For the quarry project, this philosophy meant respecting the existing landscape rather than reshaping it. Instead of fighting the geology, his design would embrace it—attaching itself to the rock face like a hanging garden, with only two storeys visible from ground level.
The plan was audacious: an 18-storey hotel, but inverted. Two floors would sit above the clifftop, cloaked beneath a grass roof that blended seamlessly into the surrounding greenery. The remaining 16 storeys would cascade down the quarry walls in a dramatic “glass waterfall” of observation lifts and circulation cores, flanked by two guest wings. At the bottom, two levels would sink beneath the surface of the quarry lake itself, creating bedrooms, dining spaces, and an aquarium where visitors could drift asleep watching fish move through the water.
A Decade of Obstacles
What Jochman didn’t anticipate—what nobody could have anticipated—was how brutally difficult the project would become. For years, design and development stalled. The 2008 global financial crisis forced the original hotel partner, Sheraton, to withdraw, nearly derailing the entire project. A year later, when InterContinental Hotels Group finally committed to the venture, Jochman had already left his position at engineering firm ATKINS and established his own practice, JADE+QA, taking the quarry development with him.
Stabilising the cliff faces adjacent to the hotel wings presented the most daunting technical challenge, with earthquake resistance being the primary concern—there was no precedent for a building of this design and magnitude. Engineers had to think in entirely new ways about seismic forces acting on an inverted structure, fixed at both the top and bottom. Construction didn’t truly commence until 2013, followed by years of intricate foundation work and structural installation.
A Sanctuary Carved From Stone
When visitors finally stepped into the completed hotel in November 2018, they entered an environment unlike any other. The hotel features 336 rooms and suites, each individually designed to reflect modern elegance whilst honouring the quarry’s unique landscape, with all rooms offering balconies showcasing spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and surrounding cliffs. The waterfalls aren’t incidental decoration—they’re integral to the design, engineered to run down the quarry walls like nature’s own sculpture.
The underwater suites represent the project’s most theatrical achievement. The lowest floors include an “underwater loft” with two levels: the landing deck at water level houses an outdoor terrace and bedroom, whilst the underwater living room is completely encased within a turquoise aquarium where schools of fish swim past. Guests staying in these rooms receive 24-hour butler service, a small luxury designed to ensure complete comfort in such an unusual setting.
Turning Waste Into Wonder
What sets the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland apart from mere spectacle is its genuine commitment to environmental restoration. The hotel was designed with comprehensive eco-friendly principles, generating energy through geothermal power and solar installations, whilst the pond at the quarry’s base cools the air which is then drawn into the building as natural air circulation. The design drew inspiration from the Hanging Monastery of Hengshan Mountain, constructed during the Wei period over 1,400 years ago, demonstrating how ancient architecture can inform contemporary sustainability.
Rather than exploiting the quarry, the hotel honours its geological character. The building’s thermal relationship with the surrounding rock—absorbing coolness in summer, releasing stored warmth in winter—creates a passive microclimate that reduces energy demands. Green roofs blend the topmost levels into the surrounding landscape, so approaching from ground level, visitors barely sense they’re standing above an entire city suspended in stone.
A Monument to Perseverance
The project won the gold prize for “Chinese Future Buildings” at the 2011 MIPIM Asia awards in Hong Kong, and was later selected for filming by the National Geographic Discovery Channel, which documented the construction process and design complexity. When it opened, the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland became IHG’s 200th InterContinental hotel worldwide, marking a significant milestone for the global brand.
Today, the hotel stands as a testament to what becomes possible when architects refuse to accept limitations. Jochman transformed what most saw as a permanent scar into a destination worth travelling the world to experience. The quarry that once represented ecological damage now represents ecological redemption—proof that sometimes the most responsible way forward isn’t building higher, but building deeper, with wisdom and restraint.
The InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland reminds us that abandoned spaces don’t have to remain abandoned. With the right vision, they can become wonders.
Published 01-April-2026
