Now that is a groundbreaking design: The lavish £345million five-star CAVE hotel being built in an abandoned Chinese quarry

Two of the hotel's 19 storeys will be built underwater and will feature an aquarium with glass walls
The other 17 storeys will be built inside a cave at the base of the Tianmenshan Mountain
The British design firm behind the plans claim the roof of the £345-million hotel will sit just 15 metres above ground

Construction has begun on a luxury five-star hotel being built INSIDE a 100-metre deep, water-filled abandoned quarry in China at the base of the Tianmenshan Mountain.

The £345million cave hotel in the Songjiang District has been designed by British-based firm Atkins and will have 380 rooms over 19 storeys - two of which will be underwater.

The rest of the InterContinental Shimao hotel will be built into the mountainous landscape and guests will be able to do watersports on the lake and use the nearby cliffs for rock-climbing and bungee jumping.

It is expected to take around three years to build and guests could be staying in the resort by 2015 - with rooms likely to cost around £200 a night.



An artist's view of what the finished cave hotel will look like. The 5-star underground resort is being built inside a 100-foot deep, water-filled abandoned quarry in China at the base of the Tianmenshan Mountain in the Songjiang District

The rest of the InterContinental Shimao hotel will be built into the mountainous landscape and guests will be able to do watersports on the lake and use the nearby cliffs for rock-climbing and bungee jumping

The five-star resort will have an aquarium with glass walls that look out onto a restaurant and guest rooms, a swimming pool and a sports centre, a banqueting hall and conference facilities