Cool design for China's new Ice and Snow World

Austrian firm Coop Himmelb(l)au will design a new sport/ski resort, to be known as the Deep Pit Ice and Snow World, which will be located in an abandoned quarry near Changsha, China.

The project combines an entertainment ice world with an indoor ski slope, a water park, a 5 Star Hotel and supporting restaurant and shopping facilities with a total gross floor area of 120,000 metre2.

Coop Himmelb(l)au's competition-winning proposal includes a cantilevered outdoor swimming pool, set to form a 60-metre waterfall into the pit of the quarry, while an upside-down glass cone will bring light through the centre of the structure.

A separate sculptural 100 metre high tower on the south end of the site will host a 5 Star Hotel known as the Fashion Hotel Tower, which will be connected to the Ice World via a Grand Garden Plaza.

The hotel will offer 270 high-class single and double bed suites, 60 Executive Suites with an Executive Club Lounge and a 6-room Presidential Suite, all with impressive views of Tongxi Lake, Dawang Mountain and into the Ice & Snow World. A spacious central lobby around the tower core opens up into the service plinth containing a bar and restaurant on level one, flexible and multifunctional conference areas on level two and fitness, spa and beauty facilities on level three.

The façade of the Fashion Hotel Tower reveals a specially designed, highly economical system providing state-of-the-art sun shading, natural ventilation and a unitised, quick construction. The element façade system offers a maximum of flexibility to the inside room layout and allows a homogeneous appearance over the exterior facade.

This exceptional new construction fully utilises the beautiful landscape scenery as well the existing value of the site's historical and industrial heritage.