Work has started on the Songjiang Hotel, a 'sunken hotel' being created in a 328ft (100m)-deep water-filled quarry in Songjiang near Shanghai, China.

Situated inside the Shanghai Sheshan National Holiday Resort area in the Sheshan Mountain area of Songjiang, the 21-floor hotel will have two underwater levels, 17 floors between the surface of the water and ground-level and two floors above ground-level.

Design and engineering consultancy Atkins won a competition in 2006 to design the hotel, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The entire hotel concept will revolve around water and nature-based wellness and spa facilities.

There will also be a large spa offering on the water level of the property. All the 380 bedrooms will have views of a waterfall opposite the hotel.

Designer Atkins has made sustainability key to the hotel's construction, ranging from using green roofing to generating electricity and heating from the site's geothermal energy. A naturally-lit internal atrium will incorporate the existing rockface of the quarry.