WINTASTAR SKI RESORT

Shanghai, China

The Wintastar Ski Resort in Shanghai, China, is a large-scale, award-winning development that is styled after an iceberg, blending sports, entertainment, and tourism into a single project. Occupying approximately 107,000 square metres of land with a total floor area of 227,000 square metres, it features a mix of architectural styles and themed attractions.

Guests enter via a driveway that leads to the Alpine Village, where a stately bell tower serves as the centrepiece that welcomes Wintastar’s visitors. Surrounding this village and enhancing its alpine theme are a boutique hotel, a ski resort, a Nordic-themed water park, and what will be the world’s largest indoor ski park. The design of each structure reflects the iceberg theme, with shades of blue and white evoking the icy landscapes of the North Pole.

The Alpine Village offers an immersive experience, with snow-covered pine trees, alpine castles, and boutique shops along Retail Street, whose unique atmosphere is reinforced by a winter-themed ceiling illuminated by projectors with a dazzling display of the northern lights.

On the other hand, the 28,000-square-metre Nordic-themed water park spans two levels and includes indoor and outdoor waterslides, a beach club, and an infinity pool, offering stunning views of the ski slopes while offering an interesting visual contrast between the swimsuit-clad swimmers and the skiers. Furthermore, additional event spaces and food outlets provide year-round entertainment.

In addition, the 90,000-square-metre indoor ski resort, another one of Wintastar’s key attractions, features three levels of snow, including an Olympic-standard facility for training.

Across an adjacent road, two serviced apartment towers and an omni-theatre complement the main complex, continuing the iceberg aesthetic with a colour scheme of white and deep azure, mimicking large fragments that have drifted away from the iceberg’s main mass.

To accommodate international guests and long-stay visitors, Wintastar features three different hotels: L+Snow Supreme Hotel as well as IHG’s Crowne Plaza Shanghai Snow World and Vignette Collection.

Sustainability is another key focus for the project, with solar panel roofing, energy-efficient insulation, eco-friendly refrigerants, and advanced water and heat recovery systems designed to reduce the resort’s environmental impact.

The original concept for Wintastar’s exterior called for large white three-dimensional panels arranged in a fragmented pattern throughout its façade, mimicking a very large iceberg amidst Shanghai’s urban sprawl. In addition, the resort’s roof initially featured a ski slope as well as a bar that was fashioned after a ski hut, where skiers can relax before or after enjoying the slopes.

At first, the design that MDL devised for Wintastar had a tone that was more serious in terms of its attractions and look—calling for a ski park—the final, built iteration of Wintastar, however, has eschewed this, favouring a more theme park-like direction for the resort.

Numerous other changes have also come about across the years of Wintastar’s construction as a result of various budgetary compromises between the developers and the designers. For example, the roof was changed from a ski slope into a large array of solar panels fashioned to look like a skier, whilst the originally three-dimensional panels for the façade were changed into flat panels coloured in shades of blue and white, merely giving off the illusion of three dimensions.

Despite these revisions, Wintastar exemplifies Mercurio Design Lab’s holistic design philosophy, blending striking exterior form with functional interior spaces, creating a unique destination that is well-equipped not only for sports but also for leisure.