Swiss luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet will open a museum celebrating the company history next month (June 2020). Located next to the company HQ in the village of Le Brassus in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland, the museum has been designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and will immerse visitors in the manufacturer’s "cultural universe past, present and future". BIG won an architectural competition to design the Musée Atelier Audemars

Herzog & de Meuron are creating a roadside chapel in Andeer, Switzerland, that will provide a quiet and peaceful place for people to stop, rest and marvel among the surrounding mountains, rivers, meadows and forests. In designing 515 Autobahnkirche, the studio was conscious that are a number of others chapels in the area, many of which are centuries old and are, as they describe, "architectural and art historical gems", whether

The Andermatt Concert Hall (ACH) – a 650-capacity arts venue said to be the ‘first major purpose-built concert hall in any Alpine ski village’ has officially opened its doors. Designed by Studio Seilern Architects and constructed by BESIX Group, the new facility is situated in Andermatt, Switzerland, and can accomodate orchestras of up to 75 people. Kahle Acoustics were responsible for sound engineering, while dUCKS scéno served as the theatre

Andermatt Concert Hall, a 700-seat music centre taking shape in the canton of Uri in the Swiss Alps, is scheduled to open on 16 June with symphonic performances by the Berliner Philharmoniker. Designed by Christina Seilern Architects, the new arts venue – formerly a war bunker – will feature an auditorium planned by theatre specialists dUCKS scéno in collaboration with Kahle Acoustics. Shaped in what the design team have called

Corippo, a 200-hundred-year-old village located in the Verzasca valley, is undergoing a transformation which could see it become the first albergo diffuso (“scattered hotel”) in Switzerland. Scattered hotels are effectively regenerated municipalities, endangered districts which get a new lease on life by becoming interactive, multi-venue destinations for travellers interested in full-scale immersion tourism. The plan to save the highland hamlet, the population of which has been diminishing exponentially for half

The iconic Four Seasons Hotel George V, Paris will officially unveil its new Le Spa this July, after an extensive renovation that includes a new 17m (55ft) swimming pool, vitality pool with hydromassage water experience circuit, a 90sq m (970sq ft) fitness room, and new results-driven treatments. The new Le Spa is spread over 720sq m s (7,750sq ft), and has been designed by Parisian interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, who

Architect Claudio Carbone will oversee a complete renovation of Switzerland’s Grand Hotel Quellenhof in Bad Ragaz as part of an extensive investment programme of around 40m Swiss Francs (US$42m, €34m, £30m). Part of the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, the five-star wellbeing and medical health resort first opened in 1869, and includes 106 suites, which have hosted film stars, statesmen and royalty. CEO Patrick Vogler said the forthcoming renovations will “complete

Construction will begin next month on a new concert hall in Andermatt, Switzerland, the town chosen by the Swiss as a strategic military outpost for the Second World War, and which is now one of the country’s largest Alpine resorts. The project has been designed by London practice Studio Seilern Architects, who have just received planning permission to create a “world-class concert facility comparable to those in European capitals.” Andermatt

One of Europe’s most iconic resorts has had a soft re-opening after nine years of construction, with its Qatari owners claiming to have overseen “the project of the century.” Sophia Loren lived there, Audrey Hepburn was married in the local chapel, Charlie Chaplin was a regular visitor and Sean Connery’s James Bond dropped by in Goldfinger. Now the Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne has been transformed to appeal to a new

The world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge has opened in the Swiss Alps, offering brave trekkers a shortcut across one of the region’s most dramatic valleys. The 494m long Charles Kuonen Suspension Bridge, which is 86m above the ground at its highest point, stretches between the towns of Grächen and Zermatt along the Europaweg foot trail, with the peaks of the Matterhorn in the distance. Swiss engineers Lauber Seilbahnen and Swissrope

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas has announced plans to open its first resort in Switzerland. Upon completion, the 47–bedroom Six Senses Crans-Montana will operate under a long-term management agreement with 1875 Finance. The resort located in the prominent ski areas of Valais, two hours from Geneva. Wellness offerings at the resort include a 22,000 square foot (2,000 square meter) spa specialising in alpine treatments, gym and fitness studio, pool and

Designers and gallerists from around the world have travelled to Basel, Switzerland for the 2017 edition of Design Miami/Basel trade fair. Collectors, curators and critics will join them for the event, in which exhibitions of twentieth and twenty-first century furniture, lighting, jewellery and modern art are showcased alongside lectures and seminars on “the global language of design.” This year 47 galleries representing 11 countries are participating from 13-18 June; unveiling

St Moritz’s Kulm Eispavillon – which hosted the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics – has been restored by architecture firm Foster + Partners. After being abandoned for several years, the building has now been regenerated to host sporting events, as well as other functions. In February 2017, the venue is due to accommodate the medal ceremonies at the Ski World Championships, which are being hosted in the Swiss town. It

A new 1,500sq m (16,146sq ft) Spa Du Royal at the recently refurbished Art Nouveau landmark hotel Royal Savoy Lausanne in Switzerland has opened. Le Spa Du Royal features eight treatment rooms, a wet zone with indoor and outdoor pools, vitality pools, and several hammams, saunas and steam rooms. A special “Ladies Only” spa features relaxation and treatment rooms, and the spa also includes a fitness room, hairdresser and spa

German designers Toni Egger and Felix Tarantik are creating mobile saunas inside the aluminium shells of Swiss ski lift gondolas. The four-person Saunagondel can withstand extreme weather conditions and, with a footprint of two by two metres, is small and lightweight enough to transport from place to place. The sauna is fitted with custom-made silver fir wood interiors and a 4.5 kW electric heater that can reach temperatures of 100

A museum extension nearly 15 years in the making will finally be completed when the Swiss National Museum in Zurich opens its new wing to the public on 1 August 2016. The new wing is formed by a modern and minimalist geometric volume designed by Basel practice Christ & Gantenbein. It was commissioned following an international design competition in 2002, but a period of consultation and political negotiation followed and

Private equity management group Z Capital Partners has acquired the historic Waldhaus Flims Mountain Resort & Spa located in Flims, Switzerland. The undisclosed deal further enhances Z Capital’s health and wellness hotel platform, following its acquisition earlier this year of the Carillon Miami Beach. The company said it plans to maintain the property’s storied heritage while upgrading the resort to a five-star luxury hotel. Its strategy includes investing in the

Swissotel has opened a new resort on a private beach in Turgutreis, just outside Bodrum, Turkey. Designed by Gokhan Avcioglu of Turkish design studio GAD International, The Swissotel Bodrum Beach includes 66 bedrooms and suites along with 72 private serviced residences. Avcioglu has used sweeping lines in his design to fuse the Aegean coast’s rolling landscape with the local tangerine gardens, blending the structure with the natural landscape by using

Set to open on 5 July this year, after 26 months of construction, the Swiss Ovaverva swimming pool expects 100,000 visitors in its first year and its spa anticipates 35,000 customers. Spread over four floors, the €67m (US$91.8m, £55.3m) development in St. Moritz, Switzerland, is on track for completion, including a women-only panorama sauna, bio sauna and steamroom. Mixed gender bathing areas include the 915sq m (9,948sq ft) rosatsch bath

Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts is continuing its expansion at the crossroads of Southwest Asia and Europe with a new deluxe hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan. Scheduled to open in 2015, Swissôtel Baku is currently under construction and will open in time for the first European Olympic Games. Designed by architectural firm Kreatif Mimarlik, the mixed use complex consists of two towers set upon a shared podium which will accommodate businesses, retail

UK-based architectural firm Caruso St John has unveiled its proposal for the new Zurich Arena, which saw the firm win the design contract. The project will include arenas for both ice hockey club ZSC Lions and volleyball team Volero as well as hockey training facilities. The design proposes a building with qualities between a monument and a tent. Caruso St John said the clarity of its structure and volume suggest

Image: Swissôtel's planned new Bodrum beach resort Swissôtel Hotels and Resorts has announced plans to extend its portfolio in Turkey with the addition of two new resort properties in Bodrum over the next two years. The first of the two new openings proposed by the Switzerland-based hotel group will be a beach resort in Turgutreis with 66-bedroom and 72 private residences. Meanwhile, a city resort situated in the hills overlooking

Nira Hotels and Resorts is to launch a new 70-bedroom glass-and-timber-built "mountain sanctuary' in the hamlet of Surlej, near Silvaplana, Switzerland, on 30 November. Located 5km (3.1 miles) from the wintersports resort of St Moritz, Nira Alpina will provide guests with views overlooking Lake Silvaplana and offers a "ski in, ski out" experience. Facilities will include the Nira Spa, which comprises five treatment rooms; an Aroma cabin; a steamroom and

Switzerland Development Group (SDG) has unveiled plans for its new luxury development in Leukerbad, with construction work scheduled to commence in spring 2012. 51º Spa Residences has been designed by a team including Michael Graves and Associates; Marc Michaels Interior Design; and WET and will be undertaken in phases. Two buildings of residential apartments are included as part of the development, with a total of 30 to boast in-home thermal