Cox Architecture 's Sydney Coliseum Theatre combines a flowing form with a restrained palette of materials to create a beautiful and dramatic new cultural hub. Located in the Rooty Hill area of Western Sydney, the design for the facility was based on the concept of transcendence, with the aim of creating a journey from the outside world into the "the magic of performance". The 8000sq m (86,000sq ft) multi-mode venue

Visual Display have created a clothing store in Milan, Italy, that transforms into a bar at night with a lighting feature that descends from the ceiling to become a display case and counter. The space, which opened in January, is described as a "concept store with a fluid and unexpected identity" that combines a mixology bar, café and a clothing store. During the day, the store sells men's and women's

Flores & Prats and Ouest Architecture have won a competition to convert a derelict old theatre and music hall into an open, inclusive public space. The Ancien Théâtre des Variétés was originally designed by modernist architect Victor Bourgeois and built in the 1930s. Having been converted into a Cinerama venue in the 1960s, it was eventually abandoned in the 1980s. Now, the 5,000sq m (54,000sq ft) building will be reactivated

wHY Architecture are to build a monolithic but welcoming glazed, wooden theatre in a new park on the Kama River as a beacon for the emerging arts district in Perm, Russia. The firm began working on the Tchaikovsky Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in September 2019 and their design was given the go-ahead in January 2020 by a vote of approval from the City Council of Perm, the planning commission

Third Space 's new £10m ($13m, €12m), 47,000sq ft (4,400sq m) full-service club in Islington, London, designed by Universal Design Studio, is said to be the largest health club to open in the UK's capital for more than 10 years. At the heart of the club is a 7,000sq ft (650sq m) "arena space" for flexible training, featuring a custom-built running track, dedicated strength training area, a bespoke functional training

A team led by Schmidt Hammer Lassen (SHL) is one of two left in the running to create a new library in Skien, Norway, with a hybrid design that will allow visitors to experience the work and influence of Henrik Ibsen. The Ibsen Library is being established to drive increased social involvement and democratic participation in the region, to become a visitor attraction and to honour the legacy of the

The Wuxi Taihu Show Theatre, designed by Steven Chilton Architects with a forest of bamboo-inspired columns around its perimeter, has opened in Jiangsu Province, China. Built to house a permanent water show by Franco Dragone, with its designs released last year, the 2,000-seat theatre was inspired by China's largest bamboo forest – the Sea of Bamboo Park in Yixing. The circular building is wrapped in a full-height glazed façade and

Snøhetta have won a competition to create the Xingtai Grand Theater in China with a design that provides indoors and outdoors performance spaces, unites nearby cultural programmes and anchors a new masterplan for the region. The fast-growing city of Xingtai is one of a number in Hebei Province that is struggling to meet the demands of its development. The Grand Theater has been conceived as the cultural cornerstone of a

OPEN Architecture's Chapel of Sound amphitheatre – designed for concerts and the appreciation of nature – has topped out at its site in a rocky valley at the foot of the Jinshanling Great Wall in Beijing municipality. The 790sq m (8,500sq ft) structure, the designs for which were revealed in February, houses an indoor-outdoor amphitheatre, an outdoor stage, viewing platforms and supporting spaces. It takes the appearance of a layered,

ACME's amphitheatre-style pavilion that is intended to become a new social hub and meeting place has topped out in Stratford, East London. The Pavilion – both its descriptor and working title – is being built for the developing International Quarter London (IQL), a new business district on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which hosted much of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Covering an area of 10,000sq

The Studio of Design and Architecture (SODA) has created a new theatre with a revolving auditorium, a quickly adaptable configuration for a diverse range of events and a striking glass, brickwork and Art Deco aesthetic. The Boulevard Theatre is part of a wider and ongoing 55,000sq ft (5,100sq m) mixed-use development in London also designed by Soda for Soho Estates. The theatre is split into two volumes – with the

The Victoria Theatre, the oldest in the Australian state of New South Wales, is to undergo a renovation led by Scott Carver Architects aimed at conserving its heritage features and reviving it as a venue for live performances. Located in the city of Newcastle, the theatre is expected to cost around AU$11.5m (US$7.8m, €7m, £6.1m) to refurbish, which is said to be more than justifiable investment from a business perspective.

Architecture firms Snøhetta and Blight Rayner have won an international competition to design an AU$150m (US$103.8m, €90m, £81.4m) theatre for the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) in Brisbane, Australia. Set to open in 2022, the pivotal facility, which will turn QPAC into the largest performing arts centre in Australia, will feature two studios, foyer spaces, and an expansive glass façade. "The building will glow by night and sparkle by day

Dutch architecture practice UNStudio have unveiled renderings for the Lyric Theatre Complex – an expansive cultural venue currently being constructed in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District. The mammoth complex, which will occupy roughly 41,000 sq m of the city’s waterfront, will include a 1,450-seat Lyric Theatre inspired by European "Baroque-era" extravagance; a 600-seat Medium Theatre for smaller-scale productions; and a 270-seat Studio Theatre for intimate performances. The arts facility

Steven Chilton Architects (SCA) have unveiled the first set of renderings for their mesmerising Puzzle Ball Theatre in Guangzhou, China. The 2,000-seat conceptual structure, which – if constructed – would serve as a venue for performances by Belgian drama company Dragone, is inspired by Chinese puzzle balls. These objects, which often appeared in Victorian-era cabinets of curiosities, are made from a single block of ivory and feature intricate tracery and

The Mecanoo-designed National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts, hailed as the "largest performing arts centre in the world" has opened in Taiwan. Impressively, the massive steel structure – which takes visual cues from Banyan trees and the sinuous hulls of ships – is home to a 1,981-seat concert hall, a 2,236-seat opera house, 1,210-seat playhouse, and a 434-seat recital hall. The arts hub, which is located in the vicinity of

Steven Chilton Architects (SCA) have revealed their design for the Wuxi Show Theatre in Wuxi, China. The firm, which has been shortlisted for this year’s World Architecture Festival Future Project Award, were inspired by the largest bamboo forest in China: the Sea of Bamboo Park in Yixing. The 2,000-person capacity theatre uses tightly packed white columns and a canopy made from gold anodised aluminium louvers to simulate the appearance of

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have revealed their competition-winning design for the National Theatre of Albania, a 3-in-1 cultural venue shaped like a bow tie. Designed in collaboration with British consultancy Theatre Projects, the 9,300sq m (100,000sq ft) venue has been commissioned to host local and touring theatre companies in the Albanian capital, Tirana. Situated adjacent to the historic Skanderbeg Square, the National Opera and the National Art Gallery, the project

The reimagination of bridges as vibrant cultural and meeting spaces, as well as pieces of infrastructure, continues to gain momentum, with Swedish studio Erik Andersson Architects unveiling a proposal for a dynamic gathering place across the Kalix River. The Swedish Traffic Administration commissioned the practice to create a proposal to replace an existing bridge in Norrbotten County in 2019. More than a mere crossing, the architects decided to “introduce a

Italian design studio Network of Architecture (noa*) have been inspired by the world of the theatre for their latest hotel project: a glass and timber structure looking out towards the Dolomites. The family-run Valentinerhof hotel is situated 1,200m above sea-level in the commune of Castelrotto, South Tyrol. The architects were commissioned by the owners to design two new guest buildings offering views from every point of the nearby Schlern mountain.

London’s first new purpose-built commercial theatre in decades opens tomorrow (18 October) in the shadow of the city’s famous Tower Bridge, with its co-founder hailing the project as “a completely new type of theatre for the city.” Nick Starr, who has established the Bridge Theatre with fellow impresario Nicholas Hytner, told CLADglobal that it “will offer a different level of flexibility for actors, writers and directors working in London.” The

A futuristic home has been built for a Roman museum in the French city of Nîmes – in stark contrast to the real-life Roman amphitheatre next door. Construction has been completed ahead of the opening of the Musée de la Romanité de Nîmes in June 2018, with 5,000 exhibits from a collection of 25,000 set to move in over the coming months. Architect Elizabeth de Portzamparc is behind the striking,

Visitors to Chicago’s Navy Pier can now enjoy a show inside one of the world’s most flexible theatres, which has been constructed inside the attraction's Skyline Stage. Theatre design consultancy Charcoalblue and design firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) have collaborated on the ambitious reuse project, called The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Rather than constructing a new theatre from scratch, the duo instead designed a fully enclosed, year-round

A new leisure development next to London’s Tower Bridge is set for completion this month, featuring an Ivy restaurant and a brand new theatre established by acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner. Designed by architects Squire and Partners, One Tower Bridge has a prominent riverside location on Potters Fields Park, adjacent to the Grade I listed Tower Bridge. The masterplan – conceived as a “lasting new piece of the city”, which articulates

Construction is about to start on a close replica of William Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre, with only two key differences from the original: this version will be located in Detroit and it will be built entirely out of stacked shipping containers. The Container Globe is the brainchild of entrepreneur Angus Vail, who wants to build cost-effective venues around the world to host performances of the Bard and other live events.

The performing arts centre under construction at the heart of the World Trade Center campus in New York will be one of the most innovative of its kind ever built, the project’s lead architect has told CLADglobal. Speaking in an exclusive interview, Joshua Prince-Ramus said that the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center would become "a really extraordinary tool for the creation of new art,” adding that his firm Rex

Thunderous sound effects, dramatic strobe lighting and enormous and exuberant video projections are welcoming players to the field at the new stadium of Russian football club FC Krasnodar, which has installed a 4,700sq m media screen along the top tier of the bowl. International architects Gerkan, Marg & Partners (gmp) and Russian design firm Maxim Rymar Architectural Studio designed the 33,979 capacity ground, which is raised on a plinth slightly