Week's top news: MVRD unveil revolutionary design concept, Garden Bridge faces review and Adjaye's African American museum opens in Washington
Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from Francis Ford Coppola’s private island retreat to a new energy-producing paving slab.
Monday
• Renowned street artist Phlegm has created an eight-storey mural in Toronto, bringing art to the city’s busiest intersections. Read here.
• Legendary Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola has opened a private Caribbean island to create a “Robinson Crusoe experience”. Read here.
Tuesday
• James Pallotta, the American investor in charge of Italian football club AS Roma, has claimed construction work on a new stadium for the team could begin next March. Read here.
• The founders of Dutch architecture studio MVRDV believe their project for Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans van Beuningen offers a new model for how museums can take full advantage of their vast cultural collections. Read here.
• Pavegen, the British clean-tech company, has launched an innovative flooring system that creates energy from footsteps. Read here.
Wednesday
• Australian architects Crone Partners and Japanese studio Kengo Kuma & Associates will build a luxury hotel for Wanda in Sydey’s Central Business District. Read here.
• A group of top Japanese architects are petitioning UNESCO to recognise Kenzo Tange’s 1964 Tokyo Olympic gymnasium on its World Cultural Heritage list. Read here.
• Plans are in the works to develop a multi-million pound aquarium project in Southampton, combining undersea creatures with a showcase of the region’s links to the high seas. Read here.
• The long-awaited opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. will take place this weekend. Read here.
Thursday
• Golf course architect Tom Doak has designed North America’s first reversible course for the Forest Dunes resort in Michigan. Read here.
• London mayor Sadiq Khan has ordered a review into Thomas Heatherwick’s proposed £185m Garden Bridge project. Read here.
Friday
• British football club Everton is working with US design firm Meis Architects to create a vision for a proposed new stadium. Read here. Read here.
• New York’s American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) has been granted first approval for its US$325m (€288.8m, £248.6m) expansion. Read here.
• Italian architect and spa designer Alberto Apostoli has created a wellness centre in the south of France that evokes a medieval crypt. Read here.
For a quick and comprehensive overview of all our recent stories, take a look at CLAD's Grid View mode.
For more leisure design and architecture news you can check the CLAD website every day and follow us on Twitter @CLADglobal
Garden Bridge MVRDV David Adjaye National Museum of African American History and Culture Washington D.C. Francis Ford Copp[olaAI firm Midjourney enters wellness with spa, fitness and body scanning concept
Hot spring wellness community Ameyalli sells residences and breaks ground on resort and spa
OMA completes New Museum transformation with landmark expansion and Oberon restaurant
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance, hospitality and public programming. The latest addition, Oberon, extends the visitor experience beyond the gallery, reflecting a growing trend for museums to become all-day destinations.
The New Museum in New York has entered a new chapter with the completion of a major
David Rockwell creates immersive magic destination, The Hand and The Eye
Montana Heritage Center by Cushing Terrell opens after US$107 million investment
Universal launches new theme park model with Kids Resort
'Minor wellness hotels' recorded the strongest growth across top KPIs in 2025, finds RLA Global
Great Barrier Reef attraction set for AU$180 million reinvention
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has architecture by Leach Rhodes Walker and interiors by Bergman Design House.
Marriott International partners with Fitwel for wellness solutions across its residential portfolio
Preidlhof Luxury DolceVita Resort to unveil new spa in February 2027
Places Leisure is working with Roberts Limbrick to build £60m wellness flagship in Basingstoke
Hoshino Resorts opens Kai Kusatsu as it expands the Kai onsen ryokan brand
Qiddiya and Populous share details of Saudi Arabia’s National Tennis Centre
Disney confirms US$30 billion investment programme as it highlights its economic impact
Until combines multiple disciplines at new Canary Wharf club
Sea Lanes opens following a partnership between The Eden Project and Canary Wharf Group
Bas Smets brings water and wilderness to Vitra
Expo 2030 Riyadh will create a permanent global destination
Luxury resort coming to Hunter Valley will have longevity spa
'Data chocolate', dreams made real and artworks shaped by visitors’ emotions: Refik Anadol’s AI art museum launches in Los Angeles
London Museum reveals 2026 opening date for new Smithfield home
BIG unveils Eve Music Hall as Croatia venue nears completion
Bob Rogers hands BRC to long-serving leadership team
Palazzo di Varignana launches family wellbeing and longevity retreat in Emilia Romagna
Anasa Wellness and Spa debuts at Patmos Aktis as it joins Marriott
Design-led Koru Health Club combines high-performance training with recovery
Wellness care hospital opens in Vilnius with innovative spa and hospitality concept
Universal and Puy du Fou projects point to rise of Oxford–Cambridge corridor
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’ planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism investment.
For years, the corridor has been associated primarily with science, technology, housing and university-led economic growth. However, the clustering of large-scale visitor attraction projects along the





















