Image: The Populous-designed Olympic Stadium London's "seemingly simple, yet highly innovative" Olympic Stadium has been named as one of six buildings across the UK shortlisted for the 2012 RIBA Stirling Prize. The stadium - the centrepiece of the Olympic and Paralympic Games starting on Friday (27 July) - was designed by Populous and was completed in March 2011. Among the features of the stadium is that it can be taken

Image: Two 50m swimming pools are proposed A contract has been awarded for the design, build and financing of a new high-performance complex in Toronto, Canada, to be used at the Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games. PCL Aquatics Centre 2012 - incorporating PCL Construction, NORR and Counsilman-Hunsaker - has been appointed by Infrastructure Ontario to lead the project following a procurement process. The complex will house the Aquatics Centre and

Image: Olympic Stadium, London - one of the winners National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and the Olympic Stadium in London are among this year's winners of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Awards. This year's awards for architectural excellence were presented to 50 buildings across the UK, as well as nine buildings elsewhere in the European Union. Winners have ranged from a house built in the shape of

Image: Herzog and de Meuron/Ai Weiwei's vision Serpentine Gallery in London, UK, has unveiled plans for its annual Pavilion commission, which this year has been designed by Herzog and de Meuron in collaboration with China's Ai Weiwei. The 2012 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion is the 12th commission in the annual series and forms part of the London 2012 Festival - the culmination of the UK's Cultural Olympiad. Visitors will have the

The new Water Polo Arena, which is to stage men's and women's water polo events during the London 2012 Games, has become one of the last Olympic Park venues to be completed. Built in just 13 months, the 5,000-seat venue's design incorporates a silver-coloured wrap and an inflatable roof. After the Games, it will be dismantled and its elements reused across the UK. The Water Polo Arena is sited to

Vietnam's Six Senses Con Dao Resort and The Library, an extension to a Copenhagen arts centre in Denmark, have been named among the winners at the MIPIM Awards 2012. More than 100 completed or upcoming projects were initially considered by the awards jury for this year's event, with three then selected as finalists in each of the nine categories. Six Senses Con Dao in Ba-Ria, Vietnam, was named Best Hotel

The National Museum of Scotland (NMS) and Hepworth Wakefield have been included among 52 schemes to be recognised at this year's Civic Trust Awards (CTA) in Edinburgh. A total of 27 projects across the UK and overseas were confirmed as award winners, with a further 18 receiving commendations and seven given a community recognition accolade. Six of the award winners picked up special awards, which are designed to celebrate projects

A new 33,500-seat venue currently under construction at the University of Manitoba (UM) in Winnipeg, Canada, remains on course to be completed next year. Designed by Raymond SC Wan, the stadium is to be able to increase its capacity to 40,000 for major occasions such as the Grey Cup and other international events and concerts. The multi-million dollar venue will provide a new home for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of

The London 2012 velodrome, which will be used for Olympic and Paralympic track cycling at next summer's Games, has secured the Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award. Designed by London-based architects Hopkins, the 6,000-seat complex will be used by elite athletes and members of the local community following the 2012 Games. The Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award is designed to recognise new buildings and spaces that seek to improve

Work has begun on a new chocolate-themed visitor attraction in York. The attraction – which has the working title The Sweet History of York - is being developed by Continuum and will celebrate the city's chocolate and confectionery heritage. Work has started on transforming a three-storey building at the end of the city's famous Shambles street and an opening date is planned for spring 2012. The 6,400sq ft of available

A major new SEK2.8bn (£265m, EUR301m, US$428m) sports and entertainment complex - Swedbank Arena - is due to open in Solna, near Stockholm, Sweden, next year. The development will be owned by a partnership consisting of Peab; Fabege; the Municipality of Solna; Jernhusen; and the Swedish Football Association and is the new home of Sweden's national football team. Four architectural firms have contributed to the design of the new facility

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

London 2012's new Aquatics Centre - designed by Zaha Hadid and S&P Architects - has become the last of the six main permanent Olympic Park venues to be completed. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has announced that the complex is to be unveiled later today (27 July), with diver Tom Daley making the first dive into the venue's pool. Work started in June 2008 and has been completed on time,

A new £8m leisure complex under construction in Dorchester, Dorset, remains on course to open in spring 2012, with the structure of the building now reaching its full height. The Leadbitter Group commenced work on the Dyer-designed Dorchester Sports Centre in November 2010, with facilities to include a six-lane swimming pool and a 60-station gym. A dance studio and a changing village also form part of the complex, which is

Plans to extend the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens, London, UK have been approved. The directors of the gallery chose architect Zaha Hadid to design and create the new gallery in 2010, and the extension is now scheduled to open in 2012. As part of the project, the Grade II-listed The Magazine building of the gallery will be renovated and extended to house collections. The project, to be known as

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has revealed that construction work at the London 2012 Basketball Arena is now complete - the fourth Olympic Park venue to be finished. One of the largest temporary venues to be used in an Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is to be dismantled following next summer's competition and will be reused elsewhere. Initial work commenced on-site in October 2009 before the erection of a 1,000-tonne

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Sydney, Australia, has announced that it is to reopen in March 2012, following a AU$53m (£34.2m, EUR39.2m, US$56.5m) overhaul. Work started on the redevelopment project last August, with architect Sam Marshall and the New South Wales Government Architect behind the design of the new-look attraction. An additional 4,500sq m (43,438sq ft) of space will be created as part of the project and will

Lee Valley White Water Centre near Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, has been announced as the first London 2012 venue to open its doors for public use. The facility, which was officially unveiled by HRH The Princess Royal last December, is set to host the Olympic canoe slalom competition next summer. Lee Valley Regional Park Authority will own and run the centre before and after the Games, with facilities featuring a 300m

Work on the construction of London 2012's flagship venue - the Olympic Stadium - has been completed nearly three years after the project commenced. Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chair John Armitt joined London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe and 400m hurdles medallist Tasha Danvers to lay the last piece of turf at the venue. The Populous-designed stadium was built by a team led by Sir Robert McAlpine and came in under

Hockey matches at the 2012 Olympic Games will be played on blue pitches - the first time an Olympic or World-level hockey event has been played on a non-green surface. Sports Technology International has been appointed to design, install and maintain the 2012 hockey pitches, which will feature a blue main surface, pink run off areas and white lines. Plans for the Hockey Centre were submitted to the Olympic Delivery

Warner Bros has announced plans to launch its new Harry Potter studio tour attraction at Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, in spring 2012. In January, it was revealed that US-based exhibition design company Thinkwell had been appointed to design the Warner Bros Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter. The new walking tour will enable visitors to go behind the scenes of the film series, with a range of authentic

A new 6,000-seat velodrome has become the first 2012 Games-time venue at London's Olympic Park to be completed. Work on the VeloPark started in March 2009 and will be host to indoor cycling and BMX competitions at the London Games. Members of the Team GB cycling team took to the track to mark the occasion, with the new velodrome to be handed over to Olympic organisers for the installation of

Westminster City Council (WCC) has approved plans for a temporary 15,000-seat arena on Horse Guards Parade, which will host London 2012 beach volleyball events. Two warm-up courts and six practice courts will be created as part of the 21m (68.9ft)-high venue, which will also feature four 30m (98.4ft)-high floodlights. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games has also been given the green light to start road

The first new-build 2012 Olympic venue to be completed - the Lee Valley White Water Centre near Waltham Cross, Herfordshire - has been officially opened. HRH The Princess Royal unveiled the canoeing and rafting facilities at the venue, which will host canoe slalom events during the London Games. Lee Valley Regional Park Authority will own and operate the centre before and after the Olympics, with the public able to use

Atkins and Populous have unveiled plans for the transformation of London's Horse Guards Parade into the 2012 Olympic beach volleyball venue. The iconic Whitehall location will boast an outdoor seating bowl able to cater for 15,000 spectators under proposals submitted to Westminster City Council for consideration. Two "distinct elements" comprise the design of the new venue - a lower bowl providing a high energy atmosphere and an upper bowl using

A temporary water polo arena, which will be used during the London 2012 Games, has been given the go ahead by the Olympic Delivery Authority's (ODA) planning committee. The proposed venue - designed by David Morley Architects - includes a sloping inflatable roof and will be able to accommodate 5,000 spectators during Games time. Facilities will include a 37m x 23m competition pool and a slightly smaller warm-up pool and

The museum commemorating the victims of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York is set to open to the public in 2012. The US$45m (£29m, €35m) Memorial Museum, designed by Davis Brody Bond architects, will cover 120,000sq ft (11,100sq m) and will be located beneath the memorial plaza. Visitors to the museum will enter through a glass-cased visitors' orientation and education centre located on the