Little Island, an urban park built on stilts on the Hudson River in New York City, has opened to the public. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, in partnership with Arup and Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects (MNLA), the 1.1-hectare (11,000sq m) park and performance venue features 540 metres of pathways and a range of performance spaces. Little Island’s distinct exterior is supported by 132 "tulip-like" concrete piles. Each tulip’s shape is unique

A global team of architects has been chosen to design the masterplan for the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic village. The team, called Outcomist, includes Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Arup, Nigel Dunnett Studio, Carlo Ratti Associati, Gross Max, Portland Design, Systematica, Studio Zoppini, Aecom, LAND, Artelia and PLP Architecture. The project – called Parco Romana – will transform the vast Porta Romana railway yard area in Milan, creating a Athletes’ Village

Construction work has been completed on the M+ museum building in Hong Kong, ahead of its grand opening later this year. The Herzog & de Meuron-designed museum – created in partnership with TFP Farrells and Arup – is the latest addition to Hong Kong's global arts and cultural landscape and is set to become a new international architectural icon. Located in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District on the Victoria

Designs have been revealed for the world’s first dedicated coral conservation facility, to be located at the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia. Designed by Australian architects Contreras Earl Architecture, in partnership with Arup and Werner Sobek for the Great Barrier Reef Legacy, The Living Coral Biobank aims to secure the long-term future and biodiversity of corals worldwide. The 6,830sq m multi-function centre will have exhibition areas,

The UK government has revealed the six finalists for its Home of 2030 initiative. Launched in November 2019, the competition has been designed to encourage the best and brightest talents of the design industry to create environmentally sustainable, practical and scalable ideas for future homes. A particular focus in deciding a winner will be on designs which support people to live independent, fulfilling lives as society ages. The six teams

Arup has revealed its designs for the redevelopment of the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, UK, which will be the focal point of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. If accepted, the £70m ($90m, €81m) plan will see the stadium become a high-quality venue for diverse sporting, leisure, community and cultural events. Among proposals are plans to build a new western stand, replacing the Main, Knowles and Nelson stands and to add new

British architecture firm Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBS) have won a competition to draft a master plan for Liverpool's historic waterfront district. Situated in the city's UNESCO-recognised maritime quarter, the rehabilitated development will – according to the architects – "maximise the use of the 18th-century dockland to create an outstanding visitor destination." Set to unfold over a 10-year-period, FCBS's plan will also see the area's disused listed buildings restored to

Danish architects Effekt and global engineering consultancy Arup Associates have completed a tornado-shaped observation tower at the Camp Adventure Climbing Park in Denmark. The structure, which rises 45 metres above the Gisselfeld Klosters Skove – a preserved forest outside Copenhagen – features a winding ramp designed to accommodate visitors of all physical abilities. The tower also is linked to a 900-metre boardwalk that snakes through the nature park. According to

Pier 35 – an expansive recreation space taking shape in New York's Lower East Side – will soon be complete. Jointly designed by American architecture practices SHoP and Ken Smith Workshop, the riverside park – part of SHoP's 388-hectare East River Waterfront regeneration project – will feature 28,000 sq ft (2,601 sq m) of public realm, including pedestrian paths, picnic areas, and a screen wall that will be overlaid with

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) have been selected to design Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoe – a mixed-used development and "satellite city" in the westernmost reaches of Moscow. The planned 400 million sq m metropolis will include myriad sporting and recreation grounds, forested parklands, and a lake, as well as cultural and artistic institutes, offices, and entertainment areas. With an aim to accommodate Moscow's rapidly growing population, the new urban centre – which is being

Plans have been unveiled to build the UK’s first dedicated women’s football stadium at Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. Scarborough Group International has submitted a planning application for a 3,900-capacity stadium, which would become the new home of Sheffield United Women Football Club. Whittam Cox Architects, supported by Arup Sheffield, have been appointed to design the £5m (US$6.5m, €5.6m) Stadium, which will feature a single grandstand, housing hospitality and conferencing facilities

Stadium for Bath, the partnership behind a new community-focused elite rugby stadium in the city, has appointed planning and engineering giant Arup to play a central role in the design of the venue. Arup will provide civil, geotechnical, structural, mechanical, electrical and public health engineering as well as ICT, audiovisual, acoustic and specialist lighting design for the new 18,000 seat, digitally-enabled stadium. Arup’s team will be led from Bristol and

A planning application for a new Welcome Pavilion to be built at Liverpool's Albert Dock has been submitted to the city council. Designed by K2 Architects, the structure represents the first phase of a masterplan to upgrade the dockland attraction – home to the largest group of Grade I listed buildings in the country – to the evolving needs of visitors, who travel to the landmark for its mixture of

Architects Cullinan Studio and multidisciplinary firm Arup have received planning permission for the UK’s longest aerial walkway: a 400m-long (1,312ft) ribbon “floating through the treetops” of the Conkers visitor attraction in Leicestershire. The sinuous attraction – composed of a galvanised steel structure – narrows and widens at different points, creating passing places and observation points overlooking the forest below. Three timber-clad treehouses, or eyries, feature along the walkway, providing event

A child-friendly approach to urban planning is a vital part of creating inclusive cities that work better for everyone. That is the conclusion of global architecture and engineering firm Arup, which has published a new report warning that cities risk economic and cultural damage if they fail to address the needs of children aged 17 and under. The authors of ‘Cities Alive: Designing for Urban Childhoods’ argue that children’s ability

The winners of The Structural Awards 2017 have been announced, with multiple leisure projects celebrated for their design and engineering excellence. The British Airways i360 in Brighton, UK, was honoured with The Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence – one of the highest accolades in world engineering. In a unanimous decision, the judging panel, made up of industry experts, described the project as “a remarkable feat of engineering” and praised

Plans for a botanic garden sheltered beneath a duo of biomes in the Omani desert have been unveiled by Arup, Grimshaw Architects and Haley Sharpe Design (hsd). The Oman Botanic Garden spans 420 hectares (1,037 acres) on the Arabian Peninsula and consists of two boomerang-shaped glass biomes, a visitor centre and education and research facilities. Located in the north of the country, 35km (22m) from Muscat at the foot of

Dubai has revealed its legacy plans following the 2020 World Expo, announcing plans to turn the site into a multi-use urban leisure district following the six-month event’s conclusion. More than 80 per cent of the HOK-Arup masterplanned expo site will be reused after the international event closes, with a new community-led development called District 2020 repurposing the site under the government’s legacy scheme. Anchored by 65,000sq m (700,000sq ft) of

The British seaside town of Bognor Regis looks set for a major leisure-led regeneration, with members of the district council throwing their weight behind a mixed-use scheme worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Initial concepts developed by regeneration consultancy Urban Delivery, architect Kay Elliott and multidisciplinary practice Arup visualise an expansive linear park connecting a car park near the train station to Regis Centre. The focal point of the development,

Alberto Rolla, one of the architects behind the recently-constructed Juventus Stadium, has designed a 40,000-capacity venue for Serie A rival Fiorentina. The ground will be located in Florence and cost around €420m (£367.2m, US$448m) to build. Stadium seating will be tight, with fans in the front row seven metres from the pitch. The surrounding 48 hectare area will be developed to include a hotel, a shopping mall, public realm, 700

Health and wellbeing specialist Victoria Lockhart has announced she is leaving her role at global design, engineering and consultancy firm Arup to take up a position at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). Lockhart is a leading researcher in the field of wellness design, specialising in the role technology plays in accurately establishing how the new generation of sustainable buildings will affect the people who use them. IWBI administers the

Hotel giant JW Marriott has opened its first hotel in Singapore across several buildings brought to life by designer Philippe Starck and architects Foster + Partners. The high-profile creative team have designed two new hotel blocks and restored three heritage buildings to create the 634-room Singapore South Beach hotel, which is located in close proximity to the city-state’s Marina Bay entertainment and business districts. Contemporary architecture, restored heritage and a

Wellness in architecture was a key topic at the Global Wellness Summit in Austria last month, as a panel featuring two health and wellbeing specialists from global architecture and engineering firm Arup took the stage to discuss the ways in which building design affects everything from health to mood – and how quickly the space is changing. CLAD editor Liz Terry moderated the panel, which featured Ann Marie Aguilar, who

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands has officially opened the Voorlinden Museum – a modern, minimalist new home for the art collection of industrialist Joop van Caldenborgh. Situated in the southern town Wassenaar and designed by Dutch practice Kraaijvanger Architects with Arup, the museum has parallel symmetrical walls that allow the interior to open to the environment. The simple exterior includes a white colonnade to support the roof and a façade

Plans are underway to recreate William Shakespeare’s iconic Globe Theatre around the world using nothing but scaffolding and re-purposed shipping containers. The original Globe was built by Shakespeare in 1599 in the London borough of Southwark as a theatre in the round, which allowed huge crowds get as close as possible to the onstage action. The theatre was destroyed in 1644, but a replica was created in 1997 using the

The Well Living Lab – the first human-centred research centre investigating the links between health and well-being and indoor environments – has announced its founding “alliance members”. Architecture and engineering firm Arup, technology giant IBM, real estate developer Lendlease and energy saving window company View Inc are among the founding supporters of the project. The announcement was made during the first Well Living Lab Alliance Summit, held on September 13

Hyperloop One, the Los Angeles firm racing to build the world’s first Hyperloop high-speed transport system, has partnered with Arup, AECOM and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to realise its ambitions. The announcement was made today (11 May) as the company, formerly known as Hyperloop Technologies, attempts to prove its futuristic goals have a solid basis in reality and can revolutionise the worlds of transport, business and leisure. In addition to