A new recovery brand – Re:set by Pure – will open its first studio in Hong Kong on 1 July. The ‘smart wellness studio’ concept is the brainchild of industry veterans Colin Grant, Rey Bolivar, and Richard Boyd, who already have further studios in development, along with plans to franchise. Backed by Pure Group, which operates health clubs and yoga studios in Asia and the US, the new concept has

The Naturhotel Forsthofgut resort has opened a health-focused extension to its existing spa in the forests of Salzburg at the base of the Asitz mountain in Austria. The 109-key hotel and land has been privately owned and managed for more than 400 years by the Schmuck family, whose hospitality philosophy is ‘harmony with nature’. The family has expanded its existing 5,700sq m WaldSpa (translated in English to Forest Spa) by

An excavation of the lost ancient city of Pompeii in Naples, Italy, has unearthed a well-preserved private thermal spa dating back almost 2,000 years. Pompeii, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, was once a thriving Roman city before it was engulfed by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted on 24 August AD 79. The site is now an archaeological park and has been gradually excavated since the 16th century.

Saudi Entertainment Ventures (SEVEN) has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to bring purpose-built indoor adventures centres to the Kingdom. The new Discovery Adventures centres will integrate Discovery’s media content and will be designed to enable young people to "be entertained and gain informed insights with educational value". SEVEN, a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), has a goal of transforming the entertainment

Coventry, the UK City of Culture in 2021, wants to seize a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create an arts hub to establish the city as an international destination for culture. Coventry City Council (CCC) has revealed multi-million pound plans to transform the IKEA building in the city into a visitor attraction showcasing some of the UK's greatest works of art. The new national Collections Centre would be created through a partnership

A new waterfront destination in San Francisco, US, would transform the city's South Beach neighbourhood. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the project – called The Cove – would be developed on the site of three former piers which were destroyed in 1984. The Cove is based around a dramatic five-acre public park and has been designed to provide a new hub of activity for the city. The horseshoe-shaped building includes modular,

Construction has begun on a Hassell -designed grass-covered dome pavilion at Jodrell Bank to help celebrate the site’s heritage and the beginnings of radio astronomy when it opens in 2021. Jodrell Bank is located in Cheshire, UK, and is home to one of the world’s largest and most powerful radio telescopes, the Lovell Telescope, which is used to explore deep space. The pavilion, built for the University of Manchester, will

Luxury alpine destination Vail Marriott Mountain Resort has relaunched its spa and wellness with a focus on sports recovery, following a $6m (€5m, £5m) resort-wide refurbishment by Simeone Deary Design Group. Developed and managed by boutique spa operator Trilogy Spa Holdings, the 8,830sq ft (820sq m) Well & Being centre focuses on offers evidence-based healthy living services. There are seven treatment rooms in total, with facilities for cryotherapy, vibration therapy

The UK government has announced a £250m (US$322m, €290m) Culture Investment Fund for England. The funding package will be spent on infrastructure projects in the culture, museums and libraries sectors. More than £125m (US$161m, €145m) of the fund is earmarked for investment in improvements to regional museums and libraries. As the recipient of the largest single contribution from the fund (£18.5m US$23.8m, €21.4m), the National Railway Museum in York will

Collidanielarchitetto 's design of the first venue outside Italy for restaurant chain VyTA is an "eclectic and experimental" conversion of a space in London's Grade II listed Covent Garden Market. Collidanielarchitetto says the project draws on both contemporary design and the "architectural culture of the sixties." This has been translated to wooden walls and lacquered surfaces, inlays and friezes, glass and metals used throughout the space. The lower floor, where

American interior design practice Arrowstreet have created BKBX, a 771 sq m "adventure lifestyle ecosystem" in Boston, US. Geared towards athletes who regularly embark on high-intensity excursions, the new facility features a bouldering wall, an "adventure bar", and an integrated fitness programme devised by Dr Paul Juris, formerly the executive director of the Cybex Research Institute. The gym – Arrowstreet's fourth project with Brooklyn Boulders – also boasts an innovative

The University of Warwick has released an in-depth fly-through video of its soon-to-be-completed sports and wellness hub in Coventry, UK. Set to become one of the largest recreational and fitness facilities in Britain, the David Morley-designed complex will span 16,684 sq ft (1,550 sq m) and feature a 12-court sports hall and 230-station gym, as well as pools, indoor climbing walls, fitness suites, studio spaces, and outdoor sports pitches. The

London-based Foster + Partners has been awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Sterling prize for its work designing the European headquarters of business news giant Bloomberg. The 1.1 million sq ft, £1bn (US$1.3bn, €1.1bn) building, which stands in heart of the City of London above the reconstructed Roman temple of Mithras, is said to be the largest stone building in the district since St Paul’s Cathedral. Described by

Construction is nearing completion on the only new stadium being built for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. The 16,000-capacity Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium in Iwate Prefecture will host two fixtures at next year’s tournament. It will first open on the 19 August 2018 for a memorial match between the Kamaishi Seawaves Rugby Football Club and Top League side Yamaha Jubilo, in honour of those who lost their lives

French architecture studio SCAU have won the design competition to create an Olympic stadium and leisure park in the suburbs of Paris, with their vision for a venue extensively covered by plants. The practice will develop and expand the existing Hunebelle Stadium into a 24,000sq m (258,300sq ft) mixed-use ground with a connected bowling alley, gymnasium, athletics hall and parking that flow organically into one another, partially underground. Situated on

The next batch of category winners have been announced on the second day (November 16) of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards in Berlin, with hotel and leisure, bar and restaurant and future cultural buildings all recognised. Vietnamese practice Cong Sinh Architects won the Hotel & Leisure category for Vegetable Trellis in Ho Chi Minh City, a mixed-use space bringing a cafe, restaurant, hotel, park and public educational space to

The Italian architect and ‘vertical forest’ pioneer Stefano Boeri has overseen the start of construction on his vast masterplan for Liuzhou Forest City in China; a metropolis where every building – from houses and hotels to restaurants and the railway station – will be entirely covered by plants and trees. The green city, designed to fight pollution through design, is the first of its kind in the country. It will

The architecture practice of Jean Nouvel have revealed new renderings of the plant-covered hotel they have designed for Rosewood in São Paulo. Developer Allard Group is transforming a complex of early 20th century landmark buildings in the Brazilian city into a development featuring a hotel and spa, private residences, art galleries, high-end retail and entertainment venues. Nouvel has been commissioned to create the centrepiece hotel, located in and around the

As the Museum of London formulates plans for its £250m (US$324m, €291m) move to the iconic Smithfield Market, its exhibition team is digging deep to present London’s history in new ways – including opening up the site's underground passages for a glimpse of what the city was like in Victorian times. The museum was given the green light to move to its new home in January 2016, after alternative redevelopment

The Sydney authority responsible for developing vast swathes of new public realm for the city has released its proposal for a one-hectare public park, an expanded waterfront walkway, a public pier and a new Harbour cove. The Barangaroo Delivery Authority, on behalf of the New South Wales government, is planning the attractions to complete Barangaroo South – Sydney's largest urban renewal project since the 2000 Olympics. Development firm Lendlease will

The Nanaimo Deep Discovery Association (NDDA) has showcased plans for a new CA$40m (US$30.6m, €28.5m, £24.5m) attraction in British Columbia, Canada, designed to connect people with the ocean environment and deep-sea technology. The facility, according to the NDDA, would be a unique, educational, ocean experience attracting visitors with a range of displays and activities, some static, some “virtual”, some “interactive”, and some “living”. NDDA president Lorne Hildebrand is behind the

A big tent festooned with neckerchiefs will be the centrepiece of a new museum dedicated to the international Scouting movement. Architecture studio Tate Harmer have won a competition to design the £6m (US$7.3m, €7m) project, which will be located at Gilwell Park in Chingford, east London – the “spiritual home” of the UK branch of the Scouting Association, and the place where first Scout leaders were trained in 1919. The

Hospitality giant Four Seasons has opened its own design studio, where decisions will be made on everything from table settings used in the group’s hotels to the layout of guest rooms and the outfits worn by hotel staff. The Four Seasons Research and Discovery Studio (R&D Studio) has been launched at the company’s headquarters in Toronto. Designed as “a workshop designed for experimentation” in which ideas can be explored in

A new US$8m (€7.1m, £6.1m) science centre telling the story of the Colorado Plateau and encouraging exploration of the wider area – which is home to the Grand Canyon – has opened its doors to the public in Utah. Located in the city of Monticello, the 16,200sq ft (1,500sq m) Canyon Country Discovery Center looks at the Four Corners region – the quadripoint in the Southwest US where the states

Hollywood star Robert De Niro will build his planned luxury hotel in London’s Covent Garden after the deputy leader of the local council hailed the design as “one of the finest schemes we have considered in years”. Permission for the The Wellington Hotel has been granted, enabling the star of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull to increase his burgeoning hospitality portfolio. Architects Kohn Pedersen Fox have designed the 83-room hotel,

Planning approval for a “game-changing” £37m (US$49m, €43.7m) water park has been granted by Coventry City Council. The FaulknerBrowns-designed facility – which is located in the city’s town centre, and was funded by both private and public investment – is expected to open its doors in 2018. As well as flume rides the water park contains toddler areas, leisure water and lane swimming. Most of the water features and high

Hollywood legend Robert De Niro is planning to build an 83-room luxury boutique hotel in London’s Covent Garden. The actor has partnered with development firm Capital & Counties Properties (Capco) and hospitality operator BD Hotels for the project, called The Wellington Hotel. A planning application has been submitted to Westminster City Council for consideration. The proposed hotel, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, would span six adjacent buildings within the Covent