A wellness-focused mega development in London has received full planning consent, with the scheme expected on-site this year and a completion date of 2030. The Round, at 18 Blackfriars Road in Southwark, London, has been designed by architects Foster + Partners for global real estate developer Hines, which has US$90 billion of assets under management in 30 countries. Arup will drive construction while Knight Frank is the property agent. The

The UAE’s first-ever Dior Spa has officially launched at The Lana, Dubai – the Dorchester Collection’s debut property in the Middle East. Bathed in natural daylight on the hotel’s 29th floor, Dior Spa The Lana was designed by architecture and interior design firm Gilles & Boissier. The 4,300sq ft spa – Dior’s fifth globally – features five treatment rooms and one couple’s suite. Facilities also include a futon for Japanese-inspired

Red Sea Global (RSG), the developer behind regenerative tourism destinations Amaala and The Red Sea, has partnered with fitness-focused hospitality brand and management company Equinox Hotels. The organisation is an offshoot of premium fitness group Equinox which operates more than 100 upscale health clubs in urban markets in the US, Canada and the UK. Equinox Hotels is looking to develop a global network of hotels, with plans for 33 properties

The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind the AMAALA tourism project on the shores of the Red Sea, has revealed detailed plans for a marine life institute. Designed by Foster and Partners, the institute will function as both a scientific research centre and a tourist destination, with 10 zones providing a range of experiences, from augmented reality to submarine dives. The 10,340sqm institute will be built three levels

Hotel group Dorchester Collection and real estate development group Omniyat have joined forces to create a new luxury hotel named The Lana. The 225-room destination will open in Q4 2022 in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa district inside a 30-storey tower designed by architecture firm Foster + Partners. Situated next to the Dubai Creek and Marasi Marina, The Lana will mark the Dorchester Collection’s debut location in the Middle East. Parisian interior

The restoration of the Grade II*-listed Power Station in London is nearing completion, with the mixed-use development preparing to open its next phase over the following months. This will see the first tenants moving into the regenerated Power Station, designed by WilkinsonEyre, followed by residents to the Electric Boulevard – designed by Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners – by the end of the year. Simon Murphy, CEO of the

Wellness resorts operator Six Senses is to open its first UK property in part of a historic former art deco department that will be renovated by Foster + Partners. Six Senses London will be located in London's redeveloped Whiteleys store, which was first opened as a drapery shop in 1863. Having grown to become a department store, it was redeveloped in the 1980s as a shopping centre with a cinema

Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism has confirmed that the Foster + Partners -designed Zayed National Museum will open in 2021, nine years after its initial planned opening date. Conceived in memory of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding president of the UAE, the museum was first announced in 2007 as one of three major museums planned for Saadiyat Island's Cultural District in Abu Dhabi. While the

The Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia has opened after delays, marking the completion of Foster + Partners' mixed-use Comcast Technology Center. Rising 1,121ft (341m) and 60 storeys, the tower is aimed at engaging the community. Shops, bars, restaurants and a 32,000sq ft (3,000sq m) fitness centre are mixed in with workspaces for Comcast and NBC10, as well as the Four Seasons hotel in the building's top 12 levels. Nigel Dancey, head

London-based architecture practice Foster + Partners have revealed plans to create a community-centred boathouse and rowing facility in Washington Heights, New York. Commissioned by competitive rowing charity Row New York, the proposed timber-roofed building will comprise an array of classrooms, event spaces, and outdoor leisure areas – all of which be used for rowing-focused educational programmes. Using the sport as a facilitator for self-empowerment, the centre will also help its

Proposals for a world-class automotive museum in the heart of the English countryside have moved a step further towards realisation with the awarding of outline planning permission. The Mullin Automotive Park will be situated over 63 hectares at the disused Enstone airfield near Chipping Norton in The Cotswolds, UK. It would provide public access to view the classic car collection of US businessman Peter Mullin, founder of M Financial Group,

Details have emerged of Foster + Partners' designs for a London hotel project for French luxury conglomerate, LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH), owner of brands such as Dom Pérignon, Krug, Moët & Chandon, Dior, Givenchy and Hublot. LMVH is planning an 83-key Cheval Blanc hotel on Grafton Street in the heart of Mayfair. The estimated £500m (US$636.3m, €570m) property, which is being developed by O&H Grafton, will

The Transport Museum of Hungary is building a new home in Budapest and has chosen New York architecture practice Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design it, following a competition. The firm beat out rivals including AL_A, Caruso St John, David Chipperfield, and Foster and Partners among others for the museum's new home, which will be based on a former rail maintenance depot site in the Kobanya region in east Budapest.

British architecture firm Foster + Partners have unveiled plans to design Mullin Automotive Park in the heart of England's picturesque Cotswolds region. The proposed £150m (US$192.5, €168.2m) motoring museum, which – if greenlit – will take shape at Enstone Airfield near Great Tew, will comprise a showroom and a main concourse plus a number of pavilions, lodges, green spaces, and interlinking test-drive roads. According to the architects, the idea behind

Foster + Partners have unveiled images for the Tulip Tower, an observatory and event space intended to become the City of London’s next cultural attraction. The 305-metre skyscraper, which will stand alongside the now iconic Gherkin building, will be an office-free venue, providing panoramic views of the city. Developed by J. Hafra Group as part of the City Corporation of London’s Cultural Mile public engagement initiative, the complex will feature

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas will operate a 60-bedroom hotel at The Forestias, a THB90bn (US$2.8bn), 119-acre green development at Bangna in Bangkok being developed by Magnolia Quality Development Corporation Limited (MQDC). The project is a mixed-use, multi-generational lifestyle project that will also incorporate a large forest ecosystem. Set to open in 2022, The Forestias will include residential housing, retail buildings, office buildings, a health centre, innovation centre, forest pavilion,

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

Young architects have been invited to apply to join an ‘Architecture for Wellness’ course, with workshops taught by designers from some of the world’s top practices. Twenty-five places are open for the unique three-month educational programme, which will start in November in Bologna, Italy. There be 108-hours of lessons, including 60 hour-long workshops in which participants will design their own spa. Meanwhile, representatives from firms including Matteo Thun & Partners,

One of Canada’s leading public art consultants has told CLADglobal how the integration of art and architecture on Toronto’s expanded subway system is invigorating one of the most mundane moments of the day – the commute to and from work. The long-awaited York Spadina 8.6km (5.3mi) subway extension, which opened in December 2017, has seen six new stations created, each incorporating a piece of permanent and playful public art. Interactive

Four Seasons will open a flagship hotel and spa in Philadelphia, US, in Q3 of this year. Set in the historic city’s tallest tower – the 60-storey Comcast Technology Center – the new Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center will include 219 bedrooms on the 48th to 56th floors. Above the hotel, the 57th-floor spa will include seven treatment rooms and an indoor infinity pool. The tower – a

Visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of Apple’s futuristic new US$5bn (€4.18bn, £3.7bn) HQ can now get closer than ever before, with the opening of a new visitor centre overlooking Foster + Partner’s vaunted doughnut-shaped design. Designed as “an exclusive public gateway to Apple Park”, the centre opened to the public last week along Tantau Avenue in Cupertino, California. With Foster + Partners again on design duties, the building is

Foster + Partners’ plans to reinvigorate the famous Snowdon Aviary at ZSL London Zoo have received planning approval from Westminster Council. The Grade II listed structure, designed by Cedric Price with Frank Newby and Lord Snowdon in 1962, was the first aviary in Britain that gave visitors a ‘walk-through’ experience, bringing them closer to the birds in their natural habitat. The attraction was recently added to Historic England’s Risk Register

A host of leading international architects are in the running to create a concept design for a new Centre for Music in the City of London. Snøhetta, Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the firms led by Amanda Levete, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster and Renzo Piano have all been shortlisted in the international competition for the concert hall; billed as “a state-of-the-art building of acoustic and visual excellence.” In May, the

Berlin-based architecture photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu has captured the first images of an elegant new Shanghai theatre designed by the studios of Thomas Heatherwick and Norman Foster with a kinetic moving facade. The flexible arts and cultural venue is the focal point of the Bund Finance Centre; a new 420,000sq m (4.5 million sq ft) mixed-use destination Foster+Partners and Heatherwick Studio have designed for the city. According to the design team,

The architectural firm of Norman Foster have confirmed they plan to lay off almost 100 people as a result of “uncertainty in the construction market.” According to a company statement “a cross-section of the team” will be be affected, with staff working at the firm’s British headquarters in Battersea, south-west London, bearing the brunt of the restructure. Foster + Partners employ more than 1,250 people in London, and also have

The architecture studio of Norman Foster are actively seeking to develop a large-scale hybrid machine that can produce metal building components directly from CAD models using 3D printing. Foster + Partners are collaborating with ten companies and research institutes to explore the potential of metal-based 3D printing using additive and subtractive manufacturing processes that will enable production within a short timeframe. The proposed technology, called the Large Additive Subtractive Integrated

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from Foster + Partners’ Mecca hotel to Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s RIBA Gold Medal. Monday • Construction has begun on a large-scale public space in central Hong Kong, designed by landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman, bringing dense tropical vegetation to the heart of the concrete jungle. Read here. • Luxury hotel operator Aman will open a location