Five-star Swiss alpine hotel Suvretta House, a 100-year-old St. Moritz landmark, has announced plans to refurbish and expand its existing spa into a three-level modern wellness retreat. Situated 1,850m above sea level, the 181-key destination is set in a private estate amid the rolling valleys of St. Moritz. The hotel’s existing 1,700sq m Suvretta House Spa offers stunning views of the Upper Engadine’s landscape of mountains and lakes. It will

Rural Scottish retreat Murrayshall Country Estate has received the green light for its £30 million (US$38 million, €34.8 million) masterplan. The proposal includes plans for an extension to the 40-key four-star hotel in Scone, Perthshire, as well as the addition of a new spa and leisure facility with treatment rooms, a spa pool, spa cafe, gym and studio, a leisure pool and outdoor spa terrace. Proposed updates also include a

The MSG Sphere, a controversial auditorium and music globe designed by Populous, has been given full planning permission by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC). If built, the Sphere would tower 90m above Stratford, London, and in addition to the auditorium, would include a nightclub, bars, restaurants, cafés, shops and parking. The sphere would boast the “largest and highest resolution LED screen in the world” – in the form of

Longwood Gardens, a botanical visitor attraction near Philadelphia, US, has revealed plans for a US$250m redevelopment project. The historic site – one of the largest horticultural gardens in the US – will transform its visitor experience through the revitalisation of 17 acres of its core conservatory area. The 'Longwood Reimagined' project – set to be completed by late 2024 – will expand the public spaces of the central grounds and

London’s Westminster City Council has approved developer Reef Group’s plans to invest over £150m (US$185.3m, €171.4m) in Cavendish Square, transforming the space into a subterranean mixed-use destination, with a focus on healthcare and wellbeing. Claimed to be London’s first subterranean health and wellbeing destination, the 280,000sq ft (26,000sq m) destination will deliver specialist facilities for London’s private healthcare sector. Currently an underground park, the existing structure will be reused and

Swiss luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet will open a museum celebrating the company history next month (June 2020). Located next to the company HQ in the village of Le Brassus in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland, the museum has been designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and will immerse visitors in the manufacturer’s "cultural universe past, present and future". BIG won an architectural competition to design the Musée Atelier Audemars

Chelsea Football Club has allowed the planning permission for its new Herzog & de Meuron -designed stadium to lapse, keeping the project on hold until "economic conditions improve". The English Premier League received planning permission in 2017 to build a 60,000-seat venue at the site of its current Stamford Bridge stadium. But the club announced a year later that it had put the project on hold due to the "unfavourable

Herzog & de Meuron are creating a roadside chapel in Andeer, Switzerland, that will provide a quiet and peaceful place for people to stop, rest and marvel among the surrounding mountains, rivers, meadows and forests. In designing 515 Autobahnkirche, the studio was conscious that are a number of others chapels in the area, many of which are centuries old and are, as they describe, "architectural and art historical gems", whether

Designer Jean-Michel Gathy has created a 3D origami-inspired feature wall for Four Seasons ' spa sanctuary in its upcoming hotel in Japan – called Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Otemachi. Dominating the spa lobby, the flowing paper structure appears to billow and sweep outwards and has been designed to calm guests as they enter the spa. Gathy’s work is inspired by Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake’s flowing fabrics, as captured

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has chosen a team led by Axiom Space with design by Philippe Starck to create a commercial space station that will host professional astronauts and private explorers. The decision follows a solicitation process that will see the Axiom-led team granted access to a node of the International Space Station (ISS) to which it will be able to attach for construction a new habitable

Four Seasons has announced it will open a property at the World Trade Center in New Orleans in late 2020 that will offer panoramic views of both the city and the Mississippi River. Owned by Two Canal Owner and developed by Carpenter and Company and Woodward Interests, Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences New Orleans will be situated in the downtown area of the city. The 341-room hotel will feature

Weiss/Manfredi have been chosen to lead a masterplanning project for the 13ac (5ha) campus of the La Brea Tar Pits, which is described as the world’s only active paleontological research facility in a major urban area. Tar Pits form when a type of naturally occurring petroleum leaks to the surface of the ground and its lighter elements evaporate off, leaving a sticky pool that can trap and preserve animals. Research

Radisson has added the Edwardian Manchester to its luxury Radisson Collection hotels portfolio following a £12m (US$16m, €14m) renovation of its Grade II-listed Free Trade Hall venue. The hotel's revamp combines modern design with elements referencing and incorporating the palazzo heritage of the building, which was constructed between 1853 and 1856 to host cultural and public events. There are 263 rooms and suites, ranging in size from 28sq m (301sq

The Mississippi Aquarium has announced an opening date of 30 April 2020. Designed by Eley Guild Hardy, it will be one of the largest aquariums in the US. Currently under construction in Gulfport, Mississippi, the US$93m (€85m, £75.7m) project will sit on a 5.8-acre (23,500sq m, 253,000sq ft) beachfront site. There will be 80,000sq ft (24,380sq m) of exhibits in total, connected by landscaped walkways with plantings representing all seven

The opening of the new Humboldt Forum museum in Berlin has been delayed until 2020 due to construction delays. Housed inside a reconstructed Prussian palace in the east of the city, the museum – which is named after the explorer and polymath Alexander von Humboldt – was due to open in September 2019. However, in a status update, it was admitted "it would be unrealistic to expect the building to

The Andermatt Concert Hall (ACH) – a 650-capacity arts venue said to be the ‘first major purpose-built concert hall in any Alpine ski village’ has officially opened its doors. Designed by Studio Seilern Architects and constructed by BESIX Group, the new facility is situated in Andermatt, Switzerland, and can accomodate orchestras of up to 75 people. Kahle Acoustics were responsible for sound engineering, while dUCKS scéno served as the theatre

A new Savoy Palace resort is set to open in Funchal, on the Portuguese island of Madeira, to include a destination spa with 11 treatment rooms. The 16-story hotel will include 352 bedrooms and a design that blends bold, modern and historical styles. The 3,000sq m spa has been inspired by the island’s Laurissilva Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest surviving laurel forest in the world. In

Neath Port Talbot council has greenlit plans for the Afan Valley Adventure Resort – a highly anticipated leisure destination set to rise on a 325-acre former forestry plantation in South Wales. The new attraction, which is being overseen by Peter Moore OBE – of Center Parcs fame – will comprise 600 trail lodges, a 100-room spa hotel, restaurants, and a plethora of sports and recreational facilities, including a survival academy

International design studio Fettle have created the Draycott in Los Angeles, CA – the first restaurant from English restauranteur and television personality Marissa Hermer to open in the US. The 186-cover eatery, which takes its name from Draycott Avenue in London (where Hermer met her husband, Matt) features a terrace, bar, and private dining room. Located in the 125,000 sq ft (11,613 sq m) Palisades Village neighbourhood – the brainchild

The Radisson Collection Hotel, Tsinandali Estate has opened its doors in Kakheti, Georgia – a region that pioneered the cultivation of wine-producing grapes over 8000 years ago. Set on an 18-hectare, hilly expanse near the Palace Museum of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze – the aristocratic father of the Georgian Romanticism literary moment – the 141-room resort comprises a number of cavernous and brightly painted spaces reminiscent of Romanesque interiors, as well

Architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi have released the latest set of renderings for the Baker Museum Repair and Expansion Project – the first stage in the renovation of the Artis–Naples campus in Florida. The work is required to repair damage caused by Hurricane Irma, which flooded two floors of the institution in 2017. The estimated US$70m (€61.3m, £53.5m) Weiss/Manfredi redesign features storm-resistant stone and metal cladding. Other updates to the 8.5-acre cultural

Cox Architecture have been selected to design a new stadium at Moore Park in Sydney, Australia. Set to replace the Allianz stadium, which was built in 1988 by the firm’s principal, Philip Cox, the arena is planned to be a 45,000-seat "civic infrastructure" that will provide extensive amenities and services to "multiple specialist and public groups". Cox’s design director, Pete Sullivan said the new building would "provide a superior platform

Corippo, a 200-hundred-year-old village located in the Verzasca valley, is undergoing a transformation which could see it become the first albergo diffuso (“scattered hotel”) in Switzerland. Scattered hotels are effectively regenerated municipalities, endangered districts which get a new lease on life by becoming interactive, multi-venue destinations for travellers interested in full-scale immersion tourism. The plan to save the highland hamlet, the population of which has been diminishing exponentially for half

Philip Vivian, director of the multidisciplinary design firm Bates Smart, has criticised plans by the Australian government to demolish and rebuild Sydney's Allianz football stadium at Moore Park. In November 2017, the government announced it would spend AU$2.7bn (£1.5bn) to demolish and rebuild two of Sydney’s major stadiums. In March 2018, it was decided that Sydney's Allianz would be the only site to be rebuilt. In a statement, Vivian responded

The latest issue of CLADmag has been published and is available to view free of charge on Digital Turning Pages and as PDF, or on subscription in print. In this edition, we speak to German architect Ole Scheeren about his career and his philosophy that all his buildings should tell stories. Perkins+Will’s director of global diversity, Gabrielle Bullock, tells us why architects must reflect the world they design for, while

There has been “a wonderful renaissance” in public realm design, but a lack of meaningful investment threatens to hold back further progress. That is the view of Mehrdad Yazdani, design principal of Yazdani Studio at CannonDesign, who told CLADglobal that “the design community needs to lead the way in helping cities address issues” challenging the long-term success of great public spaces. “My team has worked on a vast array of

Architect Claudio Carbone will oversee a complete renovation of Switzerland’s Grand Hotel Quellenhof in Bad Ragaz as part of an extensive investment programme of around 40m Swiss Francs (US$42m, €34m, £30m). Part of the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, the five-star wellbeing and medical health resort first opened in 1869, and includes 106 suites, which have hosted film stars, statesmen and royalty. CEO Patrick Vogler said the forthcoming renovations will “complete