Native has opened a vast aparthotel, designed by Archer Humphryes Architects, in the Ducie Street railway goods warehouse in Manchester UK. On the ground floor is an all-day lounge, a mini-cinema, a coffee shop and restaurant. Private meeting and dining rooms, outdoor terraces and three fitness studios complete the mix. Covering 20,000sq ft (1,900sq m), the aparthotel houses 158 luxury studios. All are furnished by Conran Contracts and have sitting

WDL Interior Architects have designed what is described as the "UK's first mental health club", with four separate training zones – athletic, cardio, rejuvenate and stronger. The 10,000sq ft (930sq m) Hero Training Club in Manchester has taken two years to design and build and has four studios variously equipped with facilities to run classes including boxing, HIIT, indoor cycling, circuits, combat training, yoga, pilates and barre. The zones are

New York-based studio Love is Enough has created a new social and cultural destination with spaces to lounge, work and eat in a former railway goods warehouse in Manchester, UK. Cultureplex, on the edge of the city's Northern Quarter, is described as "community centre for a modern city". At its heart is a multipurpose and communal central space that can be used by people throughout the day. The space is

Work has commenced on the restoration of the Grade II-listed Power Hall at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester – part of a larger, multi-million-pound project to create a more sustainable museum and a "beacon for contemporary science". The museum was forced to close the Power Hall in April this year due to urgent repairs that needed to be carried out on the roof. Following a grant of £6m

Officials in Manchester have revealed plans to create a city-wide cycling and walking network made up of more than 1,000 miles of routes – including 75 miles of Dutch-style segregated bike lanes. The ‘Beelines’ network – named after Manchester’s civic symbol of the worker bee – will be the largest joined-up system of walking and cycling routes in the UK. Developed in partnership by the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities

Architecture firm Purcell will create an extension to the historic home of the University of Manchester - Manchester Museum, after winning planning and listed building consent last week. The design team have imagined a contemporary new entrance and two new galleries, which will double the capacity of the museum – part of a wider development plan as it seeks “to become the UK’s most imaginative, inclusive and caring museum.” Purcell

After transforming a historic Scottish bank building into a bar, architecture studio Jestico + Whiles have unveiled their latest hospitality conversion project: a steak and gin restaurant built within Manchester’s Victorian-era Corn Exchange. Conceived as a hidden speakeasy serving 60 types of gin, Alston Bar & Beef will see diners must enter via a discrete entrance into a modest lobby, which is decorated by a large hand-painted mural created by

Developer Allied London and architecture studio Levitt Bernstein have submitted design proposals to reinvigorate Manchester’s abandoned London Road Fire Station as a new leisure destination for the city. The Grade II* listed Edwardian Baroque style building had fallen into disrepair when it was bought by Allied London in 2015. Now the company wishes to refurbish and expanded the site to house a boutique hotel, bars, restaurants, workspace and apartments. The

A gothic Victorian country mansion near Manchester has been restored and renovated as the second property for boutique hotel company Oddfellows. Over an 18-month period, Tim Groom Architects and interior designers SpaceInvader transformed Buntwood Hall – previously used at different times as an equestrian stud farm, a town hall, an office for a film company and a fashion designer’s studio – into Oddfellows On The Park; a Victorian-style hotel with

Factory, the flagship arts building for the north of England designed by Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), has been granted planning approval by Manchester City Council. Construction will begin in Q1 2017 on the large-scale venue, which has been designed to reflect the “extraordinary creative vision and breadth of Manchester’s cultural life”. Ellen van Loon and OMA founder Rem Koolhaas are leading the project. The £110m (US$137.2m, €129.6m)

Fairhurst Design Group, the architect behind Salford’s MediaCityUK and Manchester United’s training ground, has been appointed to design Grimsby Town FC’s ambitious new stadium development. The Manchester-based studio has overseen the design of the 14,000-capacity stadium and surrounding development, which includes an ice rink, leisure facilities and housing. Extreme Leisure, the sports brand founded by entrepreneur Alistair Gosling, is partnering with the League Two football club on the £55m (US$67.6m,

Stadiums and arenas built for events such as the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games should all be temporary, according to South African architect Ruben Reddy. Talking at the Soccerex Global Convention in Manchester, Reddy told delegates that the structures should be designed so that they can be deconstructed and the materials used to create other civic buildings such as hospitals and school. He used his native South Africa as

by Kim Megson | 29 Jul 2016

A 200-bed five star hotel and 30,000sq ft (2,800sq m) of leisure space will dominate the latest architectural project being developed by former Manchester United stars Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville. Restaurants, bars, shops and three anchoring public squares will feature at the St. Michael’s scheme in Manchester, which Neville has vowed will be “the biggest statement in architecture and development that the city has seen in modern times”. Architecture

by Kim Megson | 25 Nov 2015

Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has won an international competition to design a cutting-edge arts venue in the UK city of Manchester. Nine internationally acclaimed architects – including Zaha Hadid Architecture, Mecanoo, Rafael Vinoly Architects and Diller Scofidio + Renfro – were shortlisted to design the flagship cultural centre, named The Factory. The £110m (US$166m, €157m) large-scale venue – which takes its name from Factory Records, the Manchester

by Kim Megson | 16 Nov 2015

Five studios have been shortlisted to design a major extension to Manchester’s Hallé St Peter’s music venue; adding extra rehearsal, performance and education space to the Grade II listed former church building in the UK. Caruso St John; Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios; Flanagan Lawrence; Jamie Fobert Architects’ and Stephenson Studio beat off competition from 37 other firms across the UK and Europe in the RIBA-organised contest. The extension will be

by Tom Walker | 01 Sep 2015

Singapore-based real estate and investment company Rowsley – controlled by billionaire Peter Lim – has acquired a 75 per cent stake in Hotel Football in Manchester, the hotel project driven by a quintet of Manchester United legends. In a statement, Rowsley said it will pay £29.1m (US$64.1m, €39.7m) to acquire a 75 per cent shareholding in each of the Hotel Football-related businesses – the 133-bedroom hotel; Cafe Football, a 120-seat

by Tom Anstey | 03 Aug 2015

The local council of Manchester, UK, is searching for an architect to design a new proposed £110m (US$172.2m, €156m) flexible art space within the city. Supported by £78m (US$122m, €110.6m) in funding from the UK government, the new arts space is dubbed ‘The Factory.’ It forms part of a wider initiative in the north of England to restore the “cultural and economic counterbalance” to London in the south, which in

by Jason Holland | 16 Jul 2015

McInnes Usher McKnight Architects' (MUMA) “highly-original” extension and refurbishment of Manchester’s Whitworth art gallery has made the shortlist of six for this year's Stirling Prize. It was described by award organisers, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), as “a project for all seasons, where art, nature and architecture combine” which “could be the eulogy for a building which is neither high-key nor overtly fashionable”. The Whitworth reopened on 14

by Jak Phillips | 08 Dec 2014

Manchester City Football Club has today (8 December) opened the doors to the club’s new City Football Academy (CFA) – reported to have cost £200m (US$312m, €255m) – following a four-year project. The new facility in East Manchester – a stone’s throw from the club’s Etihad Stadium – forms a key part of plans to regenerate the former industrial wasteland. The two-year building phase was led by BAM Construction working

by Kath Hudson | 20 Nov 2014

Developer Allied London has revealed plans to redevelop Manchester’s Granada Studios, the former home of Coronation Street, into an event hotel. Studios, rehearsal and production rooms - including the studio where The Beatles played their first ever live TV performance - will be brought to life with a programme of live entertainment, for which guests will be able to buy packages. Development of The Manchester Grande is expected to begin

by Jak Phillips | 19 Aug 2014

Developer Bruntwood and The University of Manchester, UK, have submitted plans for a mixed-use precinct regeneration, which forms phase two of the £50m (US$83.25m, €62.4m) redevelopment of Manchester Business School (MBS). The phase two plans focus on the redevelopment of the existing precinct centre to create a 40,500sq ft (3,763sq m) retail and leisure offering, with architects BDP and Leach Rhodes Walker responsible for the designs. The proposals reconfigure the

by Tom Anstey | 22 May 2014

New images have been released to show how Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium will look once the 6,000-seat stadium expansion is completed. City gained planning permission in February to extend the stadium capacity, with engineering firm Laing O’Rourke overseeing the construction. An integrated Laing O’Rourke Group team will carry out the expansion, with work starting at the beginning of April. Interesting aspects of the new pictures include versatile signage on the

by Tom Anstey | 09 May 2014

A boutique hotel is at the heart of a £30m redevelopment of Manchester’s Grade II listed Corn Exchange building, with hotel operators being invited to express interest in the project. The building’s owners – Aviva Investors – are behind the redevelopment programme which will include 13 new independent restaurants and the 86-bedroom Edwardian hotel, featuring a breakfast room and lounge overlooking Exchange Square. Simon Green, asset manager at Aviva Investors,

by Tom Walker | 03 Apr 2014

Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) has appointed construction group Laing O'Rourke to build the expansion of its Etihad Stadium. The extension works, designed by architects Populous, are expected to cost £50m and will be undertaken in two phases. The work will result in the venue having a capacity of 60,000 (up from the current 48,000) - making it the second largest in the English Premier League behind Old Trafford (capacity

by Tom Walker | 07 Aug 2013

Artist's impressions, claiming to show detailed plans for a new football stadium in New York, US, have emerged on the imgur.com photo sharing website. The plans purport to show the new home of the New York City Football Club (NYCFC) - a new franchise due to enter Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2015. NYCFC was announced as the MLS's 20th franchise in May 2013 and is a joint venture between

by Jessica Tasman-Jones | 01 May 2013

Plans to transform part of East Manchester with new sports and community facilities have been granted council approval, with work due to begin later this year. The joint venture between Manchester City Council, Manchester City Football Club and urban regeneration company New East Manchester will see a 16-acre site in Beswick redeveloped with a new leisure centre, pool and school. A sports research centre, offering academic research and diagnostic facilities,

by Jessica Tasman-Jones | 17 Apr 2013

Manchester City Council has revealed plans for a national home for both speedway and basketball, as part of the £10m Belle Vue Sports Village development. It will offer new sports facilities for the community and elite athletes alike, while also modernising the existing Belle Vue Leisure Centre. A purpose-built 6,500-capacity speedway will provide the Belle Vue Aces with their own home allowing them to hold weekend meets, which will strengthen