Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, UK, has opened a life-sized replica of a healthcare centre for infants, offering visitors an opportunity to discover how new and expectant mothers in the early 1960s were cared for and supported. The new Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre is housed in its own building, allowing visitors to explore a waiting room, doctor’s surgery, a dispensary and other exhibits – as well as meet

Morgan’s Wonderland – a Texas-based theme park which caters specifically to people with disabilities – has revealed plans to add attractions worth US$6 million in 2024. The major additions will include a 4D cinema giving, a passenger boat ride across the park’s eight-acre fishing lake, a zipline soaring above the lake and a wheelchair-accessible "bike ride". The 4D theatre, located at the park's Sensory Village, gives guests the sensation of

Luxury jewellery and design house Tiffany & Co. has reopened its flagship store on 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City, following a redesign led by architect Peter Marino and OMA New York. The project marks the first renovation of the store since it first opened its doors in 1940 and has been named The Landmark. For the redevelopment, Marino reimagined the interior architecture while OMA New York,

Disney is set to undergo a "major restructuring" following the shock return of CEO Bob Iger. Iger, who steered Disney as CEO from 2005 until 2020 – when his contract expired – returned to the entertainment giant recently. His return follows the exit of Bob Chapek, who took over as Disney CEO from Iger in February 2020 – just as the COVID-19 pandemic began hitting the entertainment and visitor attraction industry

A huge "film city" and visitor attraction project in Nigeria has reached a major milestone, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between marketing and development agency Del York International Group and The Lagos State Government. The two partners signed what they described as a "monumental agreement to transform the face of the creative industry on the continent of Africa". The deal will see the state government officially

A new natural history museum in Abu Dhabi will take visitors on a 13.8-billion-year journey through time and space. Called the Abu Dhabi Natural History Museum and set to open in 2025, the museum will be located on Saadiyat Island, in the Saadiyat Cultural District. The project was officially unveiled by Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and chairman of the

Kew Gardens has established a "living laboratory" at its wild botanic garden at Wakehurst, UK. The move is part of a research project to explore the benefits of biodiversity in the UK. The Wakehurst site is open to visitors and includes a number of botanical attractions to explore – such as the 150-acre Loder Valley Nature Reserve, an area called The Wetlands and a six-acre American Prairie. As well as

A museum telling the story of the US Army has opened in close to Newington, close to Washington, D.C. The National Museum of the United States Army (NMUSA) is the first to outline the rich heritage of the oldest branch of the United States military had has been designed to serve as a center of education and as the Army’s symbolic "front door". Rather than focusing on battles or wars,

Details have been revealed for what is being described as the world's most radical and environmentally-friendly furniture factory and visitor centre. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) for Vestre, the 6,500sq m factory – called The Plus – is in Magnor, Norway. It will be a "global showcase for sustainability" and highly-efficient manufacturing. As well as a fully functional factory, The Plus will include a visitor centre and a 300-acre

A luxury spa which overlooks an archaeological excavation spanning 13 civilizations, has recently been unveiled at The Museum Hotel Antakya, Turkey. Turkish design firm Emre Arolat Architecture led the multi-layered project’s design which centres around rare mosaics and is stacked with contemporary steel frames supporting sheltering rooms linked by walkways and glass-panelled bridges. The hotel’s decor has been completed with copper accents, warm wooden floors and views onto the surrounding

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has created a task force that will define the role buildings, organisations and communities can play in tackling COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. The Task Force on Coronavirus will focus on how the places in which we spend our lives can support respiratory wellbeing and be prepared for related health events like the current coronavirus spread. It will draw on insights from experts across

The English National Ballet (ENB) has moved into a new £27m ($33m, €30m) home in London designed by Glenn Howells Architects (GHA). The 93,000sq ft (8,600sq m) building combines a number of previously separate ENB campuses into what it calls "a multi-faceted 'dance factory'". The ground floor is conceived to be a gathering and circulation space, with a public café and an exhibition area. Seven full-sized rehearsal studios include a

​ Wheeler Kearns Architects have transformed a decommissioned cheese factory in the US city of Bentonville, Arkansas, into a multidisciplinary space for visual, performing and culinary artists. The Momentary was opened at the end of February as a satellite location of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which is also in Bentonville. The 63,000sq ft (5,900sq m) facility was conceived with the aim of providing a unique cultural hub

The newly opened Higgins Hotel New Orleans has been designed by Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates (NBWW) and Kay Lang + Associates (KLA) to tell the story of World War II. The hotel is operated by Hilton as part of its Curio Collection and is owned by the National WWII Museum. Located on the museum's campus in the Arts and Warehouse District of New Orleans, it has been conceived

Studio Fuksas have won a competition to redevelop Sveta Nedelya Square in Sofia, Bulgaria, with a design that complements a celebration of the square's history with carefully integrated high-tech canopies. The square covers an area of 34,000sq m (366,000sq ft) and has a 10th-century church, Sveta Nedelya Church, at its centre. A second-century Roman archaeological site with a tavern, shops and plumbing infrastructure, meanwhile, sits below the square. Studio Fuksas

BuckleyGrayYeoman are to convert a former ice factory, coachworks and power station to house 30,000sq ft (2,800sq m) of restaurant units, retail space and offices adjacent to another of their mixed-use developments. The firm completed its Eccleston Yards mixed-use creative hub project on a derelict and underutilised car park in London, UK, for Grosvenor last year. It comprises a public courtyard where people can sit and a pedestrian mews surrounded

Dorte Mandrup and her studio have won a competition to design an attraction dedicated to whales that will rise organically out of the ground and merge with the surrounding landscape. Called The Whale, it will be located 300km (186mi) north of the Arctic Circle on the northernmost part of Andøya island in Andenes, Norway. The area is regarded as one of the best places in the world for whale-watching and

New York-based real estate investors Bridgeton have converted a former button and ribbon factory in Tribeca into a boutique hotel that harnesses the building's Gilded Age architecture to recall the city's past. Although responsible for the overall design of the Walker Hotel Tribeca, Bridgeton brought in a number of specialists to collaborate on elements like its restaurant and its cocktail bar. Constructed in 1899, the Renaissance Revival style building stretches

The Kai Art Center, designed by KAOS Architects, has opened in a former submarine production plant in Tallinn, Estonia. Originally built in 1916 to house workshops for shipbuilding, the building was used for the construction of 12 submarines between 1913 and 1917. Split across two floors, it is made of reinforced concrete and has a curved roof that gives the centre one of its most notable features – a 6m

Experiential designers MET Studio have worked with the Singapore Bicentennial Office to create "an immersive experience charting the area’s occupation through to modern day Singapore." The experience comprises a 45-minute tour of Singapore’s evolution set within an original colonial building. A combination of digital and physical techniques are used, with the tour curated as a series of zones or acts. Act one sees a "virtual storm" projected onto water within

The observation deck on the top floor of the Empire State Building has reopened this week after the third of a US$165m (€148, £128) four-phase redevelopment of the experience at the iconic New York City landmark. The observatory redevelopment was carried out by design consultants Beneville Studios, project managers JLL, elevator company Otis, contractors Skanska and Thinc Design, who designed the wider observatory experience exhibition. Squint/Opera were responsible for the

Construction of the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York has begun, following delays caused by a lawsuit brought by a community group. The hotly anticipated new wing of the museum – a projected US$383m (€338m, £301m), 230,000sq ft (70,104sq m) project – has been designed by Studio Gang Architects, with the intention of improving visitor circulation to

International spa and wellness consultants The E77 Company are working on a spa hotel in Lithuania designed specifically for millennial customers, which is due to open in late summer 2019. The Spa Hotel Esé – pronounced ‘essay’ – will be located in the spa town of Birštonas, surrounded by pine forests and the winding loops of the Nemunas River. The town is well-known for its clean air, therapeutic mud and

The Hettema Group and architecture practice Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) have been tapped to create a sky deck and visitor attraction at the Aon Center in Chicago, IL. The redevelopment, the plans for which were recently finalised, will see the 83-storey building transformed into a public destination with multiple retail and dining amenities. Connected to the ground floor via what has been called the "tallest elevator of its kind in

Construction of the main structure of the second outlet of the Chinese Museum of Natural History in Zhejiang is complete. Designed by David Chipperfield Architects, the museum is built into a sloping hillside in the city of Hangzhou and comprises an inner courtyard as well as several low-rise pavilions with exhibition halls and galleries. The galleries have been rendered in red ochre in order to match the clay earth of

Architecture firm Hotei Russia have offered to design a replacement for the Azure Window, a limestone formation which famously appeared in the Game of Thrones television series and collapsed in 2017. The Russian architects' conceptual designs for the new landmark – dubbed "The Heart of Malta" – depict a polygonal structure connected to the mainland by an overwater promenade. According to the group, the new building will also feature "mirrored

Curio Collection by international hospitality group Hilton has opened a boutique hotel on the site of a former steel mill in Asheville, North Carolina. Designed by local design studio Lagom Interiors, the 87-room Foundry Hotel – which will be operated by Charlestowne Hotels – features an herb garden, fitness room, and a 3,400 sq ft courtyard. Other facilities include a mixology bar and lounge as well as the Benne Eagle