Construction work on the second phase of the Universal Resort Beijing is set to begin by 2025. The expansion of the resort, which first opened in September 2021, will form part of the Chinese government's wider action plan to invest in Beijing's tourism infrastructure and to develop the city into a global destination. The second phase will add around 2.2sq km to the total park area at Universal Beijing and

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts will unveil a brand new Asaya wellness spa in 2024 at a lakeside castle in the Austrian countryside. The spa will open at the luxury hotel and spa operator’s upcoming hotel Rosewood Schloss Fuschl, complete with eight treatment rooms, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a fitness centre. Asaya is Rosewood’s signature wellness concept focused on the intersections between physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. The Asaya

Austrian eco-resort Puradies in Leogang, Austria, has been upgraded with a brand new spa inspired by the four natural elements and designed to integrate smoothly into the natural landscape. Italian architecture and interior design firm Network of Architecture (Noa*) was appointed to realise the new 1,500sq m Heaven Spa in October 2022. With 76 rooms and 14 chalets, the family-run hotel is laid out as a village and is dedicated

Blue Run Spirits has released the first images of its planned distillery and visitor attraction in Georgetown, Kentucky, US. Blue Run, a company specialising in bourbon and rhye whiskies, launched in October 2020 and appointed Bjarke Ingels Group’s (BIG) as the lead architect for the US$51m project. BIG's plans for the new headquarters include a 35,000sq ft distillery and a 20,000sq ft rickhouse. Called ‘Meander' the designs evoke the journey

Universal Beijing Resort in China is preparing to embark on the second phase of its construction programme. The project will add around 2.2sq km to the total park area and will include up to five new hotels. This means the second phase will more than double the current size of the 1.8sq km park. The announcement comes less than three months after the park opened its doors to the public,

Nordic Hotels & Resorts is creating an urban wellness retreat in Norway’s capital city of Oslo as part of its 231-room hotel project. Owned by Norwegian hotelier Petter Stordalen, the luxury destination will be named Sommerro and welcome guests in the city’s Frogner neighbourhood as of September 2022. Sommerro will be housed in a restored 1930s building – formerly the headquarters of the city’s original electrical company – and encompass

Luxury eco-resort Kisawa Sanctuary has launched with a soft opening on Mozambique's subtropical island of Benguerra, complete with a Natural Wellness Centre inspired by Mozambican dwellings. Kisawa has been brought to life using patented 3D sand-printing technology and is the brainchild of entrepreneur Nina Flohr – the daughter of Thomas Flohr, Swiss billionaire and founder of private aviation company VistaJet. The method was used wherever possible to replace less sustainable

Baca Architects has submitted a scheme to transform an unused flooded quarry and surrounding land into an eco-wellness resort, centred on waterside living and water-based recreation. In development is a response to pandemic travel bans, which are driving growth in the UK holiday market. The 80-hectare Ashwicken Lake site is situated in East Anglia, UK, and features woodlands, wetlands and a 1sq km lake. A £35m (US$49.4m, €40,7m) investment by

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

Plans by Forest Green Rovers Football Club (FGRFC) to play its games at the world’s first entirely wooden stadium have been approved by the English Football League (EFL). Getting approval to host games at the proposed stadium clears another planning hurdle for the project, which would see a 5,000-seat venue built near the UK town of Eastington. Plans for the stadium were first unveiled in 2015 and it is expected

Maslina Resort has opened on the Croatian island of Hvar, inspired by local healing traditions and nature. Croatian architect Tomislav Alujevic, interior designer Léonie Alma Mason and landscaper Thomas Seconde were responsible for the project, working with Melany Martinez Thomas, founder of consultancy, Spa and Wellness Collective on the spa. Located near Stari Grad, the 53-key resort is surrounded by olive groves and terraced vineyards, stretching across two hectares of

The UK government has revealed the six finalists for its Home of 2030 initiative. Launched in November 2019, the competition has been designed to encourage the best and brightest talents of the design industry to create environmentally sustainable, practical and scalable ideas for future homes. A particular focus in deciding a winner will be on designs which support people to live independent, fulfilling lives as society ages. The six teams

FAAB Architektura have designed a conceptual eco-building for Saudi Arabia aimed at changing the environment around it. The Vertical Oasis Building would feature 59 above- and below-ground levels spread across a height of 220m (722ft). A mixed-use programme would include retail, office, hotel and residential spaces, as well as a 712sq m (7,700sq ft) rooftop park. The main feature of the tower's design, though, is a permeable façade broken up

​ 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

Oppenheim Architecture are creating an environmentally sustainable eco-resort in the Bahamas that is aimed at providing a secluded retreat for guests while helping them to develop a deeper connection with nature. illa Bimini will cover 40ac (16ha) along a 9,000ft (2,750m) stretch of coastline on Rockwell Island and is described as "a holistic community where every element is designed to blur the boundary between architecture and the landscape". The design

Already the architect developing the Sundsholmerne ecovillage on the waterfront of the new Stigsborg district in Aalborg, Denmark, C.F. Møller has now also been chosen to create its surrounding green space. The Sundsholmerne sustainable community is part of the 54ha (133ac) Stigsborg Waterfront project, which is transforming old industrial sites into new neighbourhoods. Covering 5,000sq m (54,000sq ft), Sundsholmerne will feature a variety of housing with communal facilities that 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 Aqua Sana spa at Center Parcs Longleat Forest, UK has relaunched following a £6m ($8m, €7m) refurbishment by Sparcstudio. The new 2,222sq m (24,000sq ft) "Forest Spa" has been reimagined with the creation of 24 spa experiences which draw inspiration from different aspects of nature and the surrounding forest landscape. Sparcstudio co-director Neil Fairplay told Spa Business : "The special feel of Longleat spa’s distinctive forest location was something

Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde has argued that finding a harmony between economic progress and humanity is crucial for society and that we must embrace creativity to do so. Speaking to CLAD for an interview, Roosegaarde said: "I want to demonstrate that creativity is our true human capital, because we need to find a new harmony between economic progress and humanity. "The way we’re doing things now is not sustainable. Instead

PLP Architecture have won a competition to build a mixed-use tower in Rotterdam with a glazed volume intersected by timber floorplates that extend beyond the building envelope to form a series of interconnected terraces. Developed for Provast, the €160m ($177m, £136m) Tree House is modelled on the holistic ecosystem of a tree. The part-timber structure will make use of recycled materials, collect and reuse rainwater and store CO2. Planted with

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

The second day of the World Architecture Festival Awards (WAF) 2019 saw mixed-use, cultural and community projects celebrated across a number of categories. The ‘Culture - Future Projects’ award was won by White Arkitekter for The New GoDown Arts Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, recognised for its clearly articulated "combination of social, traditional and environmental objectives" and a "good list of local materials and construction". STUDIO V Architecture won in the

Adjaye Associates and Sydney-based contemporary Aboriginal artist Daniel Boyd have unveiled the designs for a new public square and community building in Syndey with a huge perforated canopy. Sydney Plaza is intended to celebrate the origins of the Eora indigenous people in its coastal Sydney location, highlight their complex relationship with early colonisers and create a dialogue about the reconciliation of cultures. It is inspired by the "simple unitary forms

ACME's amphitheatre-style pavilion that is intended to become a new social hub and meeting place has topped out in Stratford, East London. The Pavilion – both its descriptor and working title – is being built for the developing International Quarter London (IQL), a new business district on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which hosted much of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Covering an area of 10,000sq

Virgin Voyages has unveiled the second ship in its upcoming cruise line-up. Valiant Lady follows the firm's inaugural ship Scarlet Lady and will sail seven-night Mediterranean itineraries out of Barcelona Spain when she debuts in May 2021. Named after the Latin word 'valere' and from the French origin 'vaillant', meaning bold, strong and courageous, the ship is designed to embody the idea that women design, captain, lead and champion change

Danish architects BOGL have won a design competition to redevelop central parts of Tananger, Norway, with a masterplan that will relocate its main square to reconnect the town with the ocean. Tananger's history is closely related to the sea, but the town has developed in such a way that it has been largely cut off from the water. With the town's population expected to double over the next 30 years,

Construction work is due to begin on the 760 ha (1,878ac) JTP -designed "Ecopolis" eco-district in Kazan, Russia, which is aimed at promoting a lifestyle of health and wellbeing. Sited on a former artillery base in the city's Kirov district, the masterplan takes advantage of its forest setting and proximity to the River Volga. It is laid out as a landscaped ring with a series of clustered developments around which