Accor has released a comprehensive white paper designed to deepen understanding of wellness design and its capacity to enhance guest experiences, boost loyalty and drive revenue. Spanning 16 chapters, Making Waves: Rethinking Spa and Wellness Design for a Modern Era explores key aspects of the wellness design process, exploring best practices, challenges and innovations in spa and fitness design. The white paper outlines Accor’s evolving approach to wellness across its

The social wellness club movement that has taken the US East Coast by storm looks set to reshape London’s wellness scene in early 2025. ARC, an all-new urban wellness brand, is due to launch in January, bringing a fresh concept that blends connection, community and evidence-based wellness practices to the UK. The brand’s flagship location will open in London’s bustling Canary Wharf business district, specifically chosen so that ARC can

Dubai-based luxury hotel operator Jumeirah has announced a new partnership with Thanda Group, marking its first venture into Africa. Thanda Group, renowned for its high-end, privately owned hospitality experiences in Africa, has partnered with Jumeirah to rebrand two of its existing properties as Jumeirah Thanda Island and Jumeirah Thanda Safari. Situated in the protected Shungimbili Island Marine Reserve in Tanzania, Jumeirah Thanda Island comprises an immersive, exclusive-use villa, while Jumeirah

Luxury fragrance, beauty and spa brand Guerlain is gearing up to open its first spa in the Seychelles at Cheval Blanc’s new 52-key beachfront retreat, launching 1 December. This will mark Guerlain’s 29th spa worldwide and continue its partnership with Cheval Blanc, luxury goods conglomerate LVMH’s ultra-premium hotel brand managed by LVMH Hotel Management. Guerlain already powers wellness offerings in Cheval Blanc’s locations in Saint Tropez, St. Barts, the Maldives

Architectural icon, Peter Cook, and his business partner, Gavin Robotham, co-founders of Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau (CRAB), have revealed they're working on an innovative fitness, sport and leisure project in Mumbai. Speaking in the latest issue of CLADmag, Cook said the new facility could represent the future of mixed-activity clubs. "The core of the building's central area runs through two floors and is surrounded on both by a series of

The Belmond Cadogan Hotel has provided a behind-the-scenes look at the bespoke collection crafted by the two winners of its New Designers Award. The completed works by young British designers Mac Collins and Antonia (Toni) Packham, who in July beat out 3,000 other candidates to secure the award, are part of the Sloan Square-based hotel's £28m (US$36m, €32m) renovation and redecoration. Collins, drawing on themes of Afrofuturism and aiming to

Citizens should be empowered to play a much more active role in the design of the built environment as part of democratic society, Daniel Libeskind has argued in an exclusive interview with CLAD. The architect – known for designing buildings that explore themes of memory and identity – said that the need to enhance public participation in the design process is “the biggest challenge facing architecture today”. He also discussed

Australia’s Peninsula Hot Springs (PHS) is planning a major expansion focused on story-driven experiences including an open-air amphitheatre with seven pools and seating for 700 people, CLADglobal can reveal. New offerings will include: an educational building; sauna rooms; a deep therapy pool; a fire and ice bathing area; a ‘Food Bowl’ area with on-site agriculture and picnic areas where guests are invited to “eat yourself to good health"; and the

The Los Angeles office of global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will has appointed a new design director to “lead the LA practice into the digital age.” Yan Krymsky will oversee the creative direction of the LA studio and lead the design of its major projects, including a master plan to convert the 125-acre Piggyback Yard rail facility by the Los Angeles River into a public space. He assumes the role

International spa and wellness consultancy and management company GOCO Hospitality is in the process of creating a GOCO Retreat across 750 acres (304 hectares) in the West Virginia countryside, not far from Washington DC. GOCO Retreat Dawson Lake will focus heavily on the area’s natural mineral springs, and will include both a 70-bedroom wellness hotel and 150 residences – all houses. Each of the 150 houses will be located on

Chester Zoo will redevelop 100 acres (405,000sq m) of its existing site into grassland and forest areas as part of a £100m (US$130.4m, €113m) development masterplan. The grasslands area will be located in the western part of the zoo and will be characterised by large, open savannah landscape populated by a mix of free-roaming species in the same areas. To the eastern side of the zoo the forest zone will

Citizens should be empowered to play a much more active role in the design of the built environment as part of democratic society, the architect Daniel Libeskind has argued. In an exclusive interview with CLADglobal, Libeskind said that the need to enhance public participation in the design process is “the biggest challenge facing architecture today.” “I think architecture can only thrive in a democratic environment, and that means through involving

Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava has told CLADglobal how he wants to use technology and advanced engineering “to push the limits of expression.” “From day one, movability has been important to me,” he said, in an exclusive interview. “Today we can create this sense that architecture is no more an aesthetic and firm thing, but rather something that transforms, something alive, something new and poetic.” Calatrava also discussed his controversial reputation,

The architect behind the American Museum of Natural History's hotly-anticipated new wing has made a passionate plea for investment in science education, saying: "You've got people denying climate change. It's a crisis." In an exclusive interview with CLAD, Jeanne Gang talks about her work with the museum, the masterplan and dolphin sanctuary she is creating for the Baltimore National Aquarium, Studio Gang's temporary installation for the National Building Museum and

Architecture studio HKS have been brought on board to design h.Club LA; the first international extension of London’s famous Hospital Club for film stars, musicians and members of high society. The owner of that establishment, Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, wants to build a new private "club for creatives" by renovating a five-storey hotel building in the shadow of the Hollywood Hills, next to the headquarters of Capitol Records. He

Failing to consider the context in which they're working is "the biggest mistake" made by architects today, argues Richard Meier in an exclusive interview with CLAD. The renowned Pritzker Prize winner states that “just because you can build 100 stories high, doesn’t mean you should,” and bemoans the number of new city buildings that are out of place in their environment. The full feature interview – in which Meier also

Creating buildings that inspire love is about more than just arranging and inventing forms, argues Peter Zumthor in an exclusive interview with CLAD. The influential Pritzker Prize-winning architect – who also runs through the latest on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and his forthcoming projects in Korea, Germany, Switzerland and the UK – explains how his gift is to “see what’s ugly and doesn’t work in the

The founders of Dutch architecture studio MVRDV believe their project for Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans van Beuningen offers a new model for how museums can take full advantage of their vast cultural collections. Winy Maas, Nathalie de Vries and Jacob Van Rijs – who are transforming what was an art storage depot into an attraction in its own right – told CLAD that rethinking the art storage facility as something that

One of the leading architects behind a new football stadium for Dutch club Feyenoord has told CLAD how the development will revitalise a neglected part of Rotterdam. David Gianotten, managing partner-architect for international studio Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), described how the firm’s design for the stadium reflects the fact that sport is an integral part of the city’s society and urban fabric. “There were two previous attempts to build

Architect David Adjaye has told CLAD that the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington is “one of the defining projects” of his career to date. The landmark museum – which has been developed over a decade – is due to be opened by US President Barack Obama on the 24 September 2016. Adjaye’s practice Adjaye Associates worked with architecture studios Freelon Group and David Brody Bond

Luxury fitness chain Equinox will theme its first hotel/health club hybrids around movement, nutrition and regeneration in an appeal to regular travellers who want to keep fit. In an exclusive interview, the company’s vice-president Aaron Richter told CLAD that Equinox Hotels – which will open its first branch in New York’s Hudson Yards in 2018 – will implement the core philosophies of its well established fitness clubs to “the art

Destination spa Miraval is set to buy the historic Cranwell Spa and Golf Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, marking the brand’s first East Coast location and the first “full-blown” Miraval outside of Tucson. “Cranwell is a great fit for us – it’s a large property where we can create the Miraval experiences,” Chevis Hosea, Miraval Group vice president of development told CLAD. “It’s got a great history, great architecture – the

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban has told CLAD about the responsibility he feels as an architect to combine “monumental” public buildings with disaster relief projects around the world. In an exclusive interview, Ban said his post-disaster work with his Voluntary Architects’ Network in countries such as Japan and Ecuador is important to him, because “compared to doctors or lawyers and other professionals who work for people with problems, our job

The potential of VR has won the attention of global studio NBBJ, who this week announced a business partnership with tech startup Visual Vocal to incubate and develop a VR productivity platform that will initially be exclusive to them, before being made available to other architects. The firm claim they are the first design studio to support a VR startup inside their own offices. "NBBJ's decision to launch Visual Vocal

The team behind Rio’s recently opened Museum of Tomorrow has said that they want the museum to act as a hub of culture, information and science, inspiring the local community to great things and to leave a lasting legacy in the build up to this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. Speaking exclusively to CLAD, Luiz Alberto Oliveira, chief curator at the museum, said that the Santiago Calatrava-designed structure was a

CLAD has been given an exclusive first look at the inaugural Floating Seahorse; a luxury private villa submerged partly beneath the waves. The development of the Seahorse – which is technically classified as a non-propulsive boat – has been shrouded in secrecy since the concept was first unveiled at the Dubai International Boat Show in early 2015. Dubai developer Kleindienst Group and its subsidiary, the Seahorse Boats Trading Company, are

The project architect responsible for Zaha Hadid’s Messner Mountain Museum Corones in Italy has told CLAD that cultural buildings have an important role to play in the reinvigoration of ski resorts. Peter Irmsche, who is interviewed in the latest issue of CLADmag, explained how Hadid’s museum – one of her final completed projects before her untimely death on 31 March this year – has increased the popularity of Italy’s Kronplatz