The final countdown is now on for the launch of the UK's first public floating sauna, set to make a splash on 23 November at Liverpool's Princes Dock. Called WYLD Sauna, the Nordic-inspired contrast bathing experience will offer residents, visitors and commuters a serene escape in the heart of the northern UK city. The project was founded by outdoor swimming and sauna enthusiasts inspired by the growing trend of floating

A new Nordic-inspired contrast bathing experience is set to open in Liverpool in Q3, offering residents, visitors and commuters a serene escape in the heart of the Northern UK city. Approved by Liverpool City Council in June, WYLD Sauna will open on the banks of Prince's Dock, consisting of a floating pontoon housing a 30-person Finnish sauna, two ice baths, two cold waterfall showers and four heated outdoor showers equipped

A new floating visitor center and art installation is showcasing aquaculture, informing the world on how to better feed the planet with sustainable seafood. Called Salmon Eye, the aquaculture centre is located in Norway’s Hardangerfjord, just outside the town of Rosendal. Created by Kvorning Design, the project was conceived and financed by Sondre Eide, the CEO of third-generation salmon farming business Eide Fjordbruk. A world-class visitor and learning center, Salmon

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

Austrian developer Josef Kleindienst’s US$5bn mega-resort project, The Heart of Europe, in Dubai is on track to complete phase one of construction, despite COVID-19. The Heart of Europe is claimed to feature the world’s first floating underwater spa as well as 15 unique hotels and resorts spread across six islands designed to showcase European culture, heritage and lifestyle experiences through architecture, events and new technology, such as the world’s first

Retail designers Brinkworth have designed a new store in San Francisco for fashion brand Supreme, with a floating skate bowl that reflects the brand's skate culture roots. The store itself covers 2,800sq ft (260sq m) and was renovated having been in a state of dilapidation. The design for the space is sparse, with exposed brick and exposed steel framework throughout, while a large glazed frontage allows passersby to see inside.

The Arctic Bath Hotel and Spa, designed by Bertil Harström, Johan Krauppi and Annkathrin Lundqvist, has opened on the Lule River near the small village of Harads in Swedish Lapland. First announced in 2017, it was conceived to be a year-round Arctic wellness destination that will float on the water during the summer and be frozen into the ice during the winter. The 12-room hotel is inspired by the era

Gad Line+ Studio have created a reading space in China that resembles a cloud floating in its rocky mountain surroundings. Jiunvfeng Study is situated on Mount Tai in Daiyue District, Tai’an City, and has a footprint of 287sq m (3,100sq ft). The building is constructed on a stone plinth, curving with the shape of the mountain to create two bulbous ends joined by a more sinuous midriff. Flowing floor-to-ceiling windows

Architects Bertil Harström and Johan Krauppi have created a free-floating hotel on one of Sweden's longest rivers, with the micro-destination featuring a spa among its offerings. Owned and conceptualised by the architectural duo, the circular Arctic Bath Hotel and Spa will float on the Lule River during the summer months, with the structure frozen in place through the winter. It's set to open in Harads on 15 January 2020. The

Seine Design have created a €5.4m (US$6m, £4.6m) floating guinguette – a small restaurant and dance hall – with glass-panelled sides and a glass roof that give visitors views of its River Seine location. Rosa 2, which is a venue for the Rosa Bonheur chain, replaced an existing floating guinguette that was moored close to the prestigious Pont Alexandre III bridge. From onboard, visitors can see the Eiffel Tower, the

Naval architect Jean-Michel Ducancelle has designed a solar-powered floating hotel suite aimed at offering an eco-friendly and nomadic place for travellers to stay. The Anthénea pod was conceived as a luxury suite for hoteliers to offer their guests, but can be adapted for use as a spa, bar or restaurant – or anything else. The 50sq m (540sq ft) pod has three spaces: a day space, a night space and

Baca Architects has secured planning permission on behalf of Rothgen Group for a £25m hotel and spa in South Yorkshire, England, to be operated by Campbell Gray Hotels. The Tyram Lakes Hotel and Spa is anticipated to open in the second half of 2021, and will be part of a wider eco development around a series of lakes located in a 165-acre woodland site. Fifty eco lodges, currently under construction,

Monkey Island Estate has opened in Bray-on-Thames, England, with interiors by New York-based Champalimaud Design. Part of the Malaysian hotel group, YTL Hotels, the historic estate is set across seven acres on an island in the River Thames, with a rich history dating back 800 years. Monkey Island was bought by YTL Hotels in 2015, after the late YTL founder Yeoh Tiong Lay visited and fell in love with the

International architecture firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) have unveiled their designs for a first-of-a-kind floating eco-park in Chicago. The scheme will see sections of the Chicago River and shoreline transformed into a nature reserve and leisure attraction for urban dwellers looking for a temporary escape from city life. Called "Wild Mile Chicago", the project – which is being supported by Chicago's Department of Planning and Development, as well as

Municipal officials have greenlit plans to build Tyram Lakes – an eco-friendly wellness resort in South Yorkshire, UK. Designed by British firm Baca Architects, the estimated £20m (US$25.4m, €22.3m) retreat, which will be situated on 65 acres of lakes in the Humberside Peatlands, will comprise 325 floating lodges and 104 guestrooms. Each lodge will have a rooftop garden fitted with solar panels as well as built-in filtration systems that will

Finnish architects OOPEAA have won a competition to design and create floating sea pools for public use in coastal cities and towns around the world, with the first to be rolled out in Oulu in the north of Finland. Following a pilot project in Helsinki in 2016, city development and investment group Töölö Urban ran the competition in April 2018 to commission a firm to design the Allas Sea Pools.

Environmental artist Christo has completed his latest mammoth temporary structure: a 20m stack of barrels floating in Hyde Park’s Serpentine Lake. The London Mastaba, Christo’s first outdoor public work in the UK, is formed of 7,506 horizontally stacked barrels on a floating platform. Together they rise up to create a flat-roofed shape with sloping sides that first originated thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia. Construction began in April by JK

Ritz Carlton has opened its second property in Langkawi, Malaysia, with the launch of an oceanfront resort designed by Philippe Villeroux of Kuala Lumpur-based Tropical Area Architects. Ritz Carlton Langkawi has been created to “immerse travellers in the island's natural ecosystem and local culture”. Reflecting the architecture of the nearby traditional villages – which are known as Kampongs – the resort is set in a tranquil private bay and surrounded

Architecture studio Scott Brownrigg have unveiled their design for the proposed new home of the Museum of Military Medicine in Cardiff. The museum’s directors want to relocate the attraction from its current home at Keogh Barracks near Aldershot to Cardiff Bay, and the vision for what the planned new building will look like was presented this week for public consultation. The collections of the four corps of the Army Medical

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from Santiago Calatrava’s mysterious billion pound London project to a beautiful new Tokyo museum by Kazuyo Sejima. Monday • Danish architects EFFEKT will convert an abandoned windmill factory in the city of Viborg into a vibrant culture house for street sports, street culture and street art. Read here. • Nobu Hospitality has revealed new design information about its

Plans to build the world’s first fully-floating city have taken a step forward, with the French Polynesian government reaching an agreement with nonprofit The Seasteading Institute to cooperate on a legal framework for the scheme, which would be located in the country’s waters. Seasteading is a concept for new libertarian aquine communities granted “unprecedented political autonomy” by their host nations in exchange for economic and social benefits. Billionaire PayPal founder

The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi in Malaysia, due to open in July 2017, has released details of its spa to CLAD. On top of a range of conventional treatments and features, the spa’s standout offering will be its five floating cocoon-shaped spa pavilions, shaped to resemble Malay Bubus, which are intricately woven fish traps that have been used for centuries by local fishermen. The pavilions will float above the Andaman Sea and

A luxury floating hotel with 148 bedrooms has opened at the King George V lock on the River Thames in London. Built on a large floating platform, the Good Hotel first opened in Amsterdam in June 2015 as a pop-up social enterprise project and has now been transported across the North Sea with the help of tug boats and a submerged barge. The structure and interiors were designed by Dutch

Here are some of the most popular stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from a food theme park to a floating bamboo spa. Monday • New renderings released of Peter Zumthor’s proposed redevelopment of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Read here. • Visitors to Eataly’s Italian food theme park will be able to grow their own food on-site. Read here. • Vo Trong Nghia has designed

The architectural studio of Vo Trong Nghia are creating a floating bamboo spa on the Vietnamese island Phu Quoc. Named the Signature Spa, the facility will be attached to a five star hotel on the island, which is famous in the region for its dense expanses of nature and areas of jungle. The spa will consist of a building containing treatment rooms, alongside a series of arched bamboo podiums that

Here are some of the most popular stories that appeared on CLAD this week Monday Zaha Hadid Architects and Glenn Howells Architects were named as the final two contenders in the competition to design an eco-friendly stadium for Forest Green Rovers FC. Read here. Danish architecture firm Kvorning Design & Communication will design a Secrets of the Sea exhibition at the Norwegian Petroleum Museum, centred around a whirlpool. Read here.

Citysurfing, a company that makes eco-friendly floating structures, has partnered with the Elegancia Hotel Group to create a hotel and bar located on the River Seine in Paris. Moored at the foot of the Austerlitz railway station, the OFF hotel and bar features 54 rooms, four suites, a bar, a plunge pool and a marina on a floating structure. The hotel is built using architectural floating technology developed by Citysurfing