Heatherwick Studio has revealed its designs for an opera house and performing arts centre for the island province of Hainan in China. The architects were chosen for the project by Haikou Tourism & Culture Investment Holding Group, which wants to develop the building as the anchor for a new cultural quarter in the island’s capital, Haikou. The as-yet-unnamed cultural complex will house three performance spaces – an opera house, a

Little Island, an urban park built on stilts on the Hudson River in New York City, has opened to the public. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, in partnership with Arup and Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects (MNLA), the 1.1-hectare (11,000sq m) park and performance venue features 540 metres of pathways and a range of performance spaces. Little Island’s distinct exterior is supported by 132 "tulip-like" concrete piles. Each tulip’s shape is unique

A new waterfront destination in San Francisco, US, would transform the city's South Beach neighbourhood. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the project – called The Cove – would be developed on the site of three former piers which were destroyed in 1984. The Cove is based around a dramatic five-acre public park and has been designed to provide a new hub of activity for the city. The horseshoe-shaped building includes modular,

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2019 opened yesterday in Amsterdam, with the first awards announced for winners in a number of categories. Heatherwick Studio's New York sculpture Vessel was recognised in the ‘Display - Completed Buildings’ category for offering a new and innovative way for the general public to engage and create chance encounters. The ‘Culture - Completed Buildings’ award went to Civic architects, Braaksma & Roos Architectenbureau and Petra

Heatherwick Studio have released new images of its 300,000sq m (3,230,000sq ft) mixed-use development 1000 Trees as it approaches completion. Located on a 15ac (6ha) site in Shanghai, 1000 Trees takes the form of a mountain-like tree-covered topography. Unconventionally, the building's hundreds of structural support columns are left exposed, doubling as podiums with large planters built into the top, each holding a handful of trees. The undulating shape allows the

Airport hotel operator Aerotel has opened the first hotel inside London Heathrow Terminal 3. The new property has been designed for the convenience and comfort of late-night and early morning travellers. Aerotel London Heathrow is located steps away from check-in, a five-minute walk to the nearest bus station, six-minutes from the Heathrow Express and close to Terminals 2, 4 and 5. Guests are also able to book stays as short

Work has begun on Heatherwick Studio’s latest project in Asia – a landscaped, giant "pergola" in central Tokyo. The mixed-use project will form the heart of Tokyo’s Toranomon-Azabudai district and will sit next to Japan's tallest skyscraper. Heatherwick has been tasked with creating a public realm and a number of low-rise blocks for a development which also includes a 6,000sq m central landscaped square, offices, residential space, retail units, a

London-based architecture firm Heatherwick Studio have unveiled details for "Eden", a 20-storey high-rise and the architects' first residential project in Asia. Situated in Singapore's upscale 10 Orchard Road neighbourhood and comprised of concrete shaped to resemble spinal plates, Eden features 20 four-bedroom apartments, all of which boast foliaged balconies. "We wanted to create something distinct for Singapore to contrast a skyline filled with angular steel and glass towers," said Thomas

The tentatively named "Vessel" sculpture – arguably the most recognisable landmark in the entire Hudson Yards Development – has opened its doors in Manhattan, New York. Conceived by London-based architecture practice Heatherwick Studio, Vessel, which was inspired by the "ancient stepwells of India" stands 46 metres tall and features almost 2,500 steps and 80 landings. These are supported by a latticework of copper-coloured steel beams, all of which were fabricated

UK architecture practices Heatherwick Studio and SPPARC have been granted permission to move forward with their plans to transform the Olympia London exhibition centre into a multifunctional cultural hub. According to YOO Capital – one of the developers spearheading the project – the £1bn (US$1.3bn, €1.1bn) expansion, recently approved by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, will see 2.5 acres of public realm created, turning the Victorian-era landmark into a "global force

BIG and Heatherwick Studio were among the winners on day one of the World Architecture Festival Awards in Amsterdam. The Audemars Piguet Hotel des Horlogers – designed by architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), has been named the best building in the Future Projects Leisure Led Development award category at this year’s World Architecture Festival (WAF). The hotel, which is being constructed alongside the BIG-designed Audemars Piguet luxury watch museum

Coal Drops Yard – a historic development which draws on Victorian aesthetics – has opened next to Granary Square in London. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the 100,000sq ft, hybrid structure occupies the site of a 19th-century coal transport facility and includes new public space as well as 60 units for multiple shops and restaurants. Originally built in the 1850s to transfer coal from rail wagons to road carts, the site

Construction is nearing completion on “a world-class, signature lifestyle destination” at Singapore’s Changi Airport, which has been designed to boost the city-state’s appeal as a stopover point for global travellers. Conceived as the world’s most ambitious airport leisure attraction, the complex, called The Jewel, is being built inside an enormous glass dome covering a 40m-high indoor waterfall and a five-storey ‘forest valley’ with 2,500 trees and 100,000 shrubs. The building

Those with deep pockets and a passion for the world of aviation have been presented a rare opportunity to own a piece of flight history, with the entire contents of Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 1 about to go under the hammer in London. Lots up for grabs include airport furniture, working baggage carousels, check-in desks, the terminal’s signage and clocks, and a series of large murals created in the 1950s by

As 2017 draws to an end, CLAD looks back at some of the most significant leisure buildings, both big and small, that have opened this year – from sports stadiums to museums, hotels, theatres and health clubs. No such list can be truly comprehensive of course, so please let us know your own favourite leisure buildings of the year in the comments section below, or on our Facebook and Twitter

Vessel – the sculptural urban landmark Heatherwick Studio have designed as the centrepiece for New York’s Hudson Yards development – topped out yesterday (6 December) after eight months of construction. The honeycomb-like structure, described by its creators as “one of the most complex pieces of steelwork ever made” has reached its full 150ft (46m) height, revealing how it will ultimately provide a one-mile vertical climbing experience. New construction images reveal

Plans by Heatherwick Studio and Diamond Schmitt Architects to renovate a concert hall for New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts have been dropped. The duo were awarded the US$500m (€427m, £383m) project in 2015 to significantly renovate the interiors of the centre’s largest hall – originally designed by Max Abramovitz and opened in 1962 – to create a 21st-century symphonic concert venue for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Fulham FC have appointed global sports architects Populous to lead the redesign of the Riverside Stand at the club’s London home, Craven Cottage. In his programme notes for the Championship match against Hull City on 13 September, Fulham FC chairman Shahid Khan pledged that the project will “transcend the customary standards of football grandstands” by including riverside pubs and restaurants, event facilities, green spaces and public access to a river

Heatherwick Studio and SPPARC Architects have been announced as the lead design team who will comprehensively revamp London’s historic Olympia exhibition centre. The owners of the 130-year-old building, Yoo Capital and Deutsche Finance, want to transform the site into a “world-leading arts, entertainment, exhibition and experiential district whilst staying true to its original heritage as an exhibition business.” Olympia London, located in Kensington, was designed by architect Henry Edward Coe

Heatherwick Studio’s latest completed building, the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) has been unveiled today (15 September) ahead of its public opening next week on Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront. The museum – the largest in the world dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora – is housed in 9,500sq m (102,000sq ft) of custom-designed space, carved out of the city’s monumental historic Grain Silo Complex