Corinthia Hotels has announced the opening of its newest urban property, Corinthia Brussels, in the historic centre of the Belgian capital. Housed in a meticulously restored 100-year-old Belle Époque landmark, the hotel is now preparing to unveil its 1,200sq m subterranean spa on 16 December. The Sisley-branded urban wellness facility will be home to seven private treatment rooms and be defined by elegant yet understated marble interiors complemented with gold

Third Space is gearing up to open its 12th site – the third this year – in Clapham Junction, London. With investment from US-based KSL Capital Partners, there are plans to double the Third Space portfolio in the next three years. The most recent launch was in July at the historic Battersea Power Station development, while Wood Wharf opened earlier this summer. The Clapham Junction club will be housed in

A new landmark maritime centre has opened to the public in Esbjerg, Denmark. Created by WERK Arkitekter and Snøhetta, the centre has been designed as a shared space for watersport clubs and visitors along the port, providing the town with a social maritime hub and architectural landmark. Dubbed "The Lantern", WERK Arkitekter and Snøhetta were chosen for the project following a design competition in 2019. Designed as a "community first"

HOK and Snow Kreilich Architects have unveiled their design for MLS4TheLou – the Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium proposed for St Louis, Missouri. The stadium will serve as the home of the as-yet-unnamed St Louis MLS soccer club. The new facility will feature a translucent ETFE canopy which will provide cover for fans and allow for well-lit spaces below. Light will pass through directly onto the field, helping game-day visibility

Tokyo-based architecture studio Line-Inc have transformed a 1930s-era hotel in Hokkaido, Japan into the Unwind Hotel and Bar Otaru. Erstwhile known as the Etchuya Hotel, the building was originally designed by Japanese architect Kuniharu Karasawa, who devised its master plan during the country's pre-war period to appeal to foreign tourists. The site was later purchased by real estate developer Global Agents, which subsequently commissioned Line-Inc to restore the space to

The Britannia Hotel – once a turn-of-the-century pied-à-terre for aristocrats, Arctic explorers, and literati, has reopened in Trondheim, Norway following a £107m (US$139.5, €123.8m) overhaul. The 148-year-old landmark features 257 newly renovated rooms and suites, as well as revamped common areas, restaurants, and leisure facilities. The spa centre at the Britannia comprises a 200 sq m fitness room, six treatment rooms, a heated lap pool, a sauna, steam bath, ice

The picturesque Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Miami – home to the largest swimming pool on the US eastern seaboard – has recently completed a US$30m (€26.2m, £22.3m) refurbishment. Featuring 271 renovated rooms and suites as well as a transformed lounge and common areas, the Biltmore also includes a 12,000 sq ft (11,148 sq m) spa centre with a built-in Himalayan salt sauna and steam room. Debatably the most prominent

Morphosis Architects have been selected to design a surrealistic complex on the site of the infamous Viper Room, a club formerly co-owned by Johnny Depp and patronised by numerous Hollywood celebrities. Recently released renderings for the project show a tapered, C-shaped building and a tower covered in greenery. The two structures – set to occupy a tract of land on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles – are connected by a

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has introduced its boutique brand Kimpton to the UK market with the opening of The Kimpton Fitzroy in Russell Square in London. Formerly the Hotel Russell, the 334-guestroom landmark – a fixture of London’s Bloomsbury neighbourhood since the 1900s – has undergone a six-month redevelopment and now features an expanded Renaissance-revival terracotta exterior and mosaic floor tiling. Other amenities in the Edwardian-era building include a ballroom,

Aedas has been retained by the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) to design a 200,000-metre skybridge at the Hengqin CRCC Plaza in Zhuhai, China. Designed by chief architect Andy Wen, the elevated, snake-like bridge will feature leisure facilities, green areas, and office spaces and will loop between four mixed-used towers. Aedas said that the bridge – strategically located a stone’s throw from Macau, between the Pearl River and South China

Property developer Olav de Linde and Danish studio C.F. Møller Architects have revealed their plans to build a 144m (472ft) tall mixed-use tower in Aarhus, “welcoming city life into an active public realm”. Located on an industrial site close to the city’s port, the 38-storey Mindet 6 project will be “a bright and slender sculptural landmark” containing offices, retail, a restaurant, a kitchen garden, an orangery and a public rooftop

Developer Tishman Speyer and architects DSDHA have completed the first phase renovation of famous Alison and Peter Smithson’s Economist Building and Plaza on London’s St James’s Street. The Brutalist Grade II*-listed complex, completed in 1964, was originally commissioned by the Economist magazine, which had its offices there for more than half a century. The buildings are now being upgraded, with new public amenities added. As part of the first phase,

St Louis' Gateway Arch has undergone a redevelopment, with architecture studio Cooper Robertson expanding and renovating the museum beneath the record-holding structure. Sitting in the shadow of the Eero Saarinen-designed arch – the tallest structure of its kind in the world – a total of 4,200sq m (45,000sq ft) of new museum area has been added to the west of Saarinen’s underground original, which has itself been renovated and reconfigured

International architecture practice von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) have completed a conversion of Slaski Stadium in Chorzów, Poland, adding the largest translucent polycarbonate roof in Europe to the 50s-era landmark. The original building dates from 1956, and was design by architect Julian Brzuchowski and engineer Wiktor Pade. It was converted in the 1990s and served as a venue for music events, the Speedway motorcycle World Cup and as the

The Dutch municipality of Den Helder has today (12 April) announced MVRDV as the winners in a competition to design a new public installation on the city’s northern dike representing the connection between city and sea. The design, called SeaSaw, is a viewing platform that takes the shape of an infinite loop, with visitors able to walk across it in either direction. Den Helder is located on the country’s northernmost

Architecture and planning practice FXCollaborative have been selected by the Children's Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) to transform a historic New York church into the attraction’s new home. The 1903 building, located on 96th Street in Manhattan, was originally designed by architects Carrère & Hastings to house the First Church of Christ, Scientist. The site has now been acquired by the museum, which wants to adapt it into “an ever-evolving place

Finnish architecture and firm Futudesign has won an invited competition to transform part of Eliel Saarinen’s Helsinki Central Railway Station into a hotel. Developer Exilion Management and hospitality operator Scandic Hotels are seeking ideas for how to breathe new life into the underutilised eastern administrative wing of the station, which was completed in 1914. Futudesign’s winning proposal, called ‘Hermes’, takes advantage of the grand, high interiors originally designed by Saarinen

The Global Wellness Institute has released its first report on wellness real estate and communities, Build Well to Live Well. The organisation estimates that the global wellness real estate market was worth US$134bn (€108bn, £94bn) in 2017, and projects it will grow six per cent a year, to US$180bn (€145bn, £126bn), by 2022. The US is the largest market, worth US$52.5bn (€42bn, £37bn), followed by China, Australia and the UK,

A design team led by Norwegian practice Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter has won an invited competition to create a vast cultural hub, topped by a timber tower enclosed in glass, next to Oslo’s historic railway station. The project, called Fjordporten, will be the largest mixed-use complex in Norway. It has been conceived to revitalise the area around the main train station and offer travellers “new spatial and qualitative experiences.” The base

Ed Ng and Terence Ngan, the long-time collaborators at the helm of the international design studio AB Concept, have unveiled their first project in London: a luxurious Asian restaurant called Mei Ume. Located within the Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square – formerly the headquarters of the Port of London Authority – the design fuses Eastern and Western heritage. Upon entering Mei Ume – which takes its name

One of London’s most famous monuments, the Admiralty Arch, is to be converted into a Waldorf Astoria hotel. The iconic building was commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of Queen Victoria, and completed in 1910 by architect Sir Aston Webb – the creator of The Mall and the main facade at Buckingham Palace. Sir Winston Churchill had an office in the Arch when he was First Sea Lord of

Plans to build a 17m (56ft) viewing tower at one of Britain’s most archaeologically-significant sites can go ahead following a £1.8m (US$2.4m, €2m) donation from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). In 1939 a hoard of treasures were discovered at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, believed to be the final resting place of the 7th Century King Raedwald of East Anglia. The project, which will cost £4m (US$5.3m, €4.5m) in total, means

Danish architectural firm Henning Larsen have won an international design competition for a striking leisure-filled skyscraper in the heart of Manila, the Philippines. The currently unnamed tower – located in the Bonifacio Global City financial district – will stand at 308m (1,010ft) tall and has been conceived to redefine the city’s skyline with its distinctive pointed form, which will be illuminated at night. According to the design team, the project

The government of South Australia is commissioning an international search for a design team to create a second site for the state’s acclaimed art gallery. The project, called the Adelaide Contemporary, will form a new public and cultural space in the city, with the brief calling for an “architectural landmark on the celebrated North Terrace boulevard adjacent to the historic Botanic Garden.” It will house a community meeting place "integrating

Hong Kong’s Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel has opened its newest and largest suite, designed as the “ultimate retreat for socialising” by Joyce Wang and her studio. The 2,250sq ft (209,000sq m) Entertainment Suite has been conceived as “a welcome respite from Hong Kong’s hectic streets”, with a subtle, nature-inspired colour palette and soft custom-designed furnishings created by Wang – including hand-chiselled cabinet doors adorned with hand-painted art and a chandelier

A host of leading international architects are in the running to create a concept design for a new Centre for Music in the City of London. Snøhetta, Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the firms led by Amanda Levete, Frank Gehry, Norman Foster and Renzo Piano have all been shortlisted in the international competition for the concert hall; billed as “a state-of-the-art building of acoustic and visual excellence.” In May, the

Seven diverse proposals from the design teams vying to create a new ampitheatre and pavilion in the heart of Edinburgh have been revealed to the public. The new landmark Ross Pavilion is intended to revitalise Edinburgh’s West Princes Street Gardens, one of the city’s most emblematic places, and the shortlisted groups were tasked with submitting visions of “exemplary design quality inspired by, and appropriate to, the significance of its setting.”