Work is underway on a £19.7 million waterfront leisure centre in Newport, which will be one of the UK's first net zero leisure centres. Replacing an ageing facility, Newport Leisure Centre is being built to BREEAM standards and will be powered solely by renewable energy. Expected to be completed in the spring, the facilities will include a modern leisure pool, with a lazy river and slides, a teaching pool for

Perth and Kinross Council has officially opened the £36 million Blairgowrie Recreation Centre – Scotland’s first Passivhaus leisure development. Designed by architects Holmes Miller, which specialises in carbon neutral development, the leisure centre sets a new benchmark for sustainable sports and leisure buildings in Scotland. The UK currently has only one other leisure centre built to Passivhaus standards: St Sidwell’s Point in Exeter, Devon. Blairgowrie replaces an outdated 1980s facility,

Work is underway in the London Borough of Ealing on a landmark leisure centre to replace the old Gurnell Leisure Centre, which remained closed after COVID. The modern complex will include London’s third Olympic-sized swimming pool, a waterpark with slides, fitness studios, a climbing wall, a soft play area and a café. Outside will be a new skatepark, BMX track and children’s playground. Green space around the new leisure centre

A £14 million redevelopment of the iconic Doncaster Dome, one of the youngest listed buildings in the UK, has begun. Designed by Neil Taylor and the team at FaulknerBrowns to echo the pink and cream banding of the Duomo in Florence, the building received a Grade II listing on the National Heritage List for England in 2023. The Doncaster Dome has been operated by the Doncaster Culture and Leisure Trust

Spelthorne Borough Council has opened the doors to a world-leading leisure centre built to Passivhaus standards. Spelthorne Borough Council is expecting the new Eclipse Leisure Centre to use between 60 and 70 per cent less energy than a typical modern leisure centre and will be a major step forward in helping the Council become carbon neutral. Located in Staines-upon-Thames, the facility includes a 25 metre main pool, learner pool, splash

A multi-million-euro geothermal spa and leisure centre, called Terme Bjelovar, is scheduled to open in the Croatian city of Bjelovar in Q3 of 2025. Already six years in the making, the project in Veliko Korenovo is projected to cost €38 million (US$41.2 million, £32.6 million) to complete – according to Dario Hrebak, mayor of Bjelovar, who says the facility will “revitalise the city”. Terme Bjelovar will be home to a

Rural Scottish retreat Murrayshall Country Estate has received the green light for its £30 million (US$38 million, €34.8 million) masterplan. The proposal includes plans for an extension to the 40-key four-star hotel in Scone, Perthshire, as well as the addition of a new spa and leisure facility with treatment rooms, a spa pool, spa cafe, gym and studio, a leisure pool and outdoor spa terrace. Proposed updates also include a

The iconic Battersea Power Station on the south bank of the River Thames, London, UK, has finally reopened, following a £9bn redevelopment project. The Grade II* listed former coal-fired power station has been transformed into an entirely new district featuring a blend of residential and leisure, with health clubs, a visitor attraction, spa and wellness offerings, retail, bars, restaurants, entertainment venues, parks and historic spaces. Developments within the 42-acre site

Planning approval has been granted to what is set to become one of the first Passivhaus-certified leisure buildings in the world. The new Spelthorne Leisure Centre in Staines, Surrey – which will be owned by Spelthorne Borough Council – has been designed by GT3 Architects and Passivhaus specialists Gale and Snowden. With sustainability and wellbeing at its core, the building will be optimised to reduce energy in use by up

The UK government has launched a £1bn Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), providing grant funding for energy efficiency measures across the public sector. The funding has been made available for capital sustainability and heat decarbonisation projects within public sector non-domestic buildings, including central government departments and non-departmental public bodies in England. Public sector bodies can apply for a grant to finance up to 100 per cent of the costs of

The final retail and dining offerings are due to open next month the vast American Dream leisure, entertainment and retail complex in the US state of New Jersey, which opened in October having broken ground in 2004. Developed by Triple Five Group and designed by Gensler, the destination covers 3,000,000 sq ft (280,000sq m), with over 450 stores and 15 attractions. According to Don Ghermezian, president of American Dream, this

The 1920s-built Lensbury private members club, which also now incorporates a hotel, conference centre and a leisure centre, has reopened following the refurbishment of its leisure facilities by Zynk. The club is set within 25ac (10ha) of landscaped grounds in Teddington, London, and celebrates its centenary next year. Work has included the redesign of facilities including the holistic studio, group cycling studio, gym floor and Hi-Energy / HIIT studio. The

BuroHappold will transform New York State's Erie Canal as part of a $300m (€269m, £231m) initiative to grow regional tourism, support outdoor recreation, reduce flooding, restore wetlands and improve irrigation. The project has come out of the Reimagine the Canals Task Force, which is aimed at developing a canal system fit for the 21st century. Work on the 350mi (560km)-long canal, which passes through 225 communities along its course, is

Dattner Architects have been chosen to transform the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center North Campus in Brooklyn into an affordable housing complex with integrated leisure, wellness and community elements. The project, which is part of a wider initiative to create more affordable housing in Brooklyn, will see three buildings demolished on the 102,000sq ft (9,500sq m) site, as well as the redevelopment of a former hospital building. A total of 266

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and WXY Architects have unveiled a vision for Downtown Brooklyn aimed at reanimating the 370ac (150ha) district with public spaces, recreation amenities and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes. The two practices spent last year working on the Downtown Brooklyn Public Realm Action Plan – a study of the area's streets, sidewalks, plazas, parks, alleyways, intersections, underutilised spaces and other public spaces. Carried out on behalf of the Downtown Brooklyn

Retail and leisure destination developer Intu is creating an €800m ($886m, £679m) resort on Spain's Costa del Sol, designed by WATG and Broadway Malyan, that will feature eight distinct neighbourhoods, each offering a different experience for visitors. Located in Torremolinos, Intu Costa del Sol will cover 2.5 million sq ft (235,000 sq m) and will incorporate 1.5 million sq ft (142,000 sq m) of retail space, 20+ leisure operators, 70+

LABS Collective is transforming the Grade-II listed Victoria House in Holborn, London, into a 200,000sq ft (18,600sq m) co-working space with a variety of amenities for downtime and a focus on wellbeing. The neoclassical building will be updated with a modern design and contemporary feel, while its heritage will be preserved through sensitive restoration of its architectural detail. The new facility will accommodate around 4,000 professionals, with 150,000sq ft (14,000sq

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) and Cox Architecture have won an international competition to design the new Western Sydney Airport in Australia, proposing both a passenger-focused experience and a leisure destination for locals. The new AU$5.3b (US$3.6b, €3.3b, £2.8b) greenfield airport is aimed at helping to drive the growth of Sydney and its greater metropolitan area over the coming decades. In addition to a design for the airport, ZHA and Cox

Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) has collaborated with agricultural collective Cityplot to design a lifelong learning centre in Germany that uses social, spatial and leisure elements to optimise the learning process. Life Hamburg will be a 12,000sq m (129,000sq ft) figure-of-eight-shaped building that is aimed at reinventing learning for 800 children and 800 adults. The centre's design is based on the purpose-inspired and personal learning educational principles of Learnlife and

The shortlist has been revealed for the World Architecture Festival (WAF) 2019 Awards and leisure projects are represented across the majority of the 33 categories – as well as in dedicated categories of their own. Among the most notable leisure projects in contention for an award are: • Alexandra Palace East Wing Regeneration by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios • Coal Drops Yard by Heatherwick Architects • Morpheus Hotel by Zaha

Danish architecture office Henning Larsen have won an international competition to design a 5.5 million sq m waterfront district in Shenzhen, China. Described by the firm as a "polycentric megacity", the new quarter will feature a vast swath of public land with a microclimate shaped by tree-lined boulevards, plazas, and gardens. According to the architects, the "leisure city" aspect of the development will comprise multiple cultural attractions, among which will

Emirati developer Emaar Properties has announced plans for an AED25bn (US$6.8bn, €6bn, £5.2bn) waterfront leisure district in Dubai. Called "Mina Rashid", the government-backed scheme will see the creation of numerous luxury facilities and properties, including art galleries, villas, a museum, a floating yacht club, a theatre, and the city's largest swimming pool. Sirdhana, the development's on-site residential complex, will comprise an as-yet-undisclosed number of one- to three-bedroom condos, plus a

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 Moshe Safdie-designed Jewel Changi Airport – an atmospheric leisure complex and air terminus in Singapore – has finally opened its doors to the public. The result of a four-year construction process, the US$1.25bn (€1.1bn, £958m) structure is roofed by a unique glass and steel geodesic dome that links to its crowning feature, a 40-metre-tall waterfall dubbed the "Rain Vortex". The impressive complex – a city in its own right

Jewel Changi Airport – long-praised as representing a new paradigm in passenger experience design – is scheduled to open its doors this spring in Singapore. Planned by Safdie Architects and delivered by BuroHappold Engineering, the first-of-its-kind transit hub will double as an attraction and boast several publicly accessible and "community-centric" leisure facilities and hospitality outlets, including boutique hotels and restaurants, a 40-metre-high indoor waterfall, and a five-storey "paradise garden". Shaped

French architecture firm Reichen and Robert (RR&A) have been selected to spearhead a €100m (US$113.4m, £87.3m) makeover of Marseille-Fos Port (the Grand Port of Marseille) – the largest seaport in France. Dubbed the "J1, La Passerelle", the new 29,106 sq m mixed-use structure, which will be located minutes away from the iconic Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée (MUCEM), will offer extensive recreational amenities, including a floating

Italian architecture studio Migliore+Servetto have revealed renderings of their proposal to transform an abandoned, oceanfront railroad into a scenographic linear park in Busan, South Korea. The redevelopment project – called the "Blue Line Park" – will cover an area of 5 km and comprise a series of multifunctional pavilions seemingly designed to evoke the feeling of moving between scenes in a play. These theatre set-like spaces will include the "Islands