Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG) is set to open its third London hotel and spa in the British capital in 2028, with design by PLP Architecture. Situated on London's South Bank with dramatic views over St Paul’s Cathedral, Mandarin Oriental Bankside, London will be part of the larger Bankside Yards development, which is planned to be the UK's first operationally fossil fuel-free major mixed-use development. The overall property is being

Planning approval has been granted for Camden Highline, a project to transform a section of disused railway into a new elevated urban park for London. Similar to the High Line in New York, US, the new green space will run for 1.2km, connecting Camden Town with the King’s Cross and St Pancras area – an important transport hub for the capital. The elevated public walkway is forecast to bring new

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

The architectural competition to decide the designer of the planned Shenzhen Opera House has reached the closing stages, with three high-profile practices being selected as finalists. Those making it to the final list are Jean Nouvel Ateliers, Bjarke Ingels Group, working with Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, and Kengo Kuma and Associates, working with Shenzhen University Institute of Architectural Design. The opera house project is being driven by the local

wHY Architecture are to build a monolithic but welcoming glazed, wooden theatre in a new park on the Kama River as a beacon for the emerging arts district in Perm, Russia. The firm began working on the Tchaikovsky Academic Opera and Ballet Theater in September 2019 and their design was given the go-ahead in January 2020 by a vote of approval from the City Council of Perm, the planning commission

ARM Architecture have begun work on a AU$150m (US$101m, €91m, £77m), two-year renovation of the Sydney Opera House that will better equip it for performances, enhance its acoustics, improve accessibility and create a safer working environment. The project is part of the 10-year Decade of Renewal capital works programme, via which AU$275m (US$185m, €167m, £142m) of investment will transform the Opera House ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2023. The

US-based boutique fitness operator Solidcore has revealed plans for five new clubs for New York City. Adding to its existing NYC flagship studio in Chelsea, the new locations will be situated in SoHo, NoMad (North of Madison Square Park), Williamsburg, Hell's Kitchen and NoLIta (North of Little Italy). The openings are part of Solidcore's commitment to open 100 studios in US markets by the end of 2020. It currently has

Equinox has revealed it will begin offering co-working space in its high-end health clubs. The company has signed a partnership with premium flexible workspace provider Industrious, which marks the launch of an entirely new category for Equinox. Industrious has an in-house design team, led by architect Eivind Karlsen as head of design. Operating under the co-brand, Industrious at Equinox, the first location will be at the 72-storey skyscraper 35 Hudson

The Chinese government has commissioned Scandinavian architecture firm Snøhetta to design the Shanghai Grand Opera House. Described by the architects as an "accessible canvas for global visitors, local citizens, and artists", the new opera building, which will rise on the banks of the Huangpu River, will comprise a 2,000-seat auditorium, two smaller performance halls, restaurants, exhibition areas, libraries, and cinemas. Key structure elements of the future landmark will be its

Architecture bureau RKW Architektur (RKW) have unveiled renderings of the "Neue Deutsche Oper am Rhein" (New Opera on the Rhine) – multifunctional art, culture, and hospitality venue proposed for the Rhine embankment promenade in Düsseldorf, Germany. If approved, the riverside opera house – shaped to reflect the city's cosmopolitan history – will feature a built-in 310-room hotel, a 1,500-seat audience hall, a top-floor swimming pool, and multiple dining areas. In

Scandinavian architecture practice Henning Larsen have been tapped to expand the Opéra Bastille – the largest opera house in Paris. The renovated structure will feature an extended foyer, an 800-seat concert hall, workshop facilities, and a public garden path with links to the Viaduc des Arts and the rue de Lyons. First proposed in 2017 in response to a competition announced by France's Ministry of Culture and Communication, the new

Amsterdam-based Studio Linse have designed a new restaurant at London's Royal Opera House (ROH) as part of the institution's historic 'Open Up' project. Located above the building’s Paul Hamlyn atrium, the Level 5 Restaurant and Bar was recently constructed for ROH’s £50.7m (US$$66m, €58.2m) Open Up initiative, which saw the 160-year-old opera house expand and create a number of spaces, including the 400-seat Lindbury Theatre and the Covent Garden and

New York-based developer Two Trees Management has opened a disused sugar factory redevelopment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, turning the site into a waterfront park. With landscaping from James Corner Field Operations and a street extension conceived by Shop Architects, the project aims to keep true to the site’s heritage, with remnants from the former Domino Sugar Factory – the space’s previous occupant – interspersed around the park. Part of the park’s

Tokyo Disney could undergo its biggest expansion in over two decades, as operator Oriental Land is reportedly in discussions over a ¥300bn (US$2.68bn, €2.25bn, £1.98bbn) mega-development for the resort. According to multiple news sources in Japan, the plans are not part of the previous ¥250bn (US$2.22bn, €1.88bn, £1.65bn), 10-year expansion plan for Tokyo Disney, which includes new attractions based on Beauty and the Beast and Big Hero 6, as well

US-based Midtown Athletic Clubs, which manages a portfolio of premium health, fitness and racquet clubs, has opened its first hotel at the site of its flagship club in Chicago. The 55-bedroom Hotel at Midtown is the company’s first venture into the hospitality space and is the final element of a US$85m (€73m, £64m) redevelopment of the Chicago club – one of the world’s largest indoor tennis centres, housing 16 indoor

Property developer Qatari Diar has announced the appointment of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts as the operator for a new hotel opening within London’s former US Embassy building in Grosvenor Square. The selection follows a lengthy process in which a series of international hotel companies submitted proposals for how they would run an “ambitious world-class hotel, retail and event space” with 137 bedrooms, five restaurants, six flagship retail units, a spa

Global tour operator Virgin Holidays has announced plans to build an airport departure lounge with a difference: it will be located on a beach in Barbados. From summer 2018, flyers leaving the Caribbean country will be able to be transferred straight from their hotel to The Departure Beach, located on Brownes Beach in Carlisle Bay, where they will drop off their luggage and receive their boarding pass. Until it is

German architecture studio Buero Wagner have won a high-profile commission to renovate Frankfurt’s historic concert hall and opera house. The Alte Oper – rebuilt four decades ago after the original 1880s structure was destroyed during the Second World War – is one of Germany’s leading cultural venues; with 450,000 people attending around 400 concerts a year. In order to create additional spaces for concertgoers to gather and socialise before and

David Chipperfield Architects have been invited to develop design proposals for an extension to Russia’s historic Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, seven years after they won an international competition to refurbish and extend the building. Following a meeting on 3 March with Maxim Reshetnikov, the acting governor of Perm City, the studio have been asked to visualise a new freestanding building for the opera house on the southern bank of

A cavernous, curving new opera house inspired by the human body has been officially opened in Taiwan. Taichung Metropolitan Opera House, designed by Pritzker Prize winner Toyo Ito, took a decade to complete. The main structure is formed of several curved walls connected with inlaid floors. This tubular configuration, which does not require support beams, creates a fluid journey through the building. Located on the second floor of the complex

Wang Jianlin’s public feud with Disney continues to heat up with the Wanda chair’s latest multi-billion Wanda City to open its doors tomorrow (23 September). Located 500km (311m) west of the recently opened Shanghai Disney Resort, the US$5.2bn (€4.64bn, £4bn) Hefei Wanda City has been described as the “first Huizhou culture theme park in the world.” A tribute to the culture of the Anhui province, which dates back more than

Mandara Spa will operate a spa at the Lotte Hotel in Saint Petersburg, Russia, set to open in mid-2017. The five-star property is situated near Saint Isaac’s Square, and constructed on the historically significant location of Yakunchikova’s mansion, built in 1849. The original building design was drawn up by the French architect Adrian Robin and has reportedly housed famous historical figures such as John Quincy Adams, the first US ambassador

Here are some of the most popular stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from a museum inspired by a kiln to a landmark opera house for Dubai. • Hotel brand Wyndham Garden has launched a new global design prototype to help hospitality operators save money, improve efficiency and forge a closer connection to nature. Read here. • The body in charge of organising Tokyo’s Olympic Games has admitted its

Spanish tenor Placido Domingo will tonight (31 August) officially open the nautically-themed new Dubai Opera House, with developer Emaar stating the venue will rival the Sydney Opera House for cultural impact. The singer, known as “the King of Opera”, will give the very first performance at the configurable 2,000 seat venue, which will host theatre, concerts, art exhibitions, opera, orchestra, film, sports events and seasonal programmes. Architecture studio Atkins were

One of the world’s most iconic cultural landmarks is set to be comprehensively revamped “and upgraded for the 21st Century”. The government of New South Wales, Australia has revealed working designs to update the Sydney Opera House as part of a AUS$202m scheme. The changes – which are the biggest in the building’s 43 year history – include an overhaul of the Concert Hall’s acoustics, accessibility, stage and backstage areas.

Bootcamp fitness studio operator TRIB3 has launched a new design concept which will bring mobile gyms to local parks, schools and open spaces across the UK and overseas. The compact gyms are built within a shipping-style container. At the touch of a button, a hydraulic system opens up the gym within ten minutes, revealing a mini studio with treadmills and workout mats. The concept was created by TRIB3 and designed

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has announced it will debut its W Hotels brand in Scotland at the 12-storey ‘ribbon’ building designed by Jestico + Whiles in the heart of Edinburgh. The striking building – which has proven controversial due to its eye-catching steel facade and mooted location in the centre of the historic city – is set to complete in 2020. It will be the centrepiece of the Edinburgh St