Therme Group has received planning permission to build the UK’s first city-based wellbeing resort, Therme Manchester, after a four-year journey. Planning approval has been granted for the UK’s first city-based wellbeing resort, Therme Manchester, in Trafford in northern England. A project by Therme Group, the £250m (US$317.8m, €291.4m) resort’s design was recently updated to include a pavilion-style concept enveloped by a natural landscape. Construction is set to commence later this

A conference held in London this month will discuss the "next frontier" in health- and wellness-based urban design and civic architecture. The Healthy City Design 2022 International Congress & Exhibition – held from 10 to 11 October 2022 – will take place at the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK and will also be streamed virtually online. Organised by Salus Global Knowledge Exchange, in collaboration with The Helen Hamlyn Centre

The MSG Sphere, a controversial auditorium and music globe designed by Populous, has been given full planning permission by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC). If built, the Sphere would tower 90m above Stratford, London, and in addition to the auditorium, would include a nightclub, bars, restaurants, cafés, shops and parking. The sphere would boast the “largest and highest resolution LED screen in the world” – in the form of

The Museum of Military Medicine in the UK has received planning approval for a new building in the city of Cardiff. As a result, the historic attraction will move from its current home in Surrey to a new flagship facility designed by architects Scott Brownrigg. The new building – set to be located in Cardiff Bay – will host the museum's comprehensive collection of archives and exhibitions documenting the legacy

Chelsea Football Club has allowed the planning permission for its new Herzog & de Meuron -designed stadium to lapse, keeping the project on hold until "economic conditions improve". The English Premier League received planning permission in 2017 to build a 60,000-seat venue at the site of its current Stamford Bridge stadium. But the club announced a year later that it had put the project on hold due to the "unfavourable

Arup has revealed its designs for the redevelopment of the Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, UK, which will be the focal point of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. If accepted, the £70m ($90m, €81m) plan will see the stadium become a high-quality venue for diverse sporting, leisure, community and cultural events. Among proposals are plans to build a new western stand, replacing the Main, Knowles and Nelson stands and to add new

Proposals for a world-class automotive museum in the heart of the English countryside have moved a step further towards realisation with the awarding of outline planning permission. The Mullin Automotive Park will be situated over 63 hectares at the disused Enstone airfield near Chipping Norton in The Cotswolds, UK. It would provide public access to view the classic car collection of US businessman Peter Mullin, founder of M Financial Group,

Neath Port Talbot council has greenlit plans for the Afan Valley Adventure Resort – a highly anticipated leisure destination set to rise on a 325-acre former forestry plantation in South Wales. The new attraction, which is being overseen by Peter Moore OBE – of Center Parcs fame – will comprise 600 trail lodges, a 100-room spa hotel, restaurants, and a plethora of sports and recreational facilities, including a survival academy

UK-based architecture and design studio Pilbrow and Partners have received planning consent for its Market Building – a mixed-use high-rise in London's Canary Wharf district. The 14-storey structure will be situated in Wood Wharf – the neighbourhood's new urban quarter – and will boast a sky bar and restaurant, as well as office units, retail outlets, and a marketplace. Speaking on the project, Fred Pilbrow, partner at Pilbrow and Partners,

London-based private members’ haunt the Arts Club is set to open a third location in West Hollywood, California, US. The new branch of the historic club – founded in London in 1863 by luminaries such as novelists Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope and artist Frederic Leighton – will sit in a 132,000sq ft mixed-use complex designed by Gensler. Backed by Hollywood actress and wellness champion Gwyneth Paltrow, facilities will include private dining

The hospitality arm of luxury goods giant Bvlgari has announced plans to open a hotel in Paris in 2020, bringing its international collection to eight properties. Italian design firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel and Parisian architects Valode & Pistre are converting a historic building on Avenue George V – adjacent to the Champs Elysees in the famous and fashionable Triangle d’Or area of the French capital – into the 66-room

Architects Cullinan Studio and multidisciplinary firm Arup have received planning permission for the UK’s longest aerial walkway: a 400m-long (1,312ft) ribbon “floating through the treetops” of the Conkers visitor attraction in Leicestershire. The sinuous attraction – composed of a galvanised steel structure – narrows and widens at different points, creating passing places and observation points overlooking the forest below. Three timber-clad treehouses, or eyries, feature along the walkway, providing event

A child-friendly approach to urban planning is a vital part of creating inclusive cities that work better for everyone. That is the conclusion of global architecture and engineering firm Arup, which has published a new report warning that cities risk economic and cultural damage if they fail to address the needs of children aged 17 and under. The authors of ‘Cities Alive: Designing for Urban Childhoods’ argue that children’s ability

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched the draft of his first London Plan – described as "the capital’s strategic planning bible". The 524-page document sets out Khan’s vision for urban development and offers firm guidelines for architects and developers in a host of areas. The plan focuses on tackling of London’s housing crisis – with proposals to build 65,000 homes per year and make 50 per cent of

It was built as a grandiose home for an 18th-century archbishop, and later became a luxury hotel frequented by the likes of Ronald Reagan, Jacqueline Kennedy and Richard Burton. Now Ireland’s Cashel Palace Hotel is set to be given a new lease of life, courtesy of architecture and design firm ReardonSmith. The building – designed in an Early Georgian style by Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, the architect of the Old

Plans to develop a second zoo in Sydney, Australia, have been given the go-ahead after local government officials granted planning permission to the AU$36m (US$28.8m, €24m, £21.3m) “cage free” project in Bungarribee. First touted in September 2015, the proposal for the Western Sydney Parklands – masterplanned by Australian design firm Misho + Associates (M+A) in conjunction with landscape architecture from Aspect Studios – will create natural-looking spaces developed to showcase

There is a “danger” that architects are being swayed to work on signature buildings at the expense of the coherent development of cities, according to David Chipperfield. In an exclusive interview, published in the new issue of CLADmag, the British architect said that, particularly in the UK, planning was “being overtaken by investment”. “In London I think there is planning permission for a further 200 towers right now, and more

The Los Angeles Planning Commission has officially approved on Star Wars creator George Lucas’ plans to build the long-gestating Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Exposition Park. The decision was finalised yesterday (11 May), according to news service NBC Los Angeles. New renderings and information released by Lucas and MAD Architects, who have designed the spacecraft-like museum, reveal the latest iteration of the green lit project. The museum will have

A British heritage charity has warned that council planning committees are too easily seduced by glitzy computer-generated images of buildings they’re tasked with approving or rejecting. According to the Telegraph newspaper, Marcus Binney of Save Britain's Heritage argued that such images rarely show the reality of how the building will appear and be used in reality. "[Developers] lavish large amounts of money on producing these images, and they're very persuasive,”

Factory, the flagship arts building for the north of England designed by Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), has been granted planning approval by Manchester City Council. Construction will begin in Q1 2017 on the large-scale venue, which has been designed to reflect the “extraordinary creative vision and breadth of Manchester’s cultural life”. Ellen van Loon and OMA founder Rem Koolhaas are leading the project. The £110m (US$137.2m, €129.6m)

The plan to demolish Chelsea FC’s Stamford Bridge ground and replace it with a 60,000-capacity stadium has received a recommendation by planning officers. A 300-plus page document delivering the recommendation said the stadium would be a “high quality development, which would make a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the local area”. Architects Herzog & de Meuron were credited with developing a “high quality piece of design” and

The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force (RAF) will celebrate its centenary in 2018 by renovating the RAF Museum in London into “a world-class visitor facility.” Nex–Architecture and Agence Ter Landscape Architects have been commissioned to revamp the historic site, which sits on the edge of the former Hendon Aerodrome in the city’s Colindale area. The airfield was one of the first in the country and was instrumental during the Battle

The developers of 3D digital modelling software VUCITY have designed a new experience to showcase the technology: a virtual reality Top Gear-style challenge. Users sit in a chair, put on an Oculus Rift headset and proceed steer a race car through a virtual reality model of central London that is accurate to within 15cm and includes landmarks such as London Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral and Renzo Piano's Shard. The technology

According to media reports in Bahrain, the country’s government is planning to build its biggest integrated sports stadium, with capacity for 50,000 spectators. The facility, to be located in Sakhir, Southern Governorate, would have an international standard football pitch and facilities to accommodate basketball, handball, bowling, badminton and table tennis. A shopping complex, sports training school, Olympic-size swimming pool and cinema are also planned, according to the Gulf Daily News.

English League Two football club Luton Town has filed a planning application as its ambitious bid to build a new stadium complex gathers pace. The application includes plans for a 17,500-capacity stadium in the Power Court part of the town, and a mixed-use development including hotels and a cinema – expected to fund the stadium – to be built in Newlands Park. The project has been designed by AndArchitects. The

Scottish Premiership football club Aberdeen FC has moved to secure planning permission to build its proposed new stadium and surrounding development. The club has submitted its Proposal of Application Notice – which also includes a new community and sports campus, as well as a football academy – to Aberdeen City Council, Kingswell Community Council, Westhill and Elrick Community Council and Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council. A 12-week consultation process

New London mayor Sadiq Khan has claimed culture will be as important as housing, transport and the environment in his administration. Speaking at the press opening of the new Tate Modern in the UK capital, Khan vowed to increase the number of cultural facilities and public spaces by “embedding culture in London’s planning system.” “For too long culture has been merely a nice-to-have,” he argued. “We’ve got to change that.”