Global developer and wellbeing destination operator Therme Group has formed a joint venture (JV) with The Georgetown Company – a leading developer and owner of commercial, retail and mixed-use properties – to accelerate its US expansion. The partnership establishes Georgetown as Therme US’ exclusive development partner and a financial stakeholder, acquiring a 25 per cent equity stake in Therme US from Therme Group. The collaboration is a key step in

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

Two Asian-inspired wellness sanctuaries crafted by Banyan Tree will open on luxury private islands off the coast of Mozambique in Q4 2022. The first, a signature Banyan Tree spa, will open at Banyan Tree Ilha Caldeira – a new private island getaway. The resort will be joined by a sister island named Banyan Tree Veya Ilha Nejovo, dedicated to wellness and wellbeing. This adults-only 20-villa wellness destination will be located

Destination spa and health resort Preidlhof in Naturno, South Tyrol, will open a new medicinal bathing facility later this month, following a five-year development programme. Costing €2m (US$2.26m, £1.7m), the new hydrotherapy experience will include an 80sq m indoor pool and a number of private whirlpool baths. The main pool is a retrofit of an existing swimming pool tank, which has been excavated and rebuilt to accommodate the specialist pipework

The restoration of the Grade II*-listed Power Station in London is nearing completion, with the mixed-use development preparing to open its next phase over the following months. This will see the first tenants moving into the regenerated Power Station, designed by WilkinsonEyre, followed by residents to the Electric Boulevard – designed by Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners – by the end of the year. Simon Murphy, CEO of the

Margot Krasojević has created a conceptual design for a hydroelectric power plant that uses the electricity it generates to power nearby homes as well as an art gallery housed within. Much of Krasojević's work focuses on combining architectural typologies as potential solutions for new challenges in our "perpetually changing environment", like her Harmonic Turbine Tidal Hotel. The Hydroelectric Sculpture Gallery concept redefines what a power plant and a gallery can

Boutique boxing gym brand BXR London, which is backed by Anthony Joshua, has revealed plans to open a new site at Battersea Power Station that will be designed by Bergman Interiors. Set to open in 2021, the 14,000sq ft (1,300sq m) gym will be BXR’s second and largest – and it will form part of Battersea Power Station’s second phase of redevelopment. As well as the BXR members-only club, the

As the creative director for Dulux in the UK, Marianne Shillingford is an authority on the power of colour, but she says that paint can do more than just make a room look good and that the impact it can have is often overlooked. "Architects see paint as a protective coating rather than an opportunity to change something quite radically for very, very little money," she explained in an interview

Work has commenced on the restoration of the Grade II-listed Power Hall at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester – part of a larger, multi-million-pound project to create a more sustainable museum and a "beacon for contemporary science". The museum was forced to close the Power Hall in April this year due to urgent repairs that needed to be carried out on the roof. Following a grant of £6m

Naval architect Jean-Michel Ducancelle has designed a solar-powered floating hotel suite aimed at offering an eco-friendly and nomadic place for travellers to stay. The Anthénea pod was conceived as a luxury suite for hoteliers to offer their guests, but can be adapted for use as a spa, bar or restaurant – or anything else. The 50sq m (540sq ft) pod has three spaces: a day space, a night space and

London-based architecture practice Foster + Partners have revealed plans to create a community-centred boathouse and rowing facility in Washington Heights, New York. Commissioned by competitive rowing charity Row New York, the proposed timber-roofed building will comprise an array of classrooms, event spaces, and outdoor leisure areas – all of which be used for rowing-focused educational programmes. Using the sport as a facilitator for self-empowerment, the centre will also help its

The Techniquest science discovery centre in Wales is building a £5.7m (US$7.4m, €6.6m) expansion that will more than double its exhibition space and use a remarkable power source – fish. Techniquest’s new building, called Science Capital, sits on Cardiff Bay in the Welsh capital and the centre has consulted a number of STEM, energy and marine biology specialists across Wales for the Scale-ectric power project. Bream, carp and rudd in

Construction has begun on a multi-use, community pavilion designed by Dutch architecture practice, Powerhouse Company. Located in the Amsterdam-Zuidoost borough near the new office of banking group ING, the 900 sq m, minimalist structure will feature a transparent facade with rounded corners and a green roof composed of wood and stonecrops. The pavilion will also be the home of the Traveller, a dining outlet created by Dutch restaurateurs Michiel Deenik,

Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) has released details of three new attractions planned for the iconic London building, which is currently under renovation. The additions will include a large events venue, a 109 metre-high glass elevator which travels up one of the famous chimneys and a 250-person capacity immersive space in a former control room. All three spaces will open as part of the second phase of the building's

Buildings whose red facades represent 'phoenix bloodstones' could feature at the athletes' village for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, as part of a scheme by Benthem Crouwel Architects and Powerhouse Company. Phoenix bloodstones are a type of precious gemstone local to the region. The village would be built on land recently reclaimed from the sea and has been dubbed ‘Sponge City’, because of a vast rainwater collection and

Architect Steven Holl has blamed “a crisis of ignorance in high places” for a lack of progress in adopting environmental building practices, reserving particular ire for US president Donald Trump, who he predicted will be impeached. In a sweeping interview with CLADglobal, Holl argued that politicians through to developers, architects and contractors must do more to “get free from our dependence on non-renewable fuels” throughout the design and construction process.

International architects Snøhetta have unveiled a concept design for the Arctic circle's first ever energy-positive hotel. Situated at the foot of the Svartisen glacier that runs through Meløy, northern Norway, the project, called Svart, will consume around 85 per cent less energy than a modern Norwegian hotel, and produce its own power. The design has been developed by Snøhetta in collaboration with sustainable tourism agency Arctic Adventure of Norway; engineering

Danish landscape architects SLA have revealed their final design drawings for the rooftop park set to adorn Bjarke Ingels Group’s (BIG) forthcoming Amager Resource Center – one of the most-anticipated buildings of 2018. The centre, located in an industrial area of Copenhagen, is a waste-to-energy plant with unique public offerings – including a climbing wall on one facade and a 500m+ ski slope down its descending roof. Both the slope

Music fans can now get a taste of what it would be like to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with a new US$14m (€12.3m, £10.8m) visitor experience at the iconic Cleveland, Ohio, attraction set to launch on Saturday (1 July). The I.M Pei-designed Hall of Fame is currently undergoing a multi-year transformation led by BRC Imagination Arts. In addition to its new Power of Rock

Work has been completed on the rebuilding of Battersea Power Station’s iconic chimneys; the architectural centrepiece of the ongoing 42 acre regeneration of southwest London. The two pairs of original chimneys – built in the 1930s and the 1950s respectively – are very familiar in popular culture, having made appearances in Doctor Who, 1984, Sherlock and Children of Men among other films and television shows. They also featured on the

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,”

Architect Margot Krasojevic has designed an ice rink facility on a Russian lake that will use the power of the sun and geothermal energy to keep the surface frozen all year round. The ‘Liquid Skating Photovoltaic Ice Skating Rink’ will be located high in the mountains of the Kamchatka peninsula – a popular tourist hotspot due to its volcanic terrain, nature reserves and hot springs. Krasojevic’s client, China Film House,

A youth organisation has opened the “world’s first” train station football pitch at a site in Atlanta, US. Soccer in the Streets – which empowers underserved youth through sports-based training, mentoring and employability programmes – has developed the Station Soccer project in collaboration with the foundation of Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise Atlanta United. The facility – created by local artificial turf supplier GreenFields USA and Musco/Cree Lighting – has

The myriad of potential applications of a spray-on protective polymer have being showcased through an unlikely medium: an online video of an indestructible watermelon. In the video, produced by Australian record breaking enthusiasts How Ridiculous, the fruit is covered with the coating before being dropped from a height of 148ft (45m). It survives the fall and bounces off the road below. Later, the polymer-protected shell remains intact despite being hacked

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from the announcement of the world’s best building to new projects for OMA, Foster + Partners and Eric Parry. Monday • Madrid’s historic Hall of Realms will be refurbished and transformed into an important art exhibition space by architects Foster + Partners and Rubio Arquitectura Read here. • The Kroenke Sports and Entertainment company has broken ground on

The world’s first permanent ice hotel has opened to guests 200km (124m) north of the Arctic Circle. Icehotel 365, located in the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi, is a year-round extension to the world-famous 26-year old temporary structure, which is sculpted every winter using ice from the Torne River before melting in spring. To ensure the new structure stands firm all year round – despite its walls, floors and ceiling being

Parisian gym-goers could soon be powering scenic boat trips along the River Seine on a fitness vessel that harnesses energy from passengers’ workouts. The Paris Navigating Gym is the latest innovation from architects and researchers Carlo Ratti Associati. They have partnered with non-profit design group Terreform ONE, urban regeneration institute URBEM and fitness firm Technogym to develop the project. The boat – which has been designed in response to a