A wellness-focused mega development in London has received full planning consent, with the scheme expected on-site this year and a completion date of 2030. The Round, at 18 Blackfriars Road in Southwark, London, has been designed by architects Foster + Partners for global real estate developer Hines, which has US$90 billion of assets under management in 30 countries. Arup will drive construction while Knight Frank is the property agent. The

A global team of architects has been chosen to design the masterplan for the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic village. The team, called Outcomist, includes Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Arup, Nigel Dunnett Studio, Carlo Ratti Associati, Gross Max, Portland Design, Systematica, Studio Zoppini, Aecom, LAND, Artelia and PLP Architecture. The project – called Parco Romana – will transform the vast Porta Romana railway yard area in Milan, creating a Athletes’ Village

The organising committee of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games have shelved plans to create an athletes' village in the Perry Barr area of the city. The £520m development would have provided a home for around 6,500 athletes and officials during the Games and was due for completion in early 2022. Post games, the development was set to be converted into more than 1,400 homes, forming the first phase of a

Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay will reveal a new-look spa showcasing contemporary a Balinese design by The Fulcrum Agency and appearing to be suspended over water when it reopens at the start of May. The spa's revamp will align with the original Balinese design concept by Kerry Hill Architects and will feature interiors by Design Studio SPIN. The Healing Village Spa will 70 per cent bigger than before,

Following its completion, New York's One Manhattan Square has been being kitted out with 100,000sq ft (9,300sq m) of indoor and outdoor amenities aimed at creating "a vertical village with every convenience". Designed by Adamson Associates for Extell Development Company, the 800ft (244m)-tall residential tower is located on the East River across the water from Brooklyn. Its glass curtain façade, broken up with sections of warm Muntz metal cladding, will

FUGU Hospitality has installed a nine-bubble village of accommodation at the Alpin D’Hôme hotel in the Alps resort of Les Orres, France, providing a cosy, low-impact and close-to-nature place for guests to stay. FUGU was established in 2011 to provide bubble structures for events and launched its FUGU Hospitality subsidiary last year to rollout bubbles designed for habitation. Among the potential uses it suggests are home or hotel living spaces,

Already the architect developing the Sundsholmerne ecovillage on the waterfront of the new Stigsborg district in Aalborg, Denmark, C.F. Møller has now also been chosen to create its surrounding green space. The Sundsholmerne sustainable community is part of the 54ha (133ac) Stigsborg Waterfront project, which is transforming old industrial sites into new neighbourhoods. Covering 5,000sq m (54,000sq ft), Sundsholmerne will feature a variety of housing with communal facilities that will

Construction work has begun on the Athletes Village for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The 51-hectare site in the Seinte-Saint-Denis district in north Paris will accommodate up to 17,000 athletes and team officials during the Games. The Village will be built close to the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre – two venues in which an estimated 30 per cent of the total number of athletes will compete.

Pullman ’s Maldives Maamutaa Resort will open two villas with underwater bedrooms this November, allowing guests to see the island’s vibrant marine life up close during their stay. The resort, designed by Blink Design Group with interiors by Miaja Design Group, opened at the end of September and is spread across 18 hectares of landscaped garden in the Gaafu Alifu Atoll. It has 122 villas that are either beachside or

Swedish architect Martin Brudnizki has revealed plans for the new Six Senses Kitzbühel alpine resort and residences. The resort, owned and developed by Walther Staininger, is scheduled to open in December 2021 and will include a Six Senses hotel with extensive spa and wellness offerings, apartments and chalet residences. Playful elements will see residents able to dine in an igloo. Six Senses Kitzbühel is located in the Austrian Hohe Tauern

Architecture firm Elias Estudio and interior designer Francois Frossard have completed the Royale Residence, a 1,712 sq m short-stay villa located at the Le Blanc Spa Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico. Overlooking the Sea of Cortez, the two-storey guesthouse features four bedrooms, a fitness centre, a movie theatre, a sun deck, a 130 sq m infinity pool, and a spa treatment room. Provided with an assortment of bath amenities, including

The Andermatt Concert Hall (ACH) – a 650-capacity arts venue said to be the ‘first major purpose-built concert hall in any Alpine ski village’ has officially opened its doors. Designed by Studio Seilern Architects and constructed by BESIX Group, the new facility is situated in Andermatt, Switzerland, and can accomodate orchestras of up to 75 people. Kahle Acoustics were responsible for sound engineering, while dUCKS scéno served as the theatre

The PortAventura theme park in Spain has announced it will develop PortAventura Dreams, a 9,000sq m (29,527sq ft) village of eight homes offering entertainment and fun for children with serious illnesses and their families. PortAventura Dreams, which is due to open in September, will cost around €3m (US$3.38m, £2.65m) to create. Families of up to six people will be offered six-day stays, free of charge, with access to PortAventura's three

Construction work has begun on the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Village – the largest infrastructure project directly related to the Games. The £520m development in Perry Barr will provide a home for around 6,500 athletes and officials during the Games and is due for completion in early 2022. Post games, the development will be converted into more than 1,400 homes, forming the first phase of a long-term regeneration plan for

Mandarin Oriental, Lago di Como opened this week, following the renovation of the historic lakefront property. The hotel is located in Blevio, and is surrounded by natural beauty, enjoying a private, serene setting on the sunlit shores of the lake, nestled within verdant botanical gardens. Mandarin Oriental acquired the resort, which was previously CastaDiva Resort & Spa, last year. The 19th Century Villa Roccabruna is at the heart of the

American architecture office Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop the "Moon Village" project, the first full-time human habitat on the lunar surface. According to the design team, the future settlement, which would be situated in the rim of Shackleton Crater near the Moon's South Pole, would comprise three to four-story inflatable structures, "with

Construction has begun on "Villa M" – an integrated hotel that will explore the many dimensions of healthy living and communal wellness. The brainchild of French designer Philippe Starck and Triptyque Architecture, Villa M, which stands for – among other things – "medicine, mutualism, and mobility" – will comprise a hotel, gym, restaurant, and bar, as well as exhibition, residential, and working spaces. Another major amenity of the property will

Global real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson (NYSE: KW) has appointed ultra-luxury hotel group Rosewood Hotels & Resorts to manage Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort, which is set to open in 2022 after a complete renovation of the property. Located on the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawai'i, the iconic Hawaiian retreat has laid dormant since 2011. Conceptualised and developed by explorer Johnno Jackson in the early 1960s,

Plans for a large-scale athletes village, to be used during the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, have received the green light from Birmingham City Council (BCC). The £350m project will house around 6,500 athletes and officials during the Games and will be turned into a mixed-use housing development following the event, providing more than 1,100 homes in legacy mode. Designed by an architectural team led by local firms Glancy Nicholls Architects

The City of Miami has thrown its support behind Freedom Park and Soccer Village, David Beckham’s long-awaited stadium and training facility. The proposed complex, which has been a subject of media speculation since it was first announced in 2013, will be the home of Beckham’s Major League Soccer (MLS) team, Internacional Club de Fútbol Miami. Designed by Miami-based architecture firm Arquitectonica, the development will include a 25,000-seat stadium and a

Luxury group The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts will soon debut the Himalayas Lake View – the first tented eco-villas in Nepal. Designed by Wonaw & Associates and Coconut Groove Interiors, the eight villas – which range between 40 and 82 sq m – are located on the shore of Phewa Lake in Pokhara. The resort provides a number of wellness and leisure offerings, such as Ayurvedic massages, access to a

MURAKA – the world’s first underwater residence – has opened at Hilton Hotels’ Conrad Rangali in the Maldives. The new US$15m (€13.3m, £11.6m) space, which is set five metres beneath the Indian Ocean, spreads over two levels and features three bedrooms, a gym, bar, and infinity pool. Guests at the Crown Company-designed villa also have round-the-clock access to a butler who resides on the premises. Other amenities at Conrad Maldives

Construction has commenced on an elevated cycleway and pedestrian overpass in Sydney’s North Rye neighbourhood. Designed by Australian architectural firm KI Studio and developed by Landcom, the new 160-metre bridge will span across the Hills M2 motorway and Delhi Road, providing a direct link between the not-yet-completed Lachlan’s Line 'urban village', Macquarie Park, and the North Rye railway station. Intended to function both as a public space and as a

Snowmass Base Village – set to become the largest ski resort in North America – will open its doors just in time for this year’s Christmas season. Designed by a team of firms including Oz Architecture, Raymond Letkeman Architects, and Eldon Beck & Associates, the 100,000 sq ft leisure hub and "ski in, ski out"-resort will include a public plaza and skating rink, as well as multiple restaurants, pools, gyms,

Architect Bill Bensley is working on a national cultural heritage site in Yên Tu Mountain – considered to be the cradle of Trúc Lâm Zen Buddhism in Vietnam – as part of the Vietnamese government’s strategic development plan for the area. Designed with attention to historical detail – Bensley has created the entire Yên Tu Village in 13th-century style and using 13th-century techniques where possible – the village will include

Architectural firm Urban Nouveau have proposed to inject new life into the disintegrating Old Lidingö Bridge in Stockholm by transforming the structure into a residential community and public pedestrian park. Drawing inspiration from the High Line sky garden and walkway in Manhattan, the firm outlined a plan to design 50 apartments and a green expanse in the steel latticework edifice. The bridge, which has connected eastern Stockholm to the island

Corippo, a 200-hundred-year-old village located in the Verzasca valley, is undergoing a transformation which could see it become the first albergo diffuso (“scattered hotel”) in Switzerland. Scattered hotels are effectively regenerated municipalities, endangered districts which get a new lease on life by becoming interactive, multi-venue destinations for travellers interested in full-scale immersion tourism. The plan to save the highland hamlet, the population of which has been diminishing exponentially for half