Global architectural firm Woods Bagot has completed its comprehensive renewal of the Continental Sorrento in Victoria, Australia, with a luxury underground spa and bathing retreat. The hotel – known locally as the “Conti” – opened in 1875 and is based in Sorrento; a popular holiday destination thanks to its sheltered coastal access and the region’s naturally occurring geothermal mineral springs. The opening of the spa marks the final step in

Private investment firm Starwood Capital Group and real estate and hospitality company, Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners (AJ Capital), have unveiled a new outdoor-focused hotel group called Field & Stream Lodge Company. Field & Stream is an existing American brand established in 1871. Starwood and AJ Capital want to initially create approximately 20 to 25 hotels, first targeting US markets in close proximity to authentic natural experiences, including national parks, beaches,

One of the world’s tallest hotels made almost exclusively from wood, has officially opened at the birthplace of cross-country skiing, Skellefteå in Swedish Lapland, with the property's rooftop Vana Spa giving spectacular views over the city. Designed by White Arkitekter and standing at 20 storeys, the Wood Hotel, which soft opened in 2021, is 75 metres high and made almost entirely from spruce and pine sourced from nearby forests. First

After five years’ construction, Oetker Collection has unveiled its first Swiss hotel, named The Woodward, in the heart of Geneva, complete with views of Mont Blanc and Lake Geneva. The hotel was born after a renovation of the existing building – formerly a hotel and bank – by architect Pierre-Yves Rochon – with spacious apartment-style suites in a refined, contemporary style. The design is enhanced by decorative elements including Lalique

Longwood Gardens, a botanical visitor attraction near Philadelphia, US, has revealed plans for a US$250m redevelopment project. The historic site – one of the largest horticultural gardens in the US – will transform its visitor experience through the revitalisation of 17 acres of its core conservatory area. The 'Longwood Reimagined' project – set to be completed by late 2024 – will expand the public spaces of the central grounds and

Plans by Forest Green Rovers Football Club (FGRFC) to play its games at the world’s first entirely wooden stadium have been approved by the English Football League (EFL). Getting approval to host games at the proposed stadium clears another planning hurdle for the project, which would see a 5,000-seat venue built near the UK town of Eastington. Plans for the stadium were first unveiled in 2015 and it is expected

Rosewood Hotels and Resorts is expanding its presence in the Middle East with plans to open a hotel and residences in Doha, Qatar, in 2022. Housed in two towers, Rosewood Doha and Rosewood Residences Doha will consist of one 40-storey building that will include 300 residences for purchase while the other 37-floor tower will feature a 185-room ultra-luxury hotel and 173 serviced apartments for longer-term stays. The hotel group has

Six Senses has announced plans to open a new Italian resort at a historic castle estate nestled into the Umbrian countryside, in Perugia, scheduled to open in 2023. Architecture firm Woods Bagot is behind the masterplan, while interiors are being planned by Tokyo-based Design Studio SPIN. The redevelopment is being driven by VIY Management (VIYM), a London-based investment firm focused on luxury hospitality and mixed-use real estate projects, and Alessio

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

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which has been designed by Renzo Piano, is set to open in Hollywood on 14 December 2020 it has been announced. The museum will be located in the former 1939 May Company department store, now called the Saban Building, with a spherical building added. Renzo Piano said: "The historic Saban Building is a wonderful example of Streamline Moderne style, which preserves the way people

Vermland design studio has created an interior for a 100sq m (1070sq ft) restaurant in Copenhagen that is made entirely out of the wood from a single Douglas fir tree. Hverdagen was conceived to serve everyday food with an approach that is experimental and sustainable – in terms of both the ingredients used and the space in which it is served. The interior was inspired by the trends for casual,

Open Platform and JAJA Architects have won a competition to create a new multi-storey car-park and mobility hub in Aarhus, Denmark, with a wooden design that will incorporate space for activities, creativity and socialising. Working with Rama Studio and Søren Jensen Engineers, the firms sought to design a facility that would play an active role in the development of the district in the future. The car-park itself will cover 19,300sq

Arab Engineering Bureau have designed new hotel and residences towers for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts that are based on underwater forms and the local coral formations in Qatar's Lusail City. The two adjacent towers will be wrapped in perforated white façades that will be both an aesthetic feature and a means of moderating solar gain. According to Rosewood: "The organic architectural design approach is aimed at respecting the site and

Woods Bagot have been chosen to redevelop Adelaide's Central Market Arcade, with a design that will see it integrated with the city's adjacent Central Market itself to create a world-class food and wine destination. The AU$400m (US$276m, €248m, £210m) project will establish the newly combined 11,000sq m (118,400sq ft) social and commercial precinct with supporting public spaces as the cornerstone of the broader market district. The amount of retail space

ACME's amphitheatre-style pavilion that is intended to become a new social hub and meeting place has topped out in Stratford, East London. The Pavilion – both its descriptor and working title – is being built for the developing International Quarter London (IQL), a new business district on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which hosted much of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. Covering an area of 10,000sq

Rosewood Hotels and Resorts has launched its Asaya wellness destination concept in the 27-storey Rosewood Hong Kong hotel, designed by New York interior designer Tony Chi. Originally launched at Rosewood Phuket, the Asaya wellness concept is founded on five pillars – Emotional Balance, Fitness and Nutrition, Physical Therapies, Skin Health and Community. The 3,716sq m (40,000sq ft) Hong Kong space spans two floors and includes private harbour-view marble hydrotherapy pools,

Beijing Fenghemuchen Space Design has created a 1,170sq m (12,600sq ft) library, coffee shop and cultural space in China's Hangzhou City that is contained and shaped by natural wooden bookshelves and elements. The aim was to create a reading-themed space that could also be used for shared experiences and community purposes. Designers Yi Chen and Muchen Zhang chose to use oak throughout for its warmth and naturality as a material

When the scaffolding comes down later this year on Edwardian Hotels' £300m (US$387m, €348m), Woods Bagot -designed Londoner hotel, an artwork façade will be revealed. The boutique hotel and cinema complex will cover 32,000sq m (345,000sq ft) in central London, span 15 storeys and have a six-storey, 30m (98ft)-deep basement. But Helen Taylor, project lead at architects Woods Bagot, told CLAD that it was creating its faience design – using

Dale Vince, chair of UK soccer team, Forest Green Rovers, has resubmitted a planning application for a new 5,000-capacity stadium development dubbed the "greenest football venue in the world". Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the main stadium would be built almost entirely out of wood, making it the first of its kind in the world. The stadium would be the centrepiece of the £100m Eco Park development – a 100-acre

Danish architecture firm Cobe has won an international competition to create designs for a new science museum in the Swedish city of Lund, with the visitor attraction set to open in 2024. Constructed of wood, the museum will be CO2-neutral and will have "the potential to become a future icon of sustainability", according to Cobe. The two-storey building proposed in the successful design has a total floor space of 6,000sq

A team of researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park, have invented a special type of engineered wood that might be able to reduce carbon emissions and reduce cooling costs by 60 per cent. In order to create the material, the scientists soaked basswood in a solution of hydrogen peroxide to strip away its lignin (glue-like polymers that absorb heat and harden plant cells). The wood was then placed

A focus on enabling customers to create Instagram moments has defined the design of the hotly anticipated Funan Mall by Singaporean property and investment group Capitaland, which will reopen to the public on 28 June. Situated in Singapore's Civic District, the revamped retail complex, which was restored by Capitaland for an estimated £320m (US$406.3m, €361.6m), features an array of leisure facilities, including a 200-metre indoor cycling path (a first for

The Kengo Kuma-designed Odunpazarı Modern Museum (OMM) is slated to launch in Eskisehir, Turkey – the former "Turkic World" capital of culture – in June. The 4,500 sq m museum, which takes its cantilevered, stacked appearance from the town's Ottoman-era houses and traditional wood market, will unfold over three floors and comprise exhibition galleries, workshop areas, event spaces, a cafe, and a shop. Founded by Turkish billionaire and art aficionado

Frich's Wood Hotel has officially launched inside the recently completed Mjøstarnet building in Brumunddal, Norway. Featuring 72 rooms as well as an exterior garden, a restaurant, a pool, and a bar, the hotel is connected to a range of cycling and walking trails and faces Mjøs, Norway's largest lake. Other elements of the complex include offices and residential facilities. Frich's is part of the 85.4-metre-tall Mjøstarnet property – reportedly the

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,

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,

Morphosis Architects have been selected to design a surrealistic complex on the site of the infamous Viper Room, a club formerly co-owned by Johnny Depp and patronised by numerous Hollywood celebrities. Recently released renderings for the project show a tapered, C-shaped building and a tower covered in greenery. The two structures – set to occupy a tract of land on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles – are connected by a