A heritage row has erupted over plans to build a permanent home and museum for the Nobel prize – the first in the award’s 114-year history. The new headquarters threaten two historic buildings with demolition and a group of more than 5,000 has formed in protest of the plans. Under the proposals, a 25,000sq m (269,000sq ft) facility will open in 2018. The new centre will house nearly all Nobel’s

Legendary 19th century engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel – creator of UK landmarks like Bristol’s Clifton suspension bridge – is to be the subject of a new £7m ($11.6m, €8.5m) museum celebrating his work. The attraction, Being Brunel, will sit next to the SS Great Britain ship museum in Bristol, which centres on another of Brunel’s famous creations. It will be built within the historic Great Western Steamship Company dockyard and

The Herzog and de Meuron-designed Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) launched recently in Miami’s new Museum Park, featuring 200,000sq ft (18,581sq m) of exhibition space. As well as permanent and temporary galleries, PAMM features a shop, café, auditorium, education centre and offices. It also features vertical gardens by French botanist Patrick Blanc. The building sits on an elevated platform and below a canopy; tropical plants and vegetation will be planted

America’s National Civil Rights Museum, the converted motel where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated, reopened its doors on Saturday – the day after the 46th anniversary of King’s death – following an extensive redevelopment. The Memphis museum has undergone a US$27.5m (€20m, £16.8m) renovation – the culmination of 18-months’ construction led by architects Self+Tucker – to complete the remodelling of the 23-year-old attraction. Now boasting 52,000sq ft (4,831sq m)

Ambitious proposals to redevelop the Grade II listed Brighton Hippodrome into a leisure complex have been backed by English Heritage, which said this could be the “final chance” to save the 117-year-old structure. Alaska Development Consultants, working on behalf of an institutional client of Helix Property Advisors, has submitted a planning application to Brighton & Hove City Council to redevelop the theatre into a leisure complex housing an eight-screen Vue

Renovations to the roof and structure of a historic Grade II-listed lido in Reading, UK, may take place while delays in the planning process of a £3m (US$4.9m, €3.6m) spa complex continue. Redevelopment of the dilapidated King’s Meadow Baths into a spa has attracted significant interest – with high volumes of planning inquiries – since the council selected the complex as its preferred choice for the renovation in October, putting

The Catalina Island Museum is moving to the Ada Blanche Wrigley Schreiner Building – four times the size of their rented Avalon Casino accommodation – on Santa Catalina Island, California. Scheduled to open in 2015, the private, non-profit museum bought the land for US$1.9m (€1.3m, £1.1m) with funds from private donations. The new 11,000sq ft (1,021sq m) building will cost US$6m (€4.3m, £3.5m). Founded in 1953, the museum has always

The £8bn mixed-use development at Battersea Power Station is gathering steam, with developers revealing the latest images of the project and announcing prices for the first tranche of dwellings to go on sale. The power station is at the heart of the Battersea Power Station Development Company’s (BPSDC) 40-acre project that will create 18 acres of new public space, including a six-acre public park, approximately 200 shops and restaurants, plus

Eco sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor is looking to use underwater sculpturing to help boost coral reef environments, while also bringing a new form of experience to the attractions industry. Developing underwater museums, through the use of sculptures installed on coral reef beds, Taylor is helping to transform languishing environments, as well as relieving strain by opening up new options for tourists among heavily populated hot-spots. Taylor has so far opened

Cambridge University’s Museum of Zoology is to undergo a complete redevelopment after receiving a grant of £1.8m ($3m €2.2m) from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The funding will support £4.8m ($7.9m €5.8m) plans to redevelop the Museum of Zoology with new displays showcasing the animal kingdom, as well as new stores to preserve its outstanding collections for future display and expand the museum’s learning programmes, reaching out to wider audiences

A new museum memorial centre acting as a leading light for leisure restoration projects could be in line to receive two design awards. The National Mining Memorial Centre at the National Mining Museum Scotland has been nominated for a Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) award, as well as an Edinburgh Architectural Association (EAA) award in the Small Projects category. Located at the Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange, the centre

Work on the first floor of France’s iconic Eiffel Tower is almost finished, with new upgrades offering visitors a glass floor to walk over, shops, restaurants, plus an events and conference space 57m (187ft) above Paris. The first floor is the most spacious but also least visited storey of the Parisian structure, but the development by French studio Moatti-Riviére Architects – the first refurbishment on the tower in more than

A museum dedicated to the events of 11 September 2001 will open in New York City this May. At each stage of the design process, which incorporated objects from the World Trade Center, the museum had to consider what was appropriate to display and find a balance between commemoration and education. New York-based Davis Brody Bond is the lead architectural firm on the project and worked in conjunction with Oslo-outfit

The Frank Gehry-designed Biomuseo in Panama is set to open. The biodiversity and natural history museum has been in construction for almost ten years. The museum, which is located on the Amador Causeway at the entrance to the Panama Canal, has been designed to showcase the diverse range of species found in the region and represents Gehry's first built work in Latin America. The 43,000sq m (452,084sq ft) facility features

Celebrated Italian architect, Renzo Piano, is changing Boston’s museum landscape with three major projects in quick succession. The first project was the launch of the extension to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in January 2012. Providing a distinctive architectural addition behind the historic palace, the extension relieves pressure on the exhibition space and also adds a shop, café, exhibition preparation space, archival storage and conservation labs. In November 2013 a

A dome made by a robotic arm and live silkworms, a folding bike helmet and a floating pyramid-shaped school in a Nigerian lagoon are among the pioneering concepts nominated for Designs of the Year 2014 by London’s Design Museum. A total of 76 nominations have been put forward and will feature in an exhibition at the Design Museum from 26 March to 25 August 2013. Afterwards, the winners from each

Chinese state-owned property firm Greenland Holding Group has bought the Ram Brewery site in Wandsworth, West London - home of Britain’s oldest brewery - as part of a £600m development. The 7.75 acre (3.14ha) site, previously held by real estate developer Minerva, will be converted into 661 new homes, plus a brewing museum and microbrewery under plans approved last year by Wandsworth Council. The project includes a 36-storey landmark residential

Plans to construct a hotel and spa complex on a former naval battery outpost in Plymouth, UK, have been resurrected by Rotolok Holdings. The £10m ($16.4, €12m) scheme designed by LHC Architecture - featuring a 3,322sq.m (10,899ft) luxury hotel boasting 43 rooms and a spa overlooking Plymouth waterfront - was originally thrown out by local councillors last year, amid concerns over Drake Island’s wildlife and a Grade II-listed building. The

Florence is to welcome the opening of a new 20th Century Art Museum this April, as the city undergoes a cultural transformation which will see a host of other attractions open or receive restoration work. The city’s new Museo del Novecento, located in the former Leopoldine convent in Piazza Santa Maria Novella, will feature 800sq m (6,611 sq ft) of exhibition space, as well as 10 meeting rooms. To be

The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, has re-opened to the public after a 23-month transformation costing approximately $61m (£37m, €44.6m). Overlooking Lake Geneva, the Olympic Museum documents the complete history of the Games, spanning from ancient Athens to the present day. A major renovation of the original 1993 building, by Swiss architects Brauen & Wälchli, has virtually doubled the display areas, as well as creating new exhibition space totalling 3,000m²

The deputy director of Florida’s Norton Museum of Art believes hiring world-renowned architects Foster and Partners for its new transformation has sent a "clear message" of the institution’s "serious ambition" to become a major international art venue. James Brayton Hall described Lord Norman Foster as one of the "top three architects in the world" and said it was his work on the British Museum and Boston Museum of Fine Arts

The Tate Britain’s newly completed £45m renovation is a "triumph of funding" and could usher in a new age of philanthropy, according to Lord Browne, chair of Tate. A total of 95 per cent of the work was funded by private donors, with the majority of support coming from trusts, foundations, individual donors and Tate members – as opposed to big businesses. The Tate’s latest set of renovations sees the

Plans to build an innovative cultural museum designed by Foster + Partners in Abu Dhabi have moved a step closer following the proposal of 10 pre-qualified bids for the site's development. The Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) plans to build the Sheikh Zayed National Museum in the Cultural District area of Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. The final deadline for submissions passed on 26 November, though it is not

Following the launch in September of a competition to redesign the grounds of London's Natural History Museum, five teams have been chosen from the entrants and invited to submit their proposals. Amongst them are Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), with Martha Schwartz Partners (landscape); Grant Associates, with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (architect); and Niall McLaughlin Architects, with Kim Wilkie (landscape). Also included are Land Use Consultants (LUC), with Design Engine (architect)

Following the launch in September of a competition to redesign the grounds of London's Natural History Museum, five teams have been chosen from the entrants and invited to submit their proposals. Amongst them are Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), with Martha Schwartz Partners (landscape); Grant Associates, with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (architect); and Niall McLaughlin Architects, with Kim Wilkie (landscape). Also included are Land Use Consultants (LUC), with Design Engine (architect)

The William Heath Robinson Trust has turned to crowdfunders, Kickstarter, in its efforts to raise money to open a museum commemorating the artist, illustrator and humorist. The Trust has an extensive collection of artwork, letters and books, but no permanent home. The proposed museum, at West House in Pinner Memorial Park in North East London, UK would display these artefacts in the permanent exhibition space, telling the story of his

The Queens Museum, New York, has officially reopened following US$69m (£43m, €51m) worth of renovations, which have seen the doubling of museum space, the addition of new gallery and exhibition areas, as well a new artistic facade and an additional educational component being installed. Grimshaw Architects – with Ammann and Whitney – renovated the 105,000 sq ft (9,754sq m) museum in order to integrate the attraction with its location in