Paisley Abbey has submitted plans to Refrewshire Council for the £2m reconstruction of its fourth cloister, to house a visitor centre, café, gift shop and function space. Architects Simpson & Brown have submitted the plans, received 28 February, and state the extension will complement the existing 12th-century abbey without copying what was there. It is hoped the two-floor expansion- to be constructed of heavy masonry on the ground floor and

A major partnership between East Sussex County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and the University of Sussex will see around 350,000 items moved from the Royal Pavilion & Museums to new historical resource centre The Keep, beginning next month. Based in Falmer the facility will house the area's archives and historical records including: maps and plans; written records; photographs and films; prints and drawings; oral histories; digital and electronic

Australia's Art Gallery of New South Wales has revealed it plans to double in size and transform itself into an art museum for the "Asian century", in time for the 150th anniversary of its founding in 2021. An international architectural competition will produce a design for the new building, which will expand northwards towards the harbour. Other improvements - part of a strategic master plan for the attraction - include

Financing to fund the first phase of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia, US, has been secured, with construction to start this month. The US$125m (96m euro, £84m) project, which will detail the African-American civil rights movement and ongoing human rights issues, had been slow to secure funds due to the economic downturn. However, on 7 March PNC Bank and Invest Atlanta announced US$24m (18m

Filmmaker George Lucas has revealed his vision for a populist art museum to be built in San Francisco overlooking the Bay Area, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. His proposal is one of 16 received by the Presidio Trust, which is overseeing the rejuvenation of the former commissary site at Crissy Field, with others proposals including an observatory, an environmental museum and a museum dedicated to the US response to

A restructure at the National Media Museum (NMeM) has contributed to the delay in the planned June opening of a new £4m Media Space at the Science Museum in London, which will now open on 21 September. The two museums – both part of the Science Museum Group – have collaborated on the new project, which will provide a gallery to showcase the National Photography Collection. According to the Museums

The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will include the 13th US presidential library, will host an official dedication ceremony on 25 April before opening to the public on 1 May. The 226,565sq ft (21,565sq m) building, located at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, has been under construction for two years and will include a library, museum and policy institute. Set on 23 acres, including replanted trees from Bush’s

Virginia's planned presidential library for George Washington has achieved its US$100m (76.9m euro, £66.5m) capital campaign goal ahead of schedule with a gift from one of the United States' foremost philanthropists. The Mount Vernon Ladies' Assocation revealed on what would have been Washington's 281st birthday that David M. Rubenstein had donated US$10m (7.7m euro, £6.7m) to the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. The association

Harvard Art Museums, comprising the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion project and will reopen in Q3 2014. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the project will bring the three museums under one roof for the first time. The new facility will feature expanded permanent collection galleries along with galleries programmed in consultation with students and faculty and flexible

Dudley Council has shared its plans for the three attractions at Castle Hill with the public, following its submission of planning permission in January for the major redevelopment. The £10.1m proposal for the Dudley Zoological Gardens, the Black Country Living Museum and the Dudley Canal Trust include a shared arrival point for visitors, a new entrance for each attraction and 600 new parking spaces and an upgraded car park. During

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has been appointed to design the temporary Serpentine Gallery Pavilion for 2013, which will open in London's Kensington Gardens in June. Fujimoto's design vision for the 350sq m space is a latticed structure with a semi-transparent appearance that will see it blend with the landscape and the gallery's colonnaded east wing. For the first time design firm AECOM will provide technical and engineering services for pavilion.

Work has begun on the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA), which will open in 2016. More than US$95m (£61.4m, 71m euro) of the US$100m (£64.6m, 75m euro) campaign for the new facility was raised by private donations. Designed by New York City-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), the centre will feature "bold new architectural form," that will focus on “beauty and accessibility.” The

Public donations of £35,000 raised in just over a week mark the end of a £35m appeal to fund a new home for Tudor warship the Mary Rose in Portsmouth. The museum was scheduled to open in autumn 2012 but a final fit out of interiors was to take longer than expected, and the attraction is now expected to open late spring. In addition to the restored ship, the boat-shaped

The Queens Museum of Art (QMA) is undergoing a multi-million dollar expansion that will see its exhibition space double to 105,000sq ft (9,755sq m). Designed by architect firm Grimshaw, the new spaces will include additional gallery spaces, artist studios, education classrooms, a cafe, special events spaces, and administrative spaces. The expansion, which is due to open October 2013, is supported by the Office of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the

The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, US, which has been 10 years in the making, will be unveiled in 2015. Located beside the Washington Monument on Washington's National Mall, the five-acre site will be devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, art, history and culture. It was established as a Smithsonian museum by an Act of Congress in 2003. It is the only

An American museum to house the country’s largest collection of armour and Cavalry objects has undergone a feasibility assessment and is now continuing its fundraising efforts. The $65m (48.28m euro, £41.52m) National Armor and Cavalry Museum is set to open in Fort Benning, Georgia, US, on a 30-acre site and will complement the existing National Infantry Museum. The first phase of building for the 100,000sq ft (9,290sq m) facility is

Work has been launched to save Italian UNESCO heritage site Pompeii from further damage, with 41.8m euro (US$55.94m, £35.42m) of European Union funds contributing to the 105m euro (US$140.51m, £88.97m) restoration project. The purpose of the project is to preserve the site as a long-term tourist attraction, by consolidating structures on the archaeological site, introducing drainage and improving the training of on site staff. The attraction currently attracts 2.3m visitors

Surrey's Brooklands Museum is planning to reconfigure the museum's hangar as The Brooklands Aircraft Factory after securing a first-round pass for a £4.85m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The Brooklands Aircraft Factory & Race Track Revival Project aims to relocate, restore and reinterpret the Weybridge museum's grade II-listed Wellington Hangar. The project includes plans to restore the hangar on a new site adjacent to its current one, allowing

A new temporary exhibition, charting the fascinating story behind the discovery of the remains of king Richard III, has opened in Leicester today (8 February). Richard III: Leicester's Search for a King has been created by exhibition designers Mather & Co and has gone on show at Leicester's medieval Guildhall building. Mather & Co only had four weeks to design, construct and install the exhibition, as well as incorporate brand

Lincoln Castle is to undergo a multi-million pound redevelopment to "bring the castle to life," which includes opening the Victorian male prison for the first time in years. Both prison buildings will be refurbished and the project will see the creation of a new vault to showcase Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest. The castle walls will also be repaired and a complete wall walk will be created,

Bristol mayor George Ferguson has announced his support for a proposed aerospace attraction at the Filton airfield that would showcase aircraft, helicopters, aero-engines and missiles, and also provide a home for Concorde 216. In a letter to Iain Gray, chair of the Bristol Aero Collection Trust, Ferguson said he saw the Bristol Aerospace Centre as a "key legacy project". "The Bristol Aeroplane Company was one of the first and most

Contemporary Los Angeles art gallery The Broad is to open January 2014, with a ceremony held to mark the completion of its steel frame this month. Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad are financing the $130m (96.50m euro, £82.60m) project, which will exhibit works by Jean Michel Basquiat, Joseph Beuys, Keith Haring, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol in its inaugural exhibition. At the 8 January

The Natural Science Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, US, has announced it will open its SciQuarium in early summer this year, the first phase in a three stage investment programme to continue over the next three years. Natural Science Center employees, Moser-Mayer Phoenix & Associates and Cambridge Seven Associates have contributed to the design of the US$10m (7.5m euro, £6.3m) project, which is dominated by a 22,000sq ft aquarium. It

A new national museum will launch in Tartu, Estonia in late 2016. Located in the city's Raadi district, the Estonia National Museum (ENM) will be funded by the Estonian Government. Director of the museum, Estonian politician Tonis Lukas, said that he hoped to sign a building contract in the next few weeks with construction expected to begin in March 2013. Designed by architects Dan Dorell, Lina Ghotmeh and Tsuyoshi, the

The first phase of the National Afro-American Museum in Wilberforce, Ohio, US will be unveiled on 26 January, following an 18-month long revamp. To be opened in stages, the museum's first phase includes a renovated exhibition space, which will feature the new installation "How I Got Over." The mixed media exhibition will reflect the African American experience and focus on three themes of celebration, spirituality and protest. A second exhibition

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, has launched the next phase of its US$300m (225m euro, £187m) expansion. The US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Centre, which cost US$35m (26m euro, £22m), tells the story of America's industrial capability during the war years and explores what it was like to participate in World War II on land, at sea or in the air. It showcases the macro artifacts

Ahead of its opening on 1 February, details of The View from the Shard visitor experience at London's tallest skyscraper have been revealed. The attraction's viewing platforms sit on levels 69 and 72 of the 1,016ft (310m) landmark building - developed by Sellar Property in association with LBQ Ltd as part of a £2bn regeneration project for the London Bridge area. Starting at the ground floor galleries, visitors to The