Emirati developer Emaar Properties has announced plans for an AED25bn (US$6.8bn, €6bn, £5.2bn) waterfront leisure district in Dubai. Called "Mina Rashid", the government-backed scheme will see the creation of numerous luxury facilities and properties, including art galleries, villas, a museum, a floating yacht club, a theatre, and the city's largest swimming pool. Sirdhana, the development's on-site residential complex, will comprise an as-yet-undisclosed number of one- to three-bedroom condos, plus a

Danish architects Effekt and global engineering consultancy Arup Associates have completed a tornado-shaped observation tower at the Camp Adventure Climbing Park in Denmark. The structure, which rises 45 metres above the Gisselfeld Klosters Skove – a preserved forest outside Copenhagen – features a winding ramp designed to accommodate visitors of all physical abilities. The tower also is linked to a 900-metre boardwalk that snakes through the nature park. According to

The Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Montreal has opened, with a spa described as a “wellness sanctuary”. Featuring the city’s only Kneipp hydrotherapy facility, the spa focuses on results-oriented therapies as well as pampering. The Kneipp therapy pool, which uses the health-promoting qualities of hot and cold water, is reached by a reflexology footpath and features a large waterfall as part of the methods originally developed by Bavarian naturopath

American architecture studio LPA Design have created The Great Park Ice and FivePoint Arena – the largest ice skating facility in the state of California. Located in Irvine, the 280,000 sq ft (26,000 sq m) complex comprises an Olympic ice rink, three National Hockey League (NHL)-size rinks, a multipurpose arena, an amphitheatre, a gym, an artificial beach, and a selection of dining and retail amenities. Described by the American Society

Robert De Niro’s lifestyle brand Nobu Hospitality has opened its latest location in Los Cabos, Mexico. The 200-bedroom Nobu Hotel Los Cabos features a 13,691sq ft Esencia Spa. WATG was the project architect for the spa, including the landscape architecture, while Studio PCH is responsible for the interior design. The spa concept was created by international spa consultants and designers Blu Spas. An outdoor, co-ed hydrotherapy garden includes a water

The Statue of Liberty Museum is set to make its long-awaited debut on 16 May. Designed by FXCollaborative, the 26,000 sq ft (2,415.4 sq m) attraction – said to be the largest addition to Liberty Island since the Statue of Liberty – will boast a number of exhibits produced by ESI Design, including an immersive theatre space and a gallery with the landmark's original torch. Other highlights will include an

American interior design practice Arrowstreet have created BKBX, a 771 sq m "adventure lifestyle ecosystem" in Boston, US. Geared towards athletes who regularly embark on high-intensity excursions, the new facility features a bouldering wall, an "adventure bar", and an integrated fitness programme devised by Dr Paul Juris, formerly the executive director of the Cybex Research Institute. The gym – Arrowstreet's fourth project with Brooklyn Boulders – also boasts an innovative

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have unveiled plans for EPIQ – the firm's second project in Quito, Ecuador. Overlooking La Carolina Park, a 165-acre green space in the city, the 24-storey building will comprise a variety of wellness and residential amenities, including a rooftop pool, spa centre, extensive lounges, a music room, a fitness suite, and a yoga area. In an apparent evocation of the Spanish Colonial buildings in Quito's UNESCO-recognised

London-based architects Sergison Bates have won an international contest to design a new performing arts centre in the medieval quarter of Leuven, Belgium. The €60m (US$67.1m, £51.6m) project will see the Sint-Pieters Hospital, which dates to the 11th century, transformed into a 10,000 sq m multi-use structure with concert halls, rehearsal rooms, and lounge areas. "This will be more like a cultural platform than a conventional arts venue," explained the

Following five years of delays and challenges from local councils, the city of Paris has approved plans for the "Triangle Tower" – a translucent high-rise that bears some resemblance to the Louvre Pyramid. First unveiled by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in 2008, the 41-storey mixed-use building, which is being developed by real estate firm Unibail Rodamco, will be situated near the Porte de Versailles in the 15th

Work has begun on the long-anticipated HK$30bn (US$3.2bn, €3.4bn, £2.9bn) Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong. Designed by global architecture practice Populous, the sprawling complex is expected to "set a new benchmark for sports, entertainment, and recreation precincts worldwide". The park will comprise 28-hectares of state-of-the-art facilities and leisure areas, including a 50,000-capacity stadium (dubbed the "Pearl of the Orient"), indoor and outdoor sports centres, a 40-lane bowling hub,

A concept design for a "world-class" visitor centre at a Norwegian salmon farm has been unveiled by Danish exhibition design company Kvorning Design & Communication. It's hoped that The Salmon Eye visitor centre at seafood company Eide Fjordbruk's fish farming site in Hardangerfjord, Norway, will draw attention to and increase dialogue about standards of aquaculture, encouraging innovation. Should the project go forward following approval from the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries,

Centre Point – a Brutalist landmark in London that was originally designed by Swiss-born architect Richard Seifert – has become the new home of 82 luxury apartments and a bevy of leisure amenities. Anticipated to be completed next month, the Centre Point Residences will feature a 30-metre swimming pool (purportedly the longest in central London), a spa centre with multiple treatment rooms, a club lounge, a dining room, and a

American culinary arts non-profit The James Beard Foundation (JBF) has announced the winners of its 2019 Restaurant Design Awards. Atomix, a Korean eatery designed by New-York based firm Studio Writers, won the category for "75 Seats and Under", while the "75 Seats and Over" award went to Pacific Standard Time – a Chicago restaurant conceived by Parts and Labor Design. Completed in 2018, Atomix features neutral-toned interiors and an intimate

Architecture practice Ministry of Design (MOD) have completed Durasport – an interactive athletics retail boutique in Singapore. Situated at the recently renovated Jewel Changi Airport, the 183 sq m shop, with its chrome-finished, streamlined interiors, was designed to resemble a futuristic lab. According to the architects, the retail space was created to provide high-performance athletes, such as cyclists, mountaineers, and skiers, with personalised "experiential zones" where they can test and

Construction work is set to begin on a huge urban development in Saudi Arabia – described as one of the "world's ambitious building projects". NEOM, which has a total area of 26,500sq km (10,200 sq mi), is described as a smart tourist city in the northeast of Saudi Arabia, consisting of visitor attractions, cultural venues, sports facilities and vast residential areas. It is the flagship project of Saudi Arabia’s Vision

Final images of the 40,000-capacity Al Wakrah stadium – designed by the late Dame Zaha Hadid – have come to light. The expansive sports facility, which will host matches for the 2022 FIFA World Cup first broke ground in 2014. It is the second tournament-ready stadium to be inaugurated after the Khalifa International Stadium opened to the public in 2017. Hadid reportedly shaped Al Wakrah to mirror the lateen sails

Architectural icon, Peter Cook, and his business partner, Gavin Robotham, co-founders of Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau (CRAB), have revealed they're working on an innovative fitness, sport and leisure project in Mumbai. Speaking in the latest issue of CLADmag, Cook said the new facility could represent the future of mixed-activity clubs. "The core of the building's central area runs through two floors and is surrounded on both by a series of

British property firm The Collective has revealed the latest details for what's expected to become "the world's largest co-living space". Billed as a model for the "tech-enabled future", The Collective Canary Wharf – which is scheduled to open its doors in July – will comprise 705 apartments and also function as a short-stay hotel and cultural hub. Developed as part of the company's US$450m (€401.7m, £344.8m) investment in the increasingly

Monkey Island Estate has opened in Bray-on-Thames, England, with interiors by New York-based Champalimaud Design. Part of the Malaysian hotel group, YTL Hotels, the historic estate is set across seven acres on an island in the River Thames, with a rich history dating back 800 years. Monkey Island was bought by YTL Hotels in 2015, after the late YTL founder Yeoh Tiong Lay visited and fell in love with the

Rising 61 storeys above the thriving Back Bay neighbourhood, the all-new Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street, Boston is due to open shortly in one of America's most historic cities, complete with a full-floor spa. The soaring glass skyscraper – now the city's third tallest building at 724 feet or 220 metres – was designed by Harry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in collaboration with Gary Johnson of

Berlin-based art and design team Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann, co-founders of Studio Other Spaces (SOS), have been commissioned to transform a 1960s-era courtyard into a canopied community hall at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. The new atrium – dubbed Common sky – is expected to further augment the institution's US$160m (€142.6m, £122.8m) expansion, which is being led by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and which

US property developers are tapping the centuries-old bathing practices of Europe as they seek to differentiate their wellness amenities and increase wellness ROI, according to Design for Leisure (DFL), creators of hydrothermal spa and wellness areas. The company says more US hotels, resorts, spas, condo/apartment developers and luxury home owners are adding self-service hydrothermal bathing circuits like those typically found in European spas and bath houses. DFL has seen an

International architecture studio MKV Design (MKV) have completed work on a new 44-key spa resort in Mykonos – Greece's "Island of the Winds". Nestled between white-painted Cycladic buildings and the wine-dark (to use Homer's words) Aegean, the Mykonos Riviera Hotel and Spa – echoing the surrounding seascape – features a swirl of aquamarine, stone, and marble accents. Leisure and wellness facilities include an infinity pool and a 500 sq m

Hotel Hendricks, a 27-storey urban retreat taking shape a stone's throw from Fifth Avenue in New York, is on track to open its doors in June. Designed by Los Angeles-based interior specialist Marcello Pozzi, the destination will feature 176 guestrooms, a rooftop lounge and bar, a cafe, and a fitness suite. Fittings at Hendricks – all of which will give the property's common and private areas a 'boutique' and industrial

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has designed the "Meditation House" – a wellness facility and retreat – in the Bavarian woodlands outside Krün, Germany. The 160 sq m outbuilding, which is only accessible by foot, is part of the 133-key Das Kranzbach spa hotel and features floor-to-ceiling windows, a tea room with artisan-designed tatami mats, and a meditation hall. The look of the pavilion was inspired both by traditional Japanese wooden

Some of the 1,600 objects previously exhibited in the Triennale di Milano have found a permanent home in Milan's newly-opened Italian Design Museum. The museum, which was made possible by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, opened on 9 April to coincide with Milano Design Week 2019. Sitting under the artistic direction of Joseph Grima, the museum is aiming to become "the leading international centre dedicated to Italian