Hastings' new £4m Jerwood Gallery, which will enable the Jerwood Foundation to display its collection of contemporary British paintings, will open to the public on 17 March 2012. Designed by Colchester-based HAT Projects, the new contemporary art attraction is to form part of a wider £9m redevelopment of the East Sussex resort's Stade area in the Old Town. Capital and running costs for the Jerwood Gallery will be entirely funded

Ukrainian vice prime minister and minister of infrastructure Borys Kolesnikov has unveiled plans to develop a new "tourist city" near Yevpatoria over the next three-and-a-half years. Addressing delegates at the recent Inside Ukraine conference, Kolesnikov said the project is part of a national programme to transform the Crimean peninsula into a visitor destination. It is expected the development will be built from scratch and will offer hotel accommodation and opportunities

The first phase of a £10.6m project to refurbish Royal Court Theatre Liverpool is to start in February 2012 after receiving support from the Heritage Lottery Funding (HLF). An £867,800 grant has been awarded to the Royal Court Liverpool Trust (RCLT) towards a major Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM)-designed overhaul of the historic venue. AHMM were selected to design the refurbishment after being one of seven shortlisted firms and proposed

Casson Mann has revealed that it is working in partnership with Paris-based architects X-Tu on the development of a new international cultural wine centre for Bordeaux, France. The facility, which forms part of a strategy to promote the city as the world's wine capital, is due to open in 2014 and will explore the stories behind wine and its place within culture. It is hoped the Centre for Wine Culture

National Galleries Scotland (NGS) has reopened the Scottish National Portrait Gallery after completing work on an extensive £17.6m refurbishment of Edinburgh attraction. The gallery was initially designed by architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson and was one of the first purpose-built portrait galleries in the world when it opened in 1889. Work has now been carried out by BAM Construction in a two-year scheme to provide new education facilities, including a

Florida Studio Theatre (FST) has confirmed plans for a major US$5.6m (£3.6m, EUR4.2m) improvement campaign at its base in Sarasota, US, which is due to commence in early 2012. The scheme, which has been designed by Potvin Architects with C Alan Anderson Architect PA and Contractors, will include a revamp of the 6,000sq ft (557sq m) Gompertz Theatre. A new 18,000sq ft (1,672sq m) extension is also proposed as part

Vision West Notts (VWN) has received the green light to progress with the development of a new £11m complex at its Derby Road campus in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Forming part of the institution's £24m redevelopment, the building will comprise 4,000sq m (43,056sq ft) of teaching and learning space with a health spa and a fine-dining restaurant. Hair and beauty salons are also proposed as part of the facility, which will cater

A new £12m home for Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre in Leeds, which opened its doors earlier this year, has been awarded its second accolade in the space of a week. The purpose-built centre has been named 2011 Civic Building of the Year by the Society of Chief Architects for Local Authorities (SCALA) at a ceremony held on 11 November. Jacobs Architecture worked alongside Leeds City Council on the

Scunthorpe's new £14.4m Baths Hall venue, which will play host to a programme of music, theatre, comedy and dance events, has been officially unveiled today (7 November). North Lincolnshire Council's (NLC) own architects led the design of the complex, which is located on the site of the former Scunthorpe Youth Centre and the old Baths Hall. Built by Clugston Construction, the venue has retained the frontage of the 1930s Baths

UK sports and cultural schemes have missed out at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2011, following the announcement of the first 12 winners from this year's event. The Pods (Andrew Wright with S&P Architects) and the Silverstone Wing (Populous) had been shortlisted in the sport category, but were held off by Germany's Max Aicher Arena. Built for this year's World Single Distant Speed Skating Championships and designed by Behnisch

The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia, has reopened following a six-year, RUB24bn (US$804m, 570m euro, £500m) redevelopment programme. Considered one of the finest performance venues in the world, the theatre was designed by Russian architect Joseph Bové and first opened in 1825. It was closed in 2005 with the initial reopening date set for late 2009. The discovery that the structure was more unstable than first thought, however, lead the

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia, US, is to open its major new teaching museum dedicated to contemporary art and design tomorrow (29 October). SCAD Museum of Art will offer 1sq ft (0.1sq m) of academic space for every 1sq ft (0.1sq m) of exhibition space, with its galleries to act as extensions to traditional classrooms. The 82,000sq ft (7,618sq m) venue boasts the Walter O

Cloud-based business management software provider GramercyOne has launched GoSuite, a free booking and marketing tool aimed at small and medium-sized service businesses. Unveiled at the Street Fight Summit in New York City yesterday, GoSuite includes two products - GoBook and GoPromote - which have been designed to cater for a number of service providers from dance studios to personal trainers and tutors. The cloud-based software allows companies to book appointments

Bord Gáis Energy has signed a new six-and-a-half-year partnership deal with operator Live Nation, which will see Dublin's Grand Canal Theatre rebranded from 7 March 2012. The venue will be called the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre as part of the deal, while other terms include the provision of complimentary and discounted tickets to Bord Gáis customers. Commercial targets relating to its investment in the theatre will see Bord Gáis generate

Work has been completed on a £2.8m scheme to transform Devon's Cockington Court as a historic attraction and 'innovation workspace' for creative businesses in the Torquay area. The regeneration of the Grade II*-listed building has been designed by Torquay-based Kay Elliott, with the existing property benefiting from structural repair and modernisation. Three new buildings have also been constructed to the rear of Cockington Court and feature art spaces, galleries, craft

London's 'newest West End theatre' in more than 10 years is to be created as part of plans for the redevelopment of the Tottenham Court Road area unveiled by Crossrail. Three planning applications have now been lodged with Westminster City Council, covering four sites on the corner of Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road. AHMM are behind designs for the first two sites, which features a new theatre on the

A special groundbreaking ceremony has taken place in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, to mark the start of construction work on the town's new £20m performance venue. Vinci Construction has been appointed to build the 4,625sq m (49,783sq ft) building, which will be situated at the heart of a new Civic and Cultural Quarter development. Muse Developments is working with Doncaster Council on the project, with the new facility to include a

Canterbury's new £25.6m Marlowe Theatre has been officially unveiled for the first time by HRH The Earl of Wessex, following the completion of a two-year construction project. A gala event marked the opening of the new arts venue, which has been designed by London-based Keith Williams Architects and replaces a former building first opened in the 1930s but that has now been demolished. The new Marlowe Theatre includes a 1,200-seat

Hepworth Wakefield, the David Chipperfield Architects-designed art attraction in Yorkshire, has been crowned Best Architectural Achievement at the British Design Awards 2011. The building held off four other shortlisted projects to pick up the accolade, including work by RHWL and Richard Griffiths Architects at London's St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. Heatherwick Studio's UK Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010; Plasma Studio's Creativity Pavilion; and Alain de Botton's Living Architecture were also

English Heritage has announced a "substantial" grant worth £250,000 towards efforts to restore the historic St George's Theatre building in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. The former Chapel of St George property is currently undergoing a major programme of work to repair and convert it into a new arts venue as part of a £9.3m regeneration project. London-based Hopkins Architects have drawn up proposals for the Grade I-listed venue after being appointed

Newcastle's historic Theatre Royal has reopened to the public, following the completion of an extensive £4.9m renovation programme to mark the venue's 175th anniversary. The Grade I-listed building's Victorian auditorium was restored as part of the project, which has taken six months to complete and involved around 500 workmen. Among the work to be undertaken in the auditorium was the rejuvenation of ornate gold-leaf plasterwork based on original 1901 designs,

A new 100,000sq ft (9,290sq m) arts complex is to be developed in Southampton as part of a mixed-use scheme led by Grosvenor, which has been given the green light by councillors. The London-based property group is behind plans for the development, which has involved CZWG Architects and will also include new restaurant and retail space. Plans for the arts complex, which will be a "major addition" to the city's

Guildford Borough Council (GBC) has raised the curtain on a new entertainment venue for the Surrey town, which has been designed by UK-based architects Austin-Smith: Lord. G Live was built by Willmott Dixon Construction and will be run by HQ Theatres, with the building comprising an auditorium with a capacity of 1,000 seated or 1,700 standing. Hampshire-based consultancy Scott Wilson also worked on the delivery of the venue, which also

A number of leisure projects have made it on the shortlist for The British Design Awards 2011. The UK Pavilion at last year's Shanghai Expo, designed by Heatherwick Studio; St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London by RHWL and Richard Griffiths Architects ; and the Hepworth Wakefield gallery in Yorkshire all feature on the five strong list. The list also features the Plasma Studio-designed Creativity Pavilion at the Xi'an International Horticultural

The new US$2.9m Sturt Haaga gallery, which will showcase exhibitions of art, science and history, has opened at the Descanso Gardens botanical gardens in California, US. The new space has been five years in planning with funding being provided entirely from private sources, led by a US$2.1m gift local residents Heather Sturt Haaga and Paul G. Haaga Jr. The new gallery was created by restoring an existing structure adjacent to

West Nottinghamshire College (WNC) has unveiled a new £5m creative arts centre - Create - as part of a wider programme of development to transform its Derby Road campus. The new arts facility will provide media, music and performance students with facilities such as workshop and rehearsal space; a 150-seat performance theatre; and arts/dance studios. In addition to accommodating more than 200 students, WNC is also hoping that Create is

Japan-based architect Arata Isozaki and UK-born artist Anish Kapoor are to collaborate on a new mobile concert hall, which is to tour earthquake-affected regions in Japan next year. Under the direction of Isozaki, the creation of the Ark Nova venue has been initiated by the Lucerne Festival and will see works hosted in a variety of locations from spring 2012. Japanese concert and artist management group Kajimoto is also involved