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

The Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany, has been reopened to the public after an extensive redesign led by US-based architect Daniel Libeskind. Initially founded in 1897, the attraction is now the official central museum for the country's armed forces and has more than 10,500 exhibits on display dating back to the 14th century. The museum is one of the largest across Germany, with around 20,000sq m (215,278sq ft) of

The £72m Museum of Liverpool, which opened in July, has revealed that it will open its new ground floor Great Port area and a first floor boasting three more galleries on 2 December. Denmark-based 3xN were behind the design of the attraction, which already incorporates the Atrium and the Global City, Little Liverpool, Wondrous Place and Skylight galleries. The Great Port on the ground floor will explore Liverpool's history on

The Maritime Experiential Museum and Aquarium (MEMA), the first ever maritime-themed attraction for Singapore, has been unveiled at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) waterfront. An iconic steel and glass hull-shaped building, which was designed by Ralph Appelbaum of Ralph Appelbaum Associates, provides a home for the new attraction. Exploring the maritime history of Asia and the Middle East, MEMA will offer special talks; children's workshops; and the exploration of life-sized

Exhibition designer Real Studios has created an introductory gallery for the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to coincide with the opening of the new Sammy Ofer wing. The permanent Voyagers exhibition uses AV installations, text, objects and personal narrative to evoke the historic and contemporary relevance of the sea and maritime heritage. Images are projected over a central wave structure and follow themes such as navigation, exploration, leisure and conflict.

John Wright, a founding member and former president of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), has passed away. John Wright guided TEA for four years, growing its membership and shaping it's future. He remained an active member of the TEA to the end, helping to define the projects honoured at the annual THEA awards. He was also the driving force behind exhibition design company Lexington, helping to establish the company in

The new-look Museum of Somerset has reopened to the public at Taunton Castle, following an extensive £6.93m transformation that has increased its exhibition space by 50 per cent. Somerset County Council (SCC) invested £1.8m in the project, which is designed to explore the story of the the county from prehistoric times through to the modern day. Exhibits at the revamped attraction include the Frome Hoard, one of the largest collections

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

Branding and design agency M Worldwide and fit out contractor Datum Contracts have been appointed to work on retail and visitor centre concepts at historic attractions across Wales. The two companies have been selected by Cadw, the Welsh Assembly Government's historic environment agency with responsibility for managing the country's heritage properties. New-look retail and visitor facilities at Conwy Castle, which are due to be launched by Easter 2012, will benefit

Cheshire-based Mather and Co has announced that it has been awarded the design contract for the new National Football Museum, which is relocating from Preston to Manchester. The group has been appointed to work on all aspects of museum content following a tender process, which will include external signage, lighting, graphics and 3D structures. In addition to the National Football Museum's permanent gallery and audio-visual theatre, Mather and Co has

Ledcor Design-Build (Alberta) has been appointed by the Government of Alberta to deliver the new Royal Alberta Museum in the centre of downtown Edmonton, Canada. The team, which features Ledcor Construction, DIALOG Design and Lundholm Associates Architects, was selected following an evaluation of four shortlisted applicants. It is anticipated that the new attraction will provide double the space currently offered by the existing museum and will be able to exhibit

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

Work has begun on a new chocolate-themed visitor attraction in York. The attraction – which has the working title The Sweet History of York - is being developed by Continuum and will celebrate the city's chocolate and confectionery heritage. Work has started on transforming a three-storey building at the end of the city's famous Shambles street and an opening date is planned for spring 2012. The 6,400sq ft of available

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

The first phase of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum has opened to the public on the site of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in New York, US. The opening of the memorial coincided with the 10th anniversary of the attacks and the site includes the names of the nearly 3,000 victims inscribed on bronze panels lining two large pools. Designed as a "walkround park", the site will feature waterfalls

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) is to unveil Singapore's first maritime-themed attraction - Maritime Experiential Museum and Aquarium (MEMA) - on 15 October. Designed by Ralph Appelbaum of Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the attraction is to be housed in a building featuring a steel and glass ship hull design at the RWS waterfront. Maritime talks, children's workshops and exploration on life-size replica historical ships will be on offer at MEMA, exploring the

London-based Zombory-Moldovan Moore Architects (ZMMA) has been appointed by the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum to design its new Europe 1600-1800 Galleries. The scheme is the largest gallery revamp to be undertaken as part of the V&A's FuturePlan programme, which will lead to the transformation of the iconic London heritage attraction. Located at basement level along the Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road, the galleries have access points fro both the

A soccer school in Soweto, South Africa, and a tree hotel in Sweden are among some of the schemes to be shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2011. The fourth annual awards attracted a record number of entries, with more than 700 from 59 countries across the world seeking to be crowned World Building of the Year 2011. UK projects shortlisted include Holburne Museum of Art, Bath (Eric

Aspen Art Museum (AAM) in Colorado, US, has held an official groundbreaking ceremony to help mark the start of the work on a new 30,000sq ft (2,787sq m) home for the attraction. The US$50m (£30.4m, EUR34.6m) building has been designed by Shigeru Ban Architects and will be located at the corner of South Spring Street and East Hyman Avenue in Aspen. Construction work is due to commence during the first

A park celebrating the life of Jimi Hendrix is being developed in Seattle, US next to the city's Northwest African American Museum. Portland-based architects Murase Associates has been chosen to design the US$2m park, which is scheduled to open in 2012, marking the 70th birthday of Hendrix. Butterflies, guitars and spiral flowers are among the key elements of the design and the park will be decorated in lyrical stepping, stones,

Exhibition designer Sarner has installed a new Gun Turret Experience at HMS Belfast where visitors can revive the battle of the North Cape at 1943. In small groups of 15-20, visitors can step into the Gun Turret and recreate its atmosphere and conditions using lights, imagery, sound, smoke effects, movements and smells. The space recreates the sensations of war at sea and offers visitors a new way to understand the

Chelsea Football Club (CFC) has opened a new 670sq m (7,212sq ft) museum at the club's Stamford Bridge stadium in London, which has been designed by Mather and Co. The purpose-built space located behind the Matthew Harding Stand explores more than 100 years of the Premier League club's history and houses a number of interactive exhibits. Attractions include the adidas Shooting Gallery, which will see guests receive a video tutorial

The Story Museum in Oxford has chosen architects Purcell Miller Tritton (PMT) to lead a design team for a major £3.5m redevelopment project being proposed for the attraction. Due for completion in 2014 to celebrate the city's status as UNESCO World Book Capital, the selection of PMT follows a competitive tender process which attracted 64 submissions. The company held off competition from two others - Hawkins Brown and Pringle Richards

Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has revealed that the new Ancient Egypt and Nubia (present day Sudan) galleries are to open on 26 November, following a £5m development project. Lord Sainsbury's Linbury Trust, the Selz Foundation and other trusts have funded the work, which aims to build on the success of a new extension opened at the museum in 2009. Rick Mather Architects have led the redesign and display of four

Edinburgh's new-look National Museum of Scotland has officially reopened to the public today (29 July), following the completion of a major £47.4m refurbishment programme. National Museums Scotland (NMS) has launched 16 new galleries at the attraction, which explore sciences, humanities and world cultures and comprise more than 8,000 objects. The majority (80 per cent) of the artefacts on display for the first time in generations across 13,000sq m (139,931sq ft)

The Hopkins-designed London 2012 Velodrome is one of the six schemes to be shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize 2011. Folkwang Museum in Essen, Germany (David Chipperfield Architects) and Stratford-upon-Avon's Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres (Bennetts Associates) are also shortlisted. Two London schemes are also in the running for the accolade - the Evelyn Grace Academy (Zaha Hadid Architects) and The Angel Building, (Allford Hall

National Museums Liverpool (NML) has launched the new £72m Museum of Liverpool - one of the largest new-build museum developments in the UK for more than a century. Designed by Denmark-based architects 3xN, the iconic new facility is also one of the first national museums in the world to focus on the history of a regional city. The Museum of Liverpool will be unveiled in phases, with the first now