Funding for the construction of the new Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton has now been secured after the Government of Canada agreed to contribute towards the project. The federal government committed CA$122.5m (£75.9m, EUR88.6m, US$119.8m) towards the project, with the majority to come through the Building Canada Fund (BCF). A new museum to be located in downtown Edmonton is at the heart of the scheme, which will provide double the

Jordan's Wadi Rum Resort and China's Zhang Da Qian Museum have been named among the second batch of winners at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2011. The second day of the three-day event saw four completed buildings and nine future projects pick up awards, which also included the Glacier Discovery Walk in Canada. Wadi Rum Resort, which has been designed US-based Oppenheim Architecture and Design, was named as the

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, US, is to officially open a new-look suite of 15 galleries that houses its collection of Islamic art from around the world on 1 November. Work has been carried out to enlarge and redesign the New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia, which span 13 centuries. More than 12,000 works of art

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

The construction of Abu Dhabi's own Guggenheim Museum in the United Arab Emirates remains "on track", despite its developer withdrawing one of the contracts for the scheme. According to reports, a tender for concrete work at the attraction has been recalled by state-owned Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC). In a statement, a TDIC spokesperson told Reuters that design work was continuing on the Frank Gehry-designed building, which will be

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