Theatre company Mind the Gap has opened its £2.1m performing arts workspace in Lister Mills in Bradford. Mind the Gap Studios boasts three fully-equipped studio spaces for rehearsals, workshops, training and dance. The organisation aims to help people with learning disabilities to become professional actors. Designed by Allen Todd Architecure, the project was delivered in partnership with Bradford Council, and funded by £1.25m from Arts Council England, Yorkshire as well

Construction work on the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate, Kent, has begun but the opening will be delayed until 2011. The new gallery, designed by architect David Chipperfield, will exhibit contemporary art and celebrates the town's connect with artist JMW Turner, who was schooled in Margate and later lived there. The attraction, which has been in the pipeline for 15 years, was originally expected to open in 2010. Kent-based contractor

Seven architects have been shortlisted for the multi-million pound refurbishment of the Grade II-listed Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. The firms, whittled down from fifty submissions, are London-based Allford Hall Monaghan Morris; Burrell Foley Fischer, in London; Nord Architecture in Glasgow; Pentagram Architects; Paris-based Studio Andrew Todd; Studio 3 and Union North. The design competition to upgrade and restore the 70-year-old art deco-style building also included firms from New York

Leeds City Council (LCC) has approved plans for a new centre of excellence for dance which will become the new home of the Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) and the Phoenix Dance Theatre (PDT). The new six-storey £12m centre will consist of seven dance studios, including a 200-seat studio theatre, as well as a health suite, a costume workshop and office space. It will also eventually house a full-time a classical

Public art and social facilities have been proposed by Leicester University as part of its £1bn campus redevelopment project. The scheme is designed to establish the university as one of the top ten in the UK, and its new Development Framework Plan outlines £786m of investment over the next two decades to complement a £300m plan unveiled in 2002. At the centre of proposals, the university plans to establish high

The £61m Curve theatre in Leicester has opened its doors after three years of construction. Based in the St George’s Conservation Area in the heart of the city’s cultural quarter, the building was designed by the Uruguayan-born, New York-based architect Rafael Viñoly and is his first completed project in the UK. Curve, which replaces the Haymarket Theatre, boasts two auditoriums – the 750-seat main theatre and a 350-seat studio –

The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) has launched a fundraising appeal to help finance a new £22.5m arts training and performance complex in Cardiff. Cardiff Council approved planning permission for the scheme in September, and the college is now seeking to raise £3.5m from donors with 80 per cent of the project's funding already in place, including a £10m contribution from the Welsh Assembly Government. Plans for

Draft plans for the redevelopment of Potters Field on the South Bank, which include a new cultural centre, are currently being drawn up following consultation with local residents. The 3-acre (1.2-hectare) site, situated opposite the Tower of London, has been disused for a number of years, and now a joint project between Southwark Council and residential developer Berkeley Homes is set to transform the area. London-based architect, Squire and Partners,

A three-year fundraising appeal to secure the future of the Watermill Theatre in Berkshire has reached its target of £3m. The campaign to save the Grade-II listed theatre in Bagnor, near Newbury, was launched in June 2005 and attracted more than 4,000 contributions from individuals, trusts, foundations and businesses, including £200,000 from Arts Council England. By January 2007, campaigners had already raised the £1.8m needed to acquire the theatre premises,

Developer Dubai Properties is building a £255m museum, dedicated to Middle Eastern modern art as the centre piece of its £8bn Cultural Village project in Dubai, UAE. The 25,000 sq m Museum of Middle East Modern Art (MOMEMA), designed by Amsterdam-based architects UN Studio, will include exhibition spaces, art galleries, leasable workshop spaces, an auditorium and an amphitheatre for live performances and international festivals. MOMEMA will also feature a 60-room

Work has started on a £1.46m refurbishment project at the Grade-II listed Battle Library in Reading. Reading Borough Council has appointed the South London company, Mansells Construction Services, to carry out the transformation of the library. A new community garden, an exhibition space for a community art gallery and a refreshment point will be created as part of the project, which has been part-funded by a grant from the Big

Argent, the developers leading the £2bn regeneration of London's King's Cross area, will need to use its own money to fund the next phase of the project after talks with a consortium of international banks fell through. Negotiations over the £400,000 financial package ended as conditions in the financial market deteriorated. Argent needs to start the next phase of work this month in order to finish the first buildings in

The new Kings Place arts centre, designed by architects Dixon Jones, has opened in Kings Cross, central London. The development includes a 420-seat auditorium, a 200- seat flexible space for concerts and conferences, teaching rooms, rehearsal rooms, a restaurant and office space. The building consists of a public ground-floor area on the waterfront, two lower levels featuring music and arts areas arranged around a central atrium, and seven floors of

The Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) has announced that Saadiyat Beach Golf Course in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is on track to open in autumn 2009. The 18-hole course, designed by golf champion Gary Player to be 'eco-sensitive', could be the first attraction to open as part of the 15-year, A Dhs.100 billion (£15bn, US$ 27bn) Saadiyat Island development. Translated to mean Island of Happiness, the project is

Arts Council England is extending its consultation on the future of Architecture Week to help decide "the most effective way of engaging the public with art and architecture". In a statement the arts body said that it will carry out wider consultation throughout the built environment sector, including the Architecture Foundation, IGNITE and local authorities. The consultation follows a review commissioned by the council and its Architecture Week partners, the

Norway-based firm Various Architects (VA) has designed a collapsible venue that will tour worldwide next year with an Arts Alliance Productions performance called ID - Identity of the Soul. The 3,900sq m (42,000sq ft) Mobile Performance Venue (MPV) ranges from 11m (36ft) to 17m (56ft) in height, and holds a standing audience of 3,500. The foyer contains front-of-house functions such as ticketing, security, cloak room, refreshments and toilets. A mezzanine

Tate Modern and architects Herzog & de Meuron have revealed their revised plans for the £215m development of the museum. The original design – which resembled a stack of bricks – has been scrapped, making way for a new three-dimensional trapezoid-shaped structure. The 11-storey building will be 65m (213ft) tall and will add 21,500sq m (230,400sq ft) to the Tate Modern's existing 35,000sq m (377,000sq ft). Three oil tanks from the

Aylesbury Vale District Council has appointed Willmott Dixon to construct the £35m Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. The new theatre, designed by architects RHWL, is due to open in 2010 and will replace Aylesbury Civic Centre. Facilities will include a 1,200-seat main auditorium which converts into a 1,800-capacity hall and a 220-seat suite for smaller events Funded by the district council, the theatre will be operated by a commercial operator, to be

Merlin Entertainments Group is to unveil a US$55m (£27.6m, AUD$56.4m, 37.4m euro) Madame Tussauds wax museum in Hollywood, USA, next spring. The three-storey, 40,000sq ft property has been designed by Michael Rotondi of JAG/RoTo Architects and will be the ninth museum in the Madame Tussauds worldwide portfolio. It will be located on Hollywood Boulevard and Orange Drive and is the first time a new-build property has been specifically created for

The Art House, a £3m centre for visual artists in Wakefield, Yorkshire, will be formally opened by culture secretary Andy Burnham on Monday 7 July. The centre's aim is to support the artists from across the UK by offering them studios, technical support, workspaces and accommodation for short-term residencies. Liz Whitehouse, Director of The Art House, says: “It has taken 14 years of dedicated hard work to make this centre

Israeli shipping magnate Sammy Ofer has donated £3.3m towards the restoration of the London, UK-based tea clipper Cutty Sark, devastated in a fire in May 2007. It is the second major donation made this year by Ofer. In April, Ofer gave £20m to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich for the creation of a major new wing. Cutty Sark, considered one of London's iconic visitor attractions, was undergoing a £35m

Public voting for the National Lottery Awards, an annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects, is now open until 4 July. The awards are split into seven categories – arts, education, environment, health, heritage, sports and charity – and each category features 10 projects. The three projects that receive the most votes, either online or by telephone, will progress through to the final round of voting, which will

Construction on phase one of a proposed £7.2m restoration of the King’s Theatre in Glasgow could get under way later this year. Work on the Grade A-listed 1904 building, which will include seating refurbishment, is dependant upon an agreed plan with Historic Scotland, which is currently in discussions with the theatre. The renovations should begin once these talks are complete, a spokesperson for the theatre said. Glasgow City Council, which

The Lightbox art gallery and museum in Woking has won the £100,000 Art Fund Prize. The Lightbox – the end result of a 15-year campaign by a group of locals to obtain a galley for the Surrey town – was designed by Marks Barfield Architects, who designed the London Eye. Chair of the judges, Sue MacGregor, said: “It was a difficult final choice for the judges, but in the end

The 2008 World’s Fair is to begin in Saragossa, Spain, later this month. Called Expo Zaragoza, the Spanish spelling of the city, the 93-day event will have the topic of 'Water and Sustainable Development' and is being coordinated by the Bureau of International Expositions. Featuring buildings designed by Zaha Hadid (the Bridge Pavilion, which is expected to be turned into a museum after the event) and Enrique de Teresa (the