Slough Community Leisure is to start work in April converting the existing Slough Tennis Centre into a new £1.6m ten-pin bowling centre. Due for completion by the end of the summer, the new facility will boast 18 bowling lanes, gaming machines, pool tables and a café/bar. The project is being funded and managed by Alliance Leisure. It was designed by Bignell Shacklady Ewing and building work will be carried out

Evesham Leisure Centre in Worcestershire has won the Community Architecture category of the Wychavon Building Design Awards. Wychavon Leisure, which operates the facility, highlighted its strengths as being "its striking use of colour, forms and contrasting material, all of which has helped the new leisure centre stand as a landmark development for the town". The facility was designed by architects Roberts-Limbrick and constructed by Galliford Try. The Wychavon Building Design

East Northamptonshire Council (ENC) has announced that it has submitted detailed plans for the new £13m Manor Park Leisure Centre, which is set to be built in Rushden, Northamptonshire. Working in partnership with Rushden Town Council, the centre is poised to include a six-lane, 25m swimming pool and teaching pool, dance/exercise studios and a fitness suite, as well as a six-court sports hall. Leisure water facilities - such as jets

London's Olympic organisers have been given the green light by Greenwich Council to use the Royal Artillery Barracks and the O2 Arena as host venues during the 2012 Games. The Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich will stage Olympic and Paralympic shooting events, as well as the Paralympic archery competition. Meanwhile, the O2 Arena will host gymnastics, basketball and wheelchair basketball. Plans submitted by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) in partnership

Ireland-based contractor SOL Golf Course Construction has been appointed to build a new championship links course at US tycoon Donald Trump's £1bn golf resort in Scotland. SOL, which has recently completed a golf course at Lough Erne Golf Club in Ireland, will work alongside Trump International's golf course architect, Martin Hawtree on all aspects of the golfing element of the resort development. Michael O'Leary, managing director of SOL, said: "We

A new US$6.5m (£4.1m, €4.7m) indoor sports complex could be developed on a 9-acre (3.6-hectare) site in Cleveland, Ohio, US, under plans announced by a local non-profit organisation. Fast Track Cycling (FTC) has secured a real estate purchase option with the City of Cleveland for the construction of the 150,000 sq ft (13,935m) facility, which will boast a 250m wood cycling track and 75,000sq ft (6,968sq m) of turf playing

Plans have been unveiled for a new €30m (£26m, US$42m) football stadium in Budapest, Hungary. The 22,000-capacity venue, designed by S.A.M.O architects, will be the new home of the city's Ferencváros Football Club and is scheduled to open in 2012. UK-based Capita Symonds will provide project management, cost management and design services including structures, acoustics, health & safety, m&e and transport planning. The stadium will anchor a larger, €400m (US$560m,

Elstree Golf and Country Club in Hertfordshire will undergo a £2.5m redevelopment after Hertsmere Borough Council approved plans submitted by architects Bell Phillips Kimble. Work on the site will begin in March 2010 and will include the construction of a new two-storey clubhouse incorporating a bar and restaurant, changing facilities, a pro-shop and offices to replace the existing clubhouse. The club’s 30-bay driving range will also be refurbished, with new

Work on a new £46.5m regional sports and leisure complex in Plymouth, Devon, could start next month if the appointment of Balfour Beatty as the main contractor is approved by Plymouth City Council (PCC). A report due to go before the council's cabinet on 19 January has recommended that the London-based construction company from a shortlist of five to deliver the new Life Centre, which has been designed by Archial.

A new fitness suite is set to open this month at Ealing Squash and Fitness Club in London, following the completion of a £450,000 scheme to expand the site's existing gym facility. The fitness suite has doubled in size from 1,800sq ft (167.2sq m) to 3,600 sq ft (334.4sq m) after three existing squash courts were converted to create a new two-level facility with free weights zone. Life Fitness has

Construction work is set to get underway on a major £3m expansion of the conference and exhibition facilities at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Three new halls will be created as part of the scheme, which will result in an additional 2,500sq m (26,910sq ft) of exhibition space and a 650-seat auditorium to complement the existing 6,000sq m (64,583sq ft) Jaguar Exhibition Hall. A new entrance stairway will also be

Loughborough University has taken possession of SportPark, a bespoke sports administration hub which will host a number of UK sports bodies. Designed and built by Baggaley Construction, the £15m landmark building at the west entrance of the University campus will be home to sports organisations including British Swimming, the Amateur Swimming Association, Volleyball England, the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association, UK Sport and the Youth Sports Trust. The sports

Emirates Golf Club has appointed London-based architects Thomson Perrett & Lobb (TPL) to modernise its flagship Majlis Course, home of the Dubai Desert Classic. TPL will carry out an audit of the course's bunkering as part of a wider modernisation programme, overseeing the repositioning and reconstruction of bunkers to upgrade the course for professional events as well as day-to-day club and visitor play. The 7,301-yard, par-72 layout, which opened in

Construction has begun on a new £2.6m sports science centre at the University of Glamorgan in Pontypridd. The centre, which has been designed by London-based Holder Mathias Architects, is being built on the existing playing fields at the university and includes a new multi-purpose sports hall with six courts and an ancillary support block. The centre will also act as a high-tech teaching facility with a monitoring room enabling teaching

Cherwell District Council (CDC) has announced the opening of the new £15m Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury, Oxfordshire, which has been completed on budget ahead of schedule. Initially due to open in January 2010, the new centre replaces the former Spiceball Park Leisure Centre and forms part of a wider sports centre modernisation programme in the local area, which is being led by Cherwell Community Leisure (CLL) - a wholly

A problem with the installation of fire dampers at the new £25m Leisurezone leisure complex in Harlow, Essex, has forced the opening of the facility to be put on hold. Forming part of the wider Harlow Gateway regeneration scheme, it had been hoped that Abingdon-based contractor Leadbitter would handover the venue to the Gateway partners by Christmas 2009. However, the latest estimate for the "practical completion" of the Leisurezone centre

Streatham Leisure Centre, operated by Greenwich Leisure Limited, has closed until further notice due to health and safety concerns. The centre's swimming pool was closed last week after an engineer's report raised concerns about the condition of the centre's roof, but further checks since then have revealed more widespread structural problems. Lambeth Council is now assessing the work needed to repair the building and in the meantime is directing users

London-based David Morley Architects (DMA) has been appointed by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to draw up designs for a new water polo arena, which will be used at the 2012 Games. The temporary venue, which will provide seating capacity for 5,000 spectators and a warm-up pool, will be located alongside the permanent Aquatics Centre and will act as a gateway to the Olympic Park site. Construction work is scheduled

Everton Football Club (EFC) and Tesco have been left "bitterly disappointed" at a decision to reject plans for the transformation of Kirkby, Liverpool, which would have included a new 50,000-seat stadium. Communities secretary John Denham has blocked the scheme, following a public inquiry held between November 2008 and February 2009 in the wake of Knowsley Council's decision to approve planning permission. In addition to the new stadium, proposals for the

Construction work has started on a £850,000 redevelopment of the Swan Centre for Leisure in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, which is to be delivered in three stages. The first phase of the scheme, which is being managed by operator Tees Active, will see Createability convert an existing 500sq m (5,382sq ft) soft play area into a new 65-station gym equipped with Technogym cv and resistance equipment. Scheduled for completion by January 2010,

An application for a 430m euro (£387.4m) snow complex in Dundalk, Ireland, is to be submitted to Louth County Council. The Altitude project - proposed by local firm Innovative Leisure Systems and the UK-based Briton Engineering – will include a ski slope and nursery slopes; a 100-bedroom family hostel; a 110,000sq ft indoor concert arena; an 80,000sq ft leisure zone, which includes a cinema and bowling alley; and a 40,000sq

London-based architects Watkins Gray International's plans for the regeneration of the historic Camberwell Baths in London have been given the green light by the local authority. The London Borough of Southwark has approved planning consent for the first phase of a £3m scheme to overhaul the Grade II-listed baths, which will include repairs to the pool and sports hall and major upgrade works. Facilities at the refurbished 4,000sq m (43,056sq

Plans have been unveiled for a major £400m redevelopment of Lord's cricket ground in St John's Wood, London, which are designed to reaffirm the venue's reputation as the home of cricket. The development proposals have been drawn up by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron - the firm behind the Beijing National Stadium, China, which was used for the 2008 Olympic Games. According to The Times newspaper, the Vision for

Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC) has submitted plans for a major £200m redevelopment of the Old Trafford cricket ground in Manchester to the local authority. Trafford Council is now set to consider the development proposals, which form part of a wider sports-led regeneration project aimed at transforming a 50-acre (20-hectare) surrounding the venue. Construction company Morgan Ashurst has already commenced work on the first stage of the stadium redevelopment, which

A 160m (525ft) wave-shaped roof structure has been lowered into place as part of the Zaha Hadid-designed London 2012 Aquatics Centre at the Olympic Park. The venue, which will act as the gateway to the Olympic Park in Stratford, will boast two 50m swimming pools, a 25m diving pool and a dry diving area for community and elite use after the 2012 Games. Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chief executive David

Work has started on the £48m redevelopment of the Rose Bowl stadium near Southampton, which aims to transform the venue into a leading international cricket venue. Two new stands - designed by EPR Architects in conjunction with The Miller Partnership - will be constructed either side of the existing pavilion as part of the project in order to increase the venue's permanent capacity to 15,000. Due for completion in April

Bristol City Football Club's (BCFC) plans for the development of a new multi-million pound stadium at Ashton Vale have been handed a boost by the local authority. Planning officials at Bristol City Council (BCC) have been minded to approve the scheme, which includes the 30,000-seat venue, a hotel and part of a housing scheme on the Alderman Moores allotments site. However, the development proposals could face a £5.5m shortfall after