Coal Drops Yard – a historic development which draws on Victorian aesthetics – has opened next to Granary Square in London. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the 100,000sq ft, hybrid structure occupies the site of a 19th-century coal transport facility and includes new public space as well as 60 units for multiple shops and restaurants. Originally built in the 1850s to transfer coal from rail wagons to road carts, the site

International design firm WATG has created the first five-star resort on Flores Island, Indonesia. The tropical getaway takes the form of the region’s infamous reptilian indigene – the Komodo dragon – and occupies a 3.4-acre expanse on Waecicu Beach. On-site guest amenities include 192 rooms and 13 suites, a 420sq m spa, six restaurants, two shoreside pools, and a 500sq m pier leading to a private diving centre. Bill Reed,

Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge has reopened in Botswana’s Chobe National Park. Renovated by London-based interior design studio Muza Lab, the renovated resort – which Inge Moore, the firm's founder, has likened to an environmentally conscious explorer’s camp – has 12 new guestrooms and an open-air dining space, lounge, bar, library, and spa. Other features of the timber wood and bamboo lodge include a multi-function room for yoga and private meetings,

Swiss architectural firm Herzog and de Meuron have released new renderings of their Kulturforum (Culture Forum), an extension of the Berlin-based Neue Nationalgalerie. The future structure, which in 2016 was selected to become the city’s Museum of the 20th Century, will be a stylistic hybrid, taking inspiration from public and private buildings like warehouses, barnyards, and railway concourses as well as the nearby Matthäus-kirche (Matthew's Church). Likening the Kulturforum to

The Arts District in El Paso, Texas is to welcome a new addition in the form of the El Paso Children’s Museum, which will sit between the El Paso Museum of History and the El Paso Museum of Art. Norway-based architectural practice Snøhetta have been selected to design the new museum, which will aim to engage children and families from El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, the American southwest, and the nearby

The National Veterans Memorial and Museum, a project championed by the late statesman and astronaut John Glenn, will open on the banks of the Scioto River in Ohio on 27 October. Conceptualised by architectural firm Allied Works, landscape specialists OLIN, and interiors consultancy Ralph Applebaum Associates (RAA) the museum – which some are calling the country’s latest national treasure – spans 53,000sq ft and includes exhibition spaces, a cafe, and

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas will operate a 60-bedroom hotel at The Forestias, a THB90bn (US$2.8bn), 119-acre green development at Bangna in Bangkok being developed by Magnolia Quality Development Corporation Limited (MQDC). The project is a mixed-use, multi-generational lifestyle project that will also incorporate a large forest ecosystem. Set to open in 2022, The Forestias will include residential housing, retail buildings, office buildings, a health centre, innovation centre, forest pavilion,

The Belmond Cadogan Hotel has provided a behind-the-scenes look at the bespoke collection crafted by the two winners of its New Designers Award. The completed works by young British designers Mac Collins and Antonia (Toni) Packham, who in July beat out 3,000 other candidates to secure the award, are part of the Sloan Square-based hotel's £28m (US$36m, €32m) renovation and redecoration. Collins, drawing on themes of Afrofuturism and aiming to

Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) has released details of three new attractions planned for the iconic London building, which is currently under renovation. The additions will include a large events venue, a 109 metre-high glass elevator which travels up one of the famous chimneys and a 250-person capacity immersive space in a former control room. All three spaces will open as part of the second phase of the building's

Architect Bill Bensley is working on a national cultural heritage site in Yên Tu Mountain – considered to be the cradle of Trúc Lâm Zen Buddhism in Vietnam – as part of the Vietnamese government’s strategic development plan for the area. Designed with attention to historical detail – Bensley has created the entire Yên Tu Village in 13th-century style and using 13th-century techniques where possible – the village will include

Polish hospitality group PURO has opened Kazimierz, its 228-room flagship hotel on Halicka Street in Kraków. The area, located in the city’s historic Old Town, has long been a vibrant centre of Bohemianism and Jewish culture. Designed by Conran and Partners, which sought to emulate the neighborhood’s diverse social and artistic traditions by creating a hybrid “Bohemian Modern” style, Kazimierz’s interiors feature the work of a smorgasbord of artists and

A new wellness and lifestyle member's club with a unique twist has opened in London's Notting Hill. Designed specifically for families, the club, called Cloud Twelve, features a spa, salon, holistic wellness centre and a plant-based eatery, as well as an interactive learn and play zone for children. Cloud Twelve was founded by former investment banker and herbalist Jenya Emets, who wanted to bring a host of facilities together to

The Mecanoo-designed National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts, hailed as the "largest performing arts centre in the world" has opened in Taiwan. Impressively, the massive steel structure – which takes visual cues from Banyan trees and the sinuous hulls of ships – is home to a 1,981-seat concert hall, a 2,236-seat opera house, 1,210-seat playhouse, and a 434-seat recital hall. The arts hub, which is located in the vicinity of

The Shimao Wonderland InterContinental (IHG), the world’s first underground hotel, has opened in Songjiang, around 22 miles (35 km) from Shanghai in the Sheshan Mountain Range. Built in a 100m (328ft)-deep abandoned quarry, the hotel, which has been in development for a decade, was designed by Studio JADE+QA and the British architectural firm Atkins. Situated around a manmade lake and amid cascading waterfalls, the 18-storey, 336-guest room structure will be

Bjarke Ingels has announced his firm's first project in South America. Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have designed The IQON in Quito, Ecuador – set to be the tallest structure in the city when completed, offering views of the city and the volcanoes and nature beyond. The building was commissioned by for developer Uribe & Schwarzkopf. The residential tower will overlook the expansive Parque La Carolina and have terraced gardens, with

A dramatic mountain-top arts centre has been built in the Yanshan mountains in China. The Hilltop Gallery – also known as the Phoenix Valley Summit Art Centre – was designed by the Chinese architecture studio, deep Architects (DA). The undulating structure follows the topography of the mountainside and has been built in concrete, bamboo, and terracotta. The 2,600 sq m building has a ballroom, theatre, open cooking area, lounge and

The Bank of Africa skyscraper in Rabat, Morocco, will be the tallest building on the African continent, at 250-metres, when it opens in 2022. The mixed-use, 55-floor highrise, which will be designed by Belgium-based architectural studio Besix, will include a luxury hotel, office space, and apartments. The project, which is being hailed as an "emblematic" addition to Rabat – considered by some to be Morocco’s cultural capital – is part

Cox Architecture have been selected to design a new stadium at Moore Park in Sydney, Australia. Set to replace the Allianz stadium, which was built in 1988 by the firm’s principal, Philip Cox, the arena is planned to be a 45,000-seat "civic infrastructure" that will provide extensive amenities and services to "multiple specialist and public groups". Cox’s design director, Pete Sullivan said the new building would "provide a superior platform

Architectural firm Urban Nouveau have proposed to inject new life into the disintegrating Old Lidingö Bridge in Stockholm by transforming the structure into a residential community and public pedestrian park. Drawing inspiration from the High Line sky garden and walkway in Manhattan, the firm outlined a plan to design 50 apartments and a green expanse in the steel latticework edifice. The bridge, which has connected eastern Stockholm to the island

Steven Chilton Architects (SCA) have revealed their design for the Wuxi Show Theatre in Wuxi, China. The firm, which has been shortlisted for this year’s World Architecture Festival Future Project Award, were inspired by the largest bamboo forest in China: the Sea of Bamboo Park in Yixing. The 2,000-person capacity theatre uses tightly packed white columns and a canopy made from gold anodised aluminium louvers to simulate the appearance of

The history of Alberta, Canada, is now on display at the newly rebuilt Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) in the state capital of Edmonton, following seven years of planning and development. The museum building – now the largest in western Canada – is somewhat of an exhibition itself, with glazed walls that glow and then dissolve as the evening wears on and interior windows that allow views into its research laboratories,

London-based Foster + Partners has been awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Sterling prize for its work designing the European headquarters of business news giant Bloomberg. The 1.1 million sq ft, £1bn (US$1.3bn, €1.1bn) building, which stands in heart of the City of London above the reconstructed Roman temple of Mithras, is said to be the largest stone building in the district since St Paul’s Cathedral. Described by

Belgium-based Vincent Callebaut Architectures (VCA) has revealed renderings of the firm’s winning proposal to transform the Luxembourg's Hôtel des Postes into an expansive mixed-use building complex. The 11,000sq m (118,400sq ft) project, dubbed "A Jewel Nestled in a Stone Vessel' will see the early 20th-century structure gain a 35.5m (116ft) crystal atrium, as well as a renovated inner courtyard, restaurant, brewery, permaculture sky garden and orchard, and rooftop terraces. Other

Arada has unveiled the final details on its Aljada Central Hub mega-development. The futuristic complex, to be designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, will span a vast 1.9 million sq ft (176,500sq m) and include 732,000 sq ft (68,000sq m) of green space. Highlights of the family-focused development will include a 1,500-seat multiplex, a waterplay area, multiple sports facilities, retailing and an "edutainment" attraction, featuring a virtual reality zone. The development,

Construction on Hjertet (“The Heart” in Danish), a multi-purpose leisure centre in the Jutlandic town of Ikast is now complete. The 3,600sq m (39,000sq ft) building, which has been described as a “melting pot” and a link between Ikast’s International School and the local community, recently opened to the public. Among other things, the venue includes a cafe, shop, gymnasiums, and multiple spaces for meditative and performative activities like yoga

Construction has commenced on the Quzhou Sports Campus, an ambitious project which is designed to resemble a craterous landscape not unlike the conical puys of France's Massif Central. Helmed by Beijing-based MAD Architects and based in China’s Zhejiang province, the sprawling, 700,000sq m (7.5 million sq ft) complex will function as a kind of mini-city and feature a 30,000-seat stadium, hotels, youth centres, retail shops, museums, a gym, and a

American artist James Turrell has recently unveiled Skyspace: Lech – the latest iteration of his Skyspace series, which was first developed in the 1970s. Located 1,780m (5,800ft) above sea level in the Arlsberg mountains of Austria, the tumulus-like structure–dubbed the lightroom on the mountain – was produced in collaboration with German architectural firm, Baumshlager-Eberle. Turrell, who draws artistic and spiritual inspiration from religious sites like the Egyptian pyramids, Machu Picchu,