On the eastern side of the Greek island of Zakynthos, the 93-room design-led Olea All Suite Hotel is set to open in June, with an emphasis on wellness. Architecture practice Block722architects, who have offices in Athens and Stockholm, have created a 4,000sq m (43,000sq ft) artificial lake at the heart of the hotel, surrounded by the scattered suites. There is an almost complete absence of boundaries between the resort’s suites

Global spa consultancy Raison d’Etre (RdE) has been commissioned to design and implement Denmark’s largest spa and wellness facility, which will be situated in a hotel created by Henning Larsen Architects. Due to open early next year in the industrial harbour of Sønderborg, the Alsik Hotel forms part of Frank Gehry’s masterplan for the southern city. RdE’s 4,500sq m (48,400sq ft) component of the scheme will cover a four-storey section

Design firm Chapman Taylor are nearing completion on a 120,000sq m (1.3 million sq ft) entertainment, retail, leisure and dining destination in Azerbaijan a stretch of land reclaimed from the Caspian Sea. The studio first designed the project as a convention centre in 2007. However, the development stalled following the completion of a larger convention centre by Coop Himmelblau, next to Zaha Hadid’s Heydar Aliyev Centre. In 2016, Chapman Taylor

Thailand's famous Chiva- Som International Health Resort has closed its doors for a six-month period to embark on its next phase of renovations. The resort, which will reopen on 1 November 2018, begins the third of four phases of its extensive remodelling, following the launch of the new Ocean Rooms and Suites in January 2017. A fourth and final phase of works will take place at the same time next

Westminster Abbey today (29 May) officially unveiled The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries for the first time, ahead of the museum’s public opening on 11 June. The new gallery spaces, which will display 300 treasures from the Abbey’s collection, are hidden inside the building’s triforium, a loft-like space some 52ft (16m) above the Abbey's floor. The Triforium, unused for centuries and never before open to the public, has been transformed by

Boutique hotelier Ian Schrager’s Edition brand – created in partnership with Marriott – will make its debut in the Turkish Riviera in June. The Bodrum Edition, which Schrager said he has designed as “refuge,” with “everything you need and everything you want”, houses a spa facility complete with 14 treatment rooms. The spa also includes a Turkish hammam, salt treatment room, sauna, steam room and plunge pool. Inspired by local

French rugby legend Sébastien Chabal and French designer Philippe Starck have joined forces to create a range of urban sports equipment which promotes free and accessible sport to everyone. The initiative is part of the Heritage Plan 2024 – one of the legacy projects linked to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Called Station Sport Lib', the equipment aims to "make people embrace movement and encourage them to do sports freely

Architects AL_A have been named as the lead designers for the £42m (US$55.7m, €48m) redevelopment of the Paisley Museum in Scotland. The transformation of the museum is the flagship project of Renfrewshire Council’s planned £100m (US$132.6m, €114.5m) investment in cultural venues in Paisley and forms the cornerstone of plans to utilise the city's cultural assets to transform its future. The museum will close in late 2018 and re-open in 2022

Odile Decq has led a protest today (25 May) at the Venice Architecture Biennale against discrimination faced by women in architecture, releasing a manifesto urging everyone involved in the industry to “make a vow to uphold fairness, transparency and collaboration.” Architects including Alison Brooks, Toshiko Mori, Jeanne Gang, Francine Houben, Louise Braverman and Manuelle Gautrand were among those in attendance as Decq led a flash mob of over 100 people

Capella Ubud, Bali, a luxury tented retreat, is set to open on Friday 29th June. Designed by architect Bill Bensley, the resort is nestled between the rainforest, rice paddy fields and the sacred Wos River, in the Balinese artist village of Keliki, and has been inspired by the early European settlers from the 1800s, as a tribute to their spirit of adventure. The resort’s 22 one-bedroom tented retreats and one

A US$125m (€107m, £93.3m) proposals to create a leisure development – featuring a world class aquarium and cultural centre in Memphis – have moved a step closer, after the Tennessee city won state approval to expand its downtown tourism zone. In October last year, Jim Strickland, mayor of Memphis, revealed plans for the Mud Island area, focused around the aquarium on Mud Island itself and the cultural centre across the

Pritzker laureate Alejandro Aravena has reflected on the impact of the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, which he curated, in the run up to the 2018 edition the renowned international exhibition, which opens to the public on Saturday (26 May). Two years ago, Aravena’s Biennale, themed ‘Reporting from the Front’, considered major challenges facing the built environment – from natural disasters to financial constraints, pollution, crime, housing shortages and a scarcity

The architect behind Italian football club AS Roma’s planned new stadium has told CLADglobal that he is determined to deliver a facility that “creates an incredible atmosphere” and is respectful of Rome’s extraordinary architectural heritage. Dan Meis, founder of Meis Architects, has been involved for over five years in the development of a long-awaited new home for the Serie A team, which will replace the Stadio Olimpico, its home since

Forget the London Eye, Newcastle’s ‘Whey Aye’ is set to outdo its southern sibling by becoming Europe’s tallest observation wheel. The 140-metre-tall (459-foot) attraction, which will be located at the east end of the city’s Quayside and offer 30-minute “flights”, will be five metres taller than the London Eye and takes its nickname from the oft-heard Geordie phrase, “Whey aye, man”. Around the observation wheel – which is expected to

Japanese studio Moriyuki Ochiai Architects have designed a cluster of vibrant, polygonal tea houses that double as a new “sanctuary for stargazing” for budding astronomers. Surrounded by rolling hills in the town of Bisei, Okayama Prefecture, the ‘Constellation of Stargazing Tea Rooms’ has been conceived for visitors who wish to participate in traditional tea ceremonies, watch concerts and plays, and, at night, sit back and look up at the stars.

Construction is nearing completion on the only new stadium being built for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. The 16,000-capacity Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium in Iwate Prefecture will host two fixtures at next year’s tournament. It will first open on the 19 August 2018 for a memorial match between the Kamaishi Seawaves Rugby Football Club and Top League side Yamaha Jubilo, in honour of those who lost their lives

Costa Rican architects Studio Saxe have completed a hotel that steps down a steep coastal hillside, formed of a series of terraces that can be completely opened up to the elements. The firm – self-declared creators of ‘tropical architecture’ – have blended a European design aesthetic with Costa Rican craftsmanship, while opening up the building to allow the verdant landscape to invade from almost all directions. The Swedish owners of

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has announced plans for the development of Caye Chapel, a private island in Belize, to create “a luxury destination for residence owners and leisure travellers” in the heart of the country’s largest marine sanctuary. Scheduled to open in 2021, the project is in partnership with Thor Urbana, Inmobilia Desarrollos and GFA Grupo Inmobiliario, three real estate development groups based in Mexico. Named the Four Seasons

A disused petrol station adjacent to the BBC's former headquarters will be transformed into an arts and culture space as part of a multi-million pound regeneration of London's White City. Starting in Q3, members of Elephant magazine will curate a series of shows at the redeveloped site – now called Elephant West – which will feature exhibitions and performances from emerging young artists. Architects Liddicoat and Goldhill have designed the

The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) will open its new campus, designed by David Chipperfield, to the public on Saturday (19 May). To celebrate its 250th anniversary year, the RA – one of the world’s oldest and foremost artist and architect-led institutions – commissioned the renovation of its historic central London home, adding 70 per cent more public space and revealing many of its hidden secrets for the first time.

MVRDV founders Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries have announced the opening of a new office in Spaces Réaumur, Paris, reflecting the firm’s long line of forthcoming projects in France. This year, construction has already begun on the reconstruction of the Part-Dieu shopping centre in Lyon and the extensive renovation of the Gaite-Montparnasse shopping centre in Paris, with a porous façade connecting the mall to the street,

A new restaurant brand from the creator of the hugely popular Paper Moon chain has launched in the heart of Milan’s Golden Rectangle, housed within a 200-year old mansion. Palazzo Reina, which was commissioned by the noble Milanese Reina family and built in 1830 by architect Nicola Dordoni, has been carefully restored and converted by Ed Ng and Terence Ngan of AB Concept especially for the first Paper Moon Giardino

Plans to replace the historic Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh with a modern £47m sports centre will be discussed by the City of Edinburgh Council next month. Two planning applications have been filed for the stadium, which was built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games. One application proposes a new £47m sports centre to replace the original venue, while the other lays out plans for a mixed-use redevelopment of the wider site,

Work has been completed on the new Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (MFAH), designed by Steven Holl Architects. The School – the only museum-run institute in the US with programmes that serve students of all ages, from 3-year-olds to adults – is a major component of the museum’s 14-acre redevelopment, masterminded by Holl, which is currently the largest cultural project under construction in

Work has been completed on the new Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (MFAH), designed by Steven Holl Architects. The School – the only museum-run institute in the US with programmes that serve students of all ages, from 3-year-olds to adults – is a major component of the museum’s 14-acre redevelopment, masterminded by Holl, which is currently the largest cultural project under construction in

Work has been completed on the new Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (MFAH), designed by Steven Holl Architects. The School – the only museum-run institute in the US with programmes that serve students of all ages, from 3-year-olds to adults – is a major component of the museum’s 14-acre redevelopment, masterminded by Holl, which is currently the largest cultural project under construction in

Design initiative Young Architects Competitions (YAC) has announced the winners of an ideas contest for the transformation of a remote Italian fortress into "one of the most atmospheric centres of contemporary art in the Mediterranean". Italian studio Simposio have secured first prize for their proposal to carefully integrate new cultural and hospitality buildings into the rocky landscape of Favignana, an isle in the Southern Sicily that is home to Santa