An unremarkable office building in Fuzhou, China, has been transformed by the Yiduan Shanghai International Design studio into a striking restaurant set within “a magical bamboo forest”. The 2,000sq m (21,500sq ft) Shandao Restaurant features a dramatic and unifying tile facade designed to draw the attention of passers-by. Inside, winding pathways across five floors and a mezzanine level lead to dining areas separated by multi-layered bamboo partitions. A lobby, banqueting

Sir Tim Smit’s Eden Project is making a giant leap to realising its first overseas attraction, following a trade meeting between the British and Chinese governments. During the three-day trade mission to promote Prime Minister Theresa May’s vision for a “global Britain”, David Hardland, Eden Project chief executive signed an agreement with Zhao Lintao of China Jinmao Holdings, setting out terms for a future development in Qingdao. Including the design,

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has signed a deal with Indian property company Embassy Group to open a new luxury hotel and private residences in Bengaluru, one of India's fastest growing cities. Located within Embassy ONE, a mixed-use development featuring commercial office space and premium retail outlets, the hotel is set to open later this year. The 230-room Four Seasons Hotel Bengaluru at Embassy ONE has been designed by HKS

The University of Portsmouth has unveiled ambitious plans for a sustainable sports facility designed by architecture practice FaulknerBrowns. The complex, located on the corner of Portsmouth’s Ravelin Park, is the first major phase of the university’s £400m (US$569m, €455m) estate development masterplan, which aims to reshape its city centre campus to enhance the student experience and establish a public-facing presence in the city centre. The proposals – developed to “promote

British architect Amanda Levete has won the 2018 AJ/AR Jane Drew Prize, which celebrates individuals who have raised the profile of women in architecture through their work. Levete – who won the 1999 RIBA Stirling Prize for the Lord’s Media Centre, alongside her then-husband and business partner Jan Kaplický – is the founder of AL_A, a studio who have received acclaim for public projects such as Lisbon’s Museum of Art,

Sports architecture firm Populous will design a 365-day stadium for Didier Drogba’s US football franchise Phoneix Rising FC, which has ambitions of joining Major League Soccer (MLS). Local design firm Gould Evans will collaborate on the project, which the club has described as “a world-class venue that serves fans and the broader Phoenix community as a full-scale entertainment destination”. Phoenix Rising FC is co-owned by former Chelsea and Ivory Coast

The Serpentine Pavilion programme – one of the highlights of the UK's architectural calendar – is coming to Beijing in 2018. A major international agreement has been struck between Chinese retail giant WF Central and the Serpentine Galleries, which organises the long-running annual pavilion showcase in London’s Kensington Gardens. The inaugural pavilion has been designed by Chinese firm JIAKUN Architects, and it is set to open in May on the

British architecture studio SimpsonHaugh have completed a renovation of one of Belgium’s most important cultural landmarks, the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp. The concert venue had its soft launch over a year ago – and has since picked up a nomination for Cultural Building of the Year – but has only just officially opened. It is located within the Elisabeth Centre, a 19th-century Art Nouveau cultural complex that includes Antwerp

Acclaimed Japanese architect Sejima Kazuyo has been appointed the newest member of the Pritzker Prize Jury, tasked with selecting the next winner of architecture’s most prestigious accolade. Sejima, who won the Pritzker Prize in 2010, is the co-founder of Tokyo studio SANAA, which she has led alongside fellow laureate Nishizawa Ryue since 1995. Their buildings together include the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan; the Rolex Learning

A boutique health club exploring how lighting and design impact the effectiveness of your workout has opened in Beirut, Lebanon. Health club brand U Energy commissioned local practice Rabih Geha Architects to design the 1,200sq m (12,900sq ft) underground project as “a place to provide respite from the hectic nature of daily life” in the city. In order to encourage connection and interaction, the gym – which includes weightlifting areas,

ACTVENTURE, the multi-million-dollar leisure and lifestyle mega-destination underway on the Sunshine Coast of Australia, is eyeing a rollout to the United Arab Emirates. US practice Thinkwell Group designed the plan for the AU$400m (US$305m, €280.7m, £243m) Queensland venture, with Canadian waterpark specialist WhiteWater West working on the waterpark. Members of ACTVENTURE’s advisory board – including Talal Najibi, executive chair of Najibi Investments, WhiteWater CEO Geoff Chutter, Joe Zenas, CEO of

David Beckham has launched his long-awaited Major League Soccer team in Miami today (29 January). The former England captain had exercised an option in his contract with former side LA Galaxy to buy an expansion franchise in 2014. The team, which has yet to be named, will play at a new 25,000-seat stadium in the city's Overton neighbourhood. Designed by sports architects Populous, the ground will be lighter and airier

Montage Hotels & Resorts has announced plans to open and operate a spa resort in Sonoma County, at the heart of California's wine country. Montage Healdsburg – a property owned by Ohana Real Estate Investors and developed by The Robert Green Company – will feature 130 guestrooms and will have a focus on wellness and food. Exact resort details are yet to be confirmed, but facilities include a large Spa

Four Seasons will open a flagship hotel and spa in Philadelphia, US, in Q3 of this year. Set in the historic city’s tallest tower – the 60-storey Comcast Technology Center – the new Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center will include 219 bedrooms on the 48th to 56th floors. Above the hotel, the 57th-floor spa will include seven treatment rooms and an indoor infinity pool. The tower – a

Finnish architecture and firm Futudesign has won an invited competition to transform part of Eliel Saarinen’s Helsinki Central Railway Station into a hotel. Developer Exilion Management and hospitality operator Scandic Hotels are seeking ideas for how to breathe new life into the underutilised eastern administrative wing of the station, which was completed in 1914. Futudesign’s winning proposal, called ‘Hermes’, takes advantage of the grand, high interiors originally designed by Saarinen

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) has announced it will prioritise the care and conservation of the only three museums designed by the legendary Le Corbusier. As part of its Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative, the CGI will host two workshops in India, where two of the three museums are located – the Sanskar Kendra Museum in Ahmedabad and the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh. The third, the National Museum

Sweden’s National Heritage Board has hit out at David Chipperfield's proposed design for the Nobel Center headquarters and museum in Stockholm. The project, first announced in 2014, has navigated a complex series of legal challenges, with its opponents taking issue with its size and close proximity to many of the Swedish capital’s oldest landmarks and museums. Even the country’s king has voiced his doubts over its proposed location on the

Marriott International will operate a luxury hotel at Water Street Tampa – a US$3bn (€2.4bn, £2.1bn) mixed-use development currently under construction in downtown Tampa, Florida, US. The 519-room, 26-storey hotel will be operated under the JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts brand and will be designed by Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates with interiors by Champalimaud Design. Construction on the hotel is set to start in early 2018, with a

Marriott International will operate a luxury hotel at Water Street Tampa – a US$3bn (€2.4bn, £2.1bn) mixed-use development currently under construction in downtown Tampa, Florida, US. The 519-room, 26-storey hotel will be operated under the JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts brand and will be designed by Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates with interiors by Champalimaud Design. Construction on the hotel is set to start in early 2018, with a

The National Museum of African American History and Culture has been named the design of 2017 by London’s Design Museum, making it only the second building to receive the accolade. The project, shortlisted after winning the architecture of the year category, was chosen ahead of a stair-climbing wheelchair, an ink manufactured from air pollution and a high-performance hijab by Nike. Designed by Adjaye Associates, The Freelon Group, Davis Brody Bond

Steven Holl Architects and arts collective Kamen have won an international design competition to create a 2 million sq ft (200,000sq m) mixed-use district on a former paratrooper airfield in Moscow. Fuksas Architecture and Zaha Hadid Architects were among the rival firms in contention for the vast scheme in Tushino, which will include housing, social spaces and schools alongside spas, pools, cafés and lounges. The site, situated near the Moscow

The Chinese mainland has its first Hard Rock Hotel, complete with a huge vinyl mosaic, hundreds of red guitars hanging from the walls and a golden dragon made from drumsticks and 1,680 cymbals. Hong Kong practice CL3 Architects, led by William Lim, were commissioned by developer Mission Hill Properties to design the Hard Rock Hotel Shenzhen, combining the brand’s trademark references to rock and roll with local design flourishes. Vibrant

Design initiative Young Architects Competitions (YAC) has joined forces with the Italian government to launch ‘Art Prison’, an ideas contest for the refurbishment of a fortress on a remote island in southern Sicily. The fortress of Santa Caterina stands over the peak of Favignana, an isle in the Mediterranean Sea. It was once a prison but has stood abandoned for more than a century. Over time, it has become a

The Global Wellness Institute has released its first report on wellness real estate and communities, Build Well to Live Well. The organisation estimates that the global wellness real estate market was worth US$134bn (€108bn, £94bn) in 2017, and projects it will grow six per cent a year, to US$180bn (€145bn, £126bn), by 2022. The US is the largest market, worth US$52.5bn (€42bn, £37bn), followed by China, Australia and the UK,

One of Scandinavia’s best-known design studios, Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, have joined global firm Perkins+Will in a strategic partnership. In a joint statement, the two practices said the move will allow Perkins+Will to diversify its global talent, expand its cultural and civic practice and reinforce the caliber of its design portfolio, while Schmidt Hammer Lassen will be able to expand into new geographic markets, grow its client base, “and apply

German architect Ole Scheeren has completed the much-anticipated Guardian Art Center on the doorstep of Beijing’s historic Forbidden City. The building is a hybrid cultural institution, featuring museum galleries, conservation facilities, restaurants and a hotel. It also claims to have the world’s first custom-built auction house. The centre’s lower portion is a series of nested stone volumes that echo the scale and materiality of the adjacent traditional hutong courtyard houses,

A design team led by Norwegian practice Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter has won an invited competition to create a vast cultural hub, topped by a timber tower enclosed in glass, next to Oslo’s historic railway station. The project, called Fjordporten, will be the largest mixed-use complex in Norway. It has been conceived to revitalise the area around the main train station and offer travellers “new spatial and qualitative experiences.” The base