Bürgenstock Hotels & Resort Lake Lucerne has opened the final hotel in its portfolio, the Waldhotel Health & Medical Excellence, a medical wellness centre offering physical and mental wellbeing through a ‘Healthy by Nature’ concept. Designed by Italian architect Matteo Thun, the five-star Waldhotel features a team of multidisciplinary physicians, using cardiology, internal medicine, dermatology, orthopaedics, psychosomatics, dentists to nutrition and gastroenterology to treat and prevent health concerns. The physicians

MGallery is expanding its collection, with 32 hotel openings in the next five years, making it the fastest-growing brand within the AccorHotels luxury portfolio. The brand has opened three hotels recently: The Retreat Palm Dubai, the Tarcin Forest Resort & Spa, and the Victory House London Leicester Square. The Retreat Palm Dubai is the first MGallery property in the Middle East and is billed as a 360-degree holistic wellbeing resort.

An eco-friendly resort set on the coast of the Greek island of Rhodes will open in May 2018. Designed by Dimitris Melenos & Partners, the 266-bedroom Gennadi Grand Resort will be part of Lindos Hotel Group, and will focus on experiential travel along with an emphasis on immersive surroundings. Melenos has used a design ethos focusing on simplicity and functionality, with buildings creating small 'neighbourhoods' and internal green courtyards and

Design studio 4a Architekten have completed an aquatics centre embedded into the landscape of the Offenburg Citizens’ Park in the south of Germany. The design of the Stegermatt Centre is characterised by the interplay of architecture and landscape, with expansive roof surfaces, spacious glass façades and atmospheric spatial volumes interlocking with the natural surroundings to emphasise the contrast between the man-made and the natural. The building is divided architecturally into

Throughout 2017, we have been lucky enough to speak to a host of the most innovative, influential and opinionated leisure architects and designers working across the world. Always impassioned, sometimes controversial and never dull, here is our summary of just some of the best CLAD interviews of 2017. CLAD interviews in 2017 Peter Zumthor Creating buildings that inspire love is about more than just arranging and inventing forms, Peter Zumthor

As 2017 draws to an end, CLAD looks back at some of the most significant leisure buildings, both big and small, that have opened this year – from sports stadiums to museums, hotels, theatres and health clubs. No such list can be truly comprehensive of course, so please let us know your own favourite leisure buildings of the year in the comments section below, or on our Facebook and Twitter

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects (SHL) have been commissioned to design a sports and culture campus in Aarhus, Denmark The multi-use community project is a core component of the revitalisation of the city’s western Gellerup district, with local leaders committed to delivering “an inspiring, welcoming and open destination” for residents and 600,000 visitors annually. The sprawling Gellerup Sports and Culture Campus will include an ‘activity house’ for football; climbing and circus

Birmingham is set to be officially announced as the host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games tomorrow (21 December). Multiple reports state a deal between the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), the DCMS and Birmingham City Council has been struck, with a press conference scheduled tomorrow at Perry Bar to be attended by CGF President Louise Martin. Birmingham was the only interested city to submit a bid before the original deadline of

Pritzker laureate Glenn Murcutt and architect Wendy Lewin are designing a museum in the Australian Outback to showcase the world’s greatest public collection of rare opalised fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs. The Australian Opal Centre will be built in the mining town of Lightning Ridge, constructed within a giant void excavated from the earth in 2013. The project is being funded by the New South Wales government, business donations

An international cricket stadium built using local materials and sustainable building practices has opened in Rwanda, with a design inspired by a bouncing ball and the country’s rolling hills. Cricket is Rwanda’s fastest growing sport and has been used as a tool to bring people together in the country, which was torn apart by genocide in 1994. To accommodate the growing demand and the counter the lack of purpose-built facilities,

The foundations have been laid for Santiago Calatrava’s showpiece UAE Pavilion for the Dubai World Expo in 2020. Inspired by a falcon in flight, the four-storey structure will represent the nation to the 25 million visitors expected to attend the architecture festival, which is themed ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’. Displays will showcase the country’s culture, history and development plans. Located in the centre of Dubai’s 200-hectare exhibition zone, the

A US$2.6bn (€2.2bn, £1.9bn) arts and design district in Kowloon, Hong Kong, has reached a major milestone with the completion of the 66-storey mixed-use tower at its heart. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects, the K11 Atelier building is located on the Tsim Sha Tsui harborfront, replacing a long-derelict warehouse terminal that was once integral to Hong Kong’s famous port. It is the high-rise centrepoint of the Victoria Dockside scheme,

The studio of Richard Rogers have been commissioned to design a luxury hotel and residences for hospitality group Mandarin Oriental in the fashionable heart of London’s Mayfair district. Due to open in 2021 between Bond Street and Regent Street on Hanover Square, the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair is described by developer Clivedale London as “an intimate, boutique property”. Architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners – who last year redesigned the entrance

Diébédo Francis Kéré’s acclaimed 2017 Serpentine Pavilion – one of London’s architectural highlights this year – has found a new home in Malaysia. The ILHAM Gallery in Kuala Lumpur has announced it has been able to acquire the popular pavilion “due to the generous donations by our philanthropic friends and supporters”. The structure will be transported to Malaysia early next year, and ILHAM plans to eventually install it in a

Construction will begin next month on a new concert hall in Andermatt, Switzerland, the town chosen by the Swiss as a strategic military outpost for the Second World War, and which is now one of the country’s largest Alpine resorts. The project has been designed by London practice Studio Seilern Architects, who have just received planning permission to create a “world-class concert facility comparable to those in European capitals.” Andermatt

A child-friendly approach to urban planning is a vital part of creating inclusive cities that work better for everyone. That is the conclusion of global architecture and engineering firm Arup, which has published a new report warning that cities risk economic and cultural damage if they fail to address the needs of children aged 17 and under. The authors of ‘Cities Alive: Designing for Urban Childhoods’ argue that children’s ability

Architecture firm Melt Design Hub have created what they describe as a ‘third space between home and work’ – a lifestyle club in London’s Notting Hill neighbourhood, which will be the first in line for a series of global concept openings. Set to open in March 2018, Cloud Twelve Club is situated over three floors and 1,000sq m (10,764sq ft) and includes a holistic spa, tes and a state-of-the-art alternative

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has today (14 December) announced the RIBA International List 2018, a new biennial selection of the world’s best new buildings. A number of leisure projects are included in the prestigious longlist, including high-profile museums designed by the likes of Heatherwick Studio, Stanton Williams, AL_A and Bjarke Ingels Group. Libraries, cultural centres, a hotel and a concert hall are also recognised among the 62

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has named Manchester-based firm Mather and Co to design its new World Rugby Museum at the spiritual home of the sport – Twickenham Stadium. Scheduled to open in early 2018, the new attraction was commissioned by the RFU as part of the redevelopment of the 82,000-capacity stadium’s East Stand. The museum will cover 650sq m (7,000sq m) and will chart the history of rugby from

Designs for a new stand at Sheffield United will celebrate the city’s steel industry, the English football club has revealed. Plans are in place to add more than 5,400 seats to the second tier of Bramall Lane’s South Stand, as well as new executive boxes and a media centre. Designs by local architects Whittam Cox will celebrate the exposed steelwork supporting the cantilever roof from above, using high-quality profiled steel

Three international architecture firms invited to submit designs for a new children’s museum in the Mexico-US border city of El Paso, Texas, will soon learn the outcome of a public vote. Three firms are competing in the contest: the Santa Monica, California-based KoningEizenberg; Norwegian firm Snøhetta; and Mexico’s TEN Arquitectos. El Paso Community Foundation says the new children’s museum will “spark imaginations, curiosity, creativity and critical thinking through immersive, experiential

English football club AFC Wimbledon will begin building a new stadium at Plough Lane after reaching an agreement with Merton Council. The original Wimbledon FC had to leave Plough Lane in 1991 after the Taylor Report – undertaken in the wake of the Hillsborough tragedy – meant top-flight sides had to play in all-seater stadiums. The stadium was turned into residential space but now a new development at Plough Lane,

A starry shortlist has been announced in the international competition to find a design team to create a new art museum in Adelaide, Australia. The Adelaide Contemporary – conceived as a sister museum to the Art Gallery of South Australia – will include an art gallery, a public sculpture park and a meeting place for the city. The competition brief required proposals that "integrate art, education, nature and people" and

Rosewood Hotel Group has launched a new hotel brand, Khos, with a focus on the modern business traveller and inspired by “the energy, art, innovation, creativity, style and dynamism of modern-day Asia”. Derived from the Mongolian word meaning 'pair', Khos will be a global brand, with locations in capital cities, urban portals, business centres and resort destinations. The first Khos hotels will be announced in 2018 and opened later in

The Montreal hotel suite where John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their iconic Bed-In protest in May 1969 has been redesigned to celebrate 2017’s International Day of Peace. The pair spent seven days of their honeymoon in the bed of Suite 1742 at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel in their unconventional push for peace. The bed was also the recording location for Lennon’s first solo single, ‘Give Peace a

Spread across a 100-acre site near the town of Cancun in the eastern state of Quintana Roo, the Hilton Cancun resort and the Waldorf Astoria Cancun are set to open in 2021. Design firms SB Architects, EDSA and HBA have been hand-selected to create “a fluid transition between indoor and outdoor spaces” throughout both buildings and will take inspiration from the surrounding area's natural elements. The design of both properties

The Four Seasons Tunis has opened with a lavish spa inspired by Tunisia’s historic sites and traditions. Located just a short drive from the ancient Roman ruins of Carthage, the resort includes 203 bedrooms and a Roman-inspired spa which was 10 years in the making. Created by spa consultancy Blu Spas – which collaborated with HKS/Hill Glazier Studio and Brayton Hughes for the design – the spa includes 11 treatment