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

Kempinski is set to open a heritage hotel in Yangon, Myanmar, after a five-year restoration. Originally built in 1927 as the New Law Courts, The Heritage Hotel Kempinski Yangon was created by architect Thomas Oliphant Foster and built by Doorman Long UK – the builders of the Sydney Harbour Bridge – as the first multi-level steel structure in the Far East. The hotel will include 219 bedrooms, along with extensive

Hotel giant Marriott International has signed a deal with Malaysia-based YTL Hotels as continues its expansion into the Asian luxury market. The deal will see the pair develop new hotels across Asia – one of the fastest growing sectors in the global hospitality industry. During an official ceremony held at The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur, the two companies agreed to develop two luxury hotels in Malaysia under the JW Marriott and

Bulgari has added a Dubai address to its hotel portfolio, with the opening of The Bulgari Resort & Residences Dubai. Situated on the manmade Jumeirah Bay – an island carved into the shape of a seahorse – the resort features a 1,700sq m (18,300sq ft) Bulgari Spa with eight treatment rooms designed by WTS International in collaboration with Italian Interior Design firm Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV), and developed with

Construction has begun on Lanserhof Sylt, a €100m (US$118m, £88m) medical spa resort on a German island in the North Sea. Design practice Ingenhoven Architects are overseeing the creation of the 68-room project, which will be constructed on the site of a former officer's’ accommodation block on the island of Sylt. The building, dating from the 1930s, will be transformed into the central hub of the resort, which will feature

London architects Sybarite have collaborated with a Japanese fashion giant Onward Holdings to create an authentic Japanese soba noodle restaurant overlooking the River Thames. Located on The Strand, Yen invites diners “to step off the busy street into an all-encompassing Japanese experience” created by the design team using Japanese materiality, design cues and construction techniques. The concept of the design is built around Japanese cultural interpretations of nature and space,

A historic pier and aquarium on Manhattan Beach, California, is undergoing a major renovation after reaching its fundraising target. The Roundhouse Aquarium, which was built on the end of the 100-year-old iron pier, will benefit from a complete refurbishment, with the US$4m (£3m, €3.4m) project being led by Cambridge Seven Associates. Michael Greenberg, CEO of the global shoe company Skechers, led the appeal for funds, raising over US$1.5m (£1.12m, €950,000)

International design practice Conran and Partners have announced the launch of a studio in Hong Kong to build on growing opportunities in China, South East Asia, Japan and surrounding markets. It is the first time the practice – founded by design icon Sir Terence Conran in the 1950s – has opened a studio outside the UK. The firm’s client base in Asia includes hospitality developers such as Hyatt, China’s FuWah

One of the design team responsible for realising Ai Weiwei’s huge ‘security fence’ installations across New York has told CLADglobal the popularity of the project demonstrates why cities and developers would be “mad” not to commission creativity. Dan Tobin, the founder of international creative design and delivery studio Urban Art Projects (UAP), said that boundary-pushing art “sparks conversations, activates communities, creates memories, celebrates different cultures, drives tourism and enables micro

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) has been welcoming the first visitors to its new home this week, located in the heart of the burgeoning design district in Miami, Florida. The striking building, with a facade of metal triangles, was created by Spanish architecture firm Aranguren + Gallegos. To celebrate the opening and take advantage of having twice as much space as in its former home, ICA is offering a

Experience design firm BRC have taken the concept of a theme park attraction and placed it inside a museum setting at the new Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. A US$500m (€424m, £374.5m) project, the 430,000sq ft (40,000sq m) museum, which opened on 17 November, has been created inside a former refrigerated warehouse built in 1922. A group of high-profile design teams worked on the project, with US firm

Colour standards company Pantone has announced a “dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade” as the Colour of the Year for 2018. Pantone chooses a different emerging colour to celebrate each year, with ‘colour experts’ at the Pantone Color Institute searching extensively for new colour influences, taking inspiration from the entertainment industry, films in production, travelling art collections, fashion lines, forthcoming buildings and interiors and socio-economic conditions. According to the firm,

Luxury hotel brand Six Senses is planning a series of developments next year – announcing new resort locations in Bali, Fiji, Turkey, Bhutan, Cambodia, Israel and India. It will be a busy year for the hotel, with a further two spas set to be opened in the Middle East in the first half of 2018. Set to open in March 2018, Six Senses Uluwatu, Bali, will be set atop a

Vessel – the sculptural urban landmark Heatherwick Studio have designed as the centrepiece for New York’s Hudson Yards development – topped out yesterday (6 December) after eight months of construction. The honeycomb-like structure, described by its creators as “one of the most complex pieces of steelwork ever made” has reached its full 150ft (46m) height, revealing how it will ultimately provide a one-mile vertical climbing experience. New construction images reveal

British conservation charity the National Trust has announced that architecture practice Allies and Morrison will reimagine and rebuild Surrey’s Clandon Park, a historic Palladian mansion gutted by a fire in 2015. The firm was selected ahead of five other rivals in an international design competition, organised by Malcolm Reading Consultants. However, in an unusual move, one of the other shortlisted practices, Purcell, has joined the winning ticket as conservation architect.

David Adjaye will speak on a panel at the thirteenth annual Design Miami international design fair this afternoon (6 December). The panel, entitled 'Rethinking the City Through Blackness', will explore the relationship between race and architecture. Panellists including artist Amanda Williams and University of Miami School of Architecture lecturer and designer Germaine Barnes will discuss ‘blackness’ and how it informs their work in architectural theory, urban design, design installations and

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have revealed their latest major US project – a sports and entertainment neighbourhood in Texas under a dramatic chequered roofscape. Ambitious plans for the 1.3 million sq ft (121,000sq m) East Austin District were announced today (5 December) by Austin Sports & Entertainment, founded by sports media executives Andrew Nestor and Sean Foley. Located at the home of rodeo in Austin, the new complex is described

English Premier League football club Crystal Palace has announced ambitious plans to redevelop its Selhurst Park stadium. Club chairman Steve Parish unveiled the project at a press conference yesterday (4 December), in which sports architects KSS were revealed as the practice tasked with overhauling a stadium which has been Palace’s home since 1924. The firm has previously redeveloped sports facilities including Anfield, Twickenham and Wimbledon. The project, expected to cost

Historic American hotel The Cavalier will reopen in early 2018 after a US$75m (€63m, £56m) restoration. Built in 1927 and overlooking the Atlantic on one of the highest hills in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the hotel was inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate. The property is being redeveloped by Gold Key PHR and will become the latest venue in Marriott’s Autograph Collection. Part of the redevelopment will include a 6,200sq ft

Dutch architects MVRDV have revealed designs for their inaugural project in the United Arab Emirates – a mixed-use residential and leisure district for Abu Dhabi’s high-profile Makers District. Called Pixel, the 76,000sq m (818,000sq ft) development will consist of seven ‘pixelated’ mid-rise towers organised around a lively public plaza designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), which steers people towards an adjacent beach, waterfront promenade, marina and public events space. MVRDV’s

Chinese practice MAD Architects have completed their latest urban-scale “expansion of nature” – a vast residential, commercial and leisure complex in Beijing that brings mountainous man-made towers into the heart of the city. The 220,000sq m (2.3 million sq ft) Chaoyang Park Plaza is formed of 10 organically shaped buildings, each with smooth curved surfaces of black and white. It was conceived as an extension of the park – the

Decommissioned Navy equipment could soon be used to create a family-friendly centre dedicated to maritime life after plans were submitted to develop a US$43m (€36.3m, £32m) attraction in Chicago, Illinois. Plans for Navyseum show an interactive, two-storey attraction that will span 130,000sq ft (12,000sq m) and combine a museum with an interactive playspace. Themed experience zones are connected using bridges, tubes, slides, overlook decks, and openings to offer a fun,

Fulham Football Club has submitted an application to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council for the redevelopment of the Riverside Stand at its historic Craven Cottage home. New renderings released by Populous show how the stand has been designed with “an iconic roof design” to better connect with the river. Sports architects Populous are behind the proposals, which club chair Shahid Khan claims will “transcend the customary standards

A cultural hub designed by Japanese Pritzker-winning architect Fumihiko Maki has opened in Chinese megacity Shenzhen in partnership with the V&A – the first collaboration between a British museum and a Chinese partner. The Sea World Culture and Arts Center (SWCAC), located in Shenzhen Bay, is formed of three white cantilevered volumes atop a deconstructed plinth. A tilted landscaped roof, open to the public, provides panoramic views while pathways extend

With its year as UK City of Culture coming to a close, Hull is wrapping up 12 months of public artworks by using light and sound to turn The Deep aquarium into a giant art installation. From 8 December the iconic aquarium, designed by Terry Farrell and Partners, will be lit up as its architecture and façade receive a virtual remodelling. Called Floe, images will be projected onto the side