Hepworth Wakefield, the David Chipperfield Architects-designed art attraction in Yorkshire, has been crowned Best Architectural Achievement at the British Design Awards 2011. The building held off four other shortlisted projects to pick up the accolade, including work by RHWL and Richard Griffiths Architects at London's St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. Heatherwick Studio's UK Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010; Plasma Studio's Creativity Pavilion; and Alain de Botton's Living Architecture were also

The new-look Museum of Somerset has reopened to the public at Taunton Castle, following an extensive £6.93m transformation that has increased its exhibition space by 50 per cent. Somerset County Council (SCC) invested £1.8m in the project, which is designed to explore the story of the the county from prehistoric times through to the modern day. Exhibits at the revamped attraction include the Frome Hoard, one of the largest collections

Branding and design agency M Worldwide and fit out contractor Datum Contracts have been appointed to work on retail and visitor centre concepts at historic attractions across Wales. The two companies have been selected by Cadw, the Welsh Assembly Government's historic environment agency with responsibility for managing the country's heritage properties. New-look retail and visitor facilities at Conwy Castle, which are due to be launched by Easter 2012, will benefit

Warner Bros (WB) has announced details of some of the experiences that visitors can view on a new behind-the-scenes tour of the Harry Potter movies from spring 2012. Warner Bros Studio Tour London-The Making of Harry Potter will boast some of the most iconic sets included in the films, including the Great Hall and Dumbledore's office. Other sets set to be included as part of the tour will be the

Construction work has now commenced on one of the world's largest retractable aluminium-domed indoor waterparks in Donetsk, Ukraine, which is due to open early next year. The 61,000sq ft (5,667sq m) Aquatoria attraction is being developed by Canada-based group, OpenAire, and is intended to help boost tourism to the Donetsk region. OpenAire's free-standing dome structure will comprise an aluminium truss and will be 86ft (26m) in height, with a retractable

360 Play, the family entertainment centre operator owned by DP Leisure, has confirmed that it is to open in a building formerly home to a Stevenage nightclub in Hertfordshire. The new centre will add to the company's existing site in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, and is due to open later this year, following the closure of the Liquid and Envy club. DP Leisure's sister company, DP Associates, has worked on the

Warner Bros has announced the first raft of operators that have been approved to sell tickets for its new Harry Potter studio attraction at Leavesden Studios, which opens next spring. Timed, pre-booked tickets for the new Warner Bros Studio Tour London - The Making of Harry Potter experience are due to go on public sale on 13 October. US-based exhibition design company Thinkwell has been working on the scheme, which

Cheshire-based Mather and Co has announced that it has been awarded the design contract for the new National Football Museum, which is relocating from Preston to Manchester. The group has been appointed to work on all aspects of museum content following a tender process, which will include external signage, lighting, graphics and 3D structures. In addition to the National Football Museum's permanent gallery and audio-visual theatre, Mather and Co has

Ledcor Design-Build (Alberta) has been appointed by the Government of Alberta to deliver the new Royal Alberta Museum in the centre of downtown Edmonton, Canada. The team, which features Ledcor Construction, DIALOG Design and Lundholm Associates Architects, was selected following an evaluation of four shortlisted applicants. It is anticipated that the new attraction will provide double the space currently offered by the existing museum and will be able to exhibit

A number of leisure projects have made it on the shortlist for The British Design Awards 2011. The UK Pavilion at last year's Shanghai Expo, designed by Heatherwick Studio; St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London by RHWL and Richard Griffiths Architects ; and the Hepworth Wakefield gallery in Yorkshire all feature on the five strong list. The list also features the Plasma Studio-designed Creativity Pavilion at the Xi'an International Horticultural

Work has begun on a new chocolate-themed visitor attraction in York. The attraction – which has the working title The Sweet History of York - is being developed by Continuum and will celebrate the city's chocolate and confectionery heritage. Work has started on transforming a three-storey building at the end of the city's famous Shambles street and an opening date is planned for spring 2012. The 6,400sq ft of available

The new US$2.9m Sturt Haaga gallery, which will showcase exhibitions of art, science and history, has opened at the Descanso Gardens botanical gardens in California, US. The new space has been five years in planning with funding being provided entirely from private sources, led by a US$2.1m gift local residents Heather Sturt Haaga and Paul G. Haaga Jr. The new gallery was created by restoring an existing structure adjacent to

The first phase of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum has opened to the public on the site of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in New York, US. The opening of the memorial coincided with the 10th anniversary of the attacks and the site includes the names of the nearly 3,000 victims inscribed on bronze panels lining two large pools. Designed as a "walkround park", the site will feature waterfalls

A new Battle of Bannockburn visitor centre is to open ahead of the 700th anniversary of the historic event in 2014 after receiving planning permission from Stirling Council. Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) are behind the scheme, which has been designed by a team fronted by Edinburgh-based architects Reiach and Hall. Sinclair Knight Merz; Turner and Townsend; and KJ Tait feature as part of the design

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) is to unveil Singapore's first maritime-themed attraction - Maritime Experiential Museum and Aquarium (MEMA) - on 15 October. Designed by Ralph Appelbaum of Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the attraction is to be housed in a building featuring a steel and glass ship hull design at the RWS waterfront. Maritime talks, children's workshops and exploration on life-size replica historical ships will be on offer at MEMA, exploring the

Navy Pier, one of the most popular visitor attractions in Chicago, US, has launched a global search for a design team to draw up plans for the redevelopment of outdoor public spaces. The announcement is the first step towards bringing its Centennial Vision to fruition, which aims to transform the historic attraction. Upscale dining and entertainment options and more appealing public spaces to capitalise on the pier's "unique setting" are

London-based Zombory-Moldovan Moore Architects (ZMMA) has been appointed by the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum to design its new Europe 1600-1800 Galleries. The scheme is the largest gallery revamp to be undertaken as part of the V&A's FuturePlan programme, which will lead to the transformation of the iconic London heritage attraction. Located at basement level along the Cromwell Road and Exhibition Road, the galleries have access points fro both the

Canterbury's new £25.6m Marlowe Theatre - designed by Keith Williams Architects - will open its doors for the first time on 4 October, following a two-year construction project. Work started in 2009 with the demolition of the old theatre building, which was first opened in the 1930s as an Odeon Cinema before being turned into a theatre during the mid-1980s. Located next to the River Stour, the new-build Marlowe Theatre

A soccer school in Soweto, South Africa, and a tree hotel in Sweden are among some of the schemes to be shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards 2011. The fourth annual awards attracted a record number of entries, with more than 700 from 59 countries across the world seeking to be crowned World Building of the Year 2011. UK projects shortlisted include Holburne Museum of Art, Bath (Eric

Aspen Art Museum (AAM) in Colorado, US, has held an official groundbreaking ceremony to help mark the start of the work on a new 30,000sq ft (2,787sq m) home for the attraction. The US$50m (£30.4m, EUR34.6m) building has been designed by Shigeru Ban Architects and will be located at the corner of South Spring Street and East Hyman Avenue in Aspen. Construction work is due to commence during the first

A park celebrating the life of Jimi Hendrix is being developed in Seattle, US next to the city's Northwest African American Museum. Portland-based architects Murase Associates has been chosen to design the US$2m park, which is scheduled to open in 2012, marking the 70th birthday of Hendrix. Butterflies, guitars and spiral flowers are among the key elements of the design and the park will be decorated in lyrical stepping, stones,

Exhibition designer Sarner has installed a new Gun Turret Experience at HMS Belfast where visitors can revive the battle of the North Cape at 1943. In small groups of 15-20, visitors can step into the Gun Turret and recreate its atmosphere and conditions using lights, imagery, sound, smoke effects, movements and smells. The space recreates the sensations of war at sea and offers visitors a new way to understand the

Chelsea Football Club (CFC) has opened a new 670sq m (7,212sq ft) museum at the club's Stamford Bridge stadium in London, which has been designed by Mather and Co. The purpose-built space located behind the Matthew Harding Stand explores more than 100 years of the Premier League club's history and houses a number of interactive exhibits. Attractions include the adidas Shooting Gallery, which will see guests receive a video tutorial

The Story Museum in Oxford has chosen architects Purcell Miller Tritton (PMT) to lead a design team for a major £3.5m redevelopment project being proposed for the attraction. Due for completion in 2014 to celebrate the city's status as UNESCO World Book Capital, the selection of PMT follows a competitive tender process which attracted 64 submissions. The company held off competition from two others - Hawkins Brown and Pringle Richards

Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has revealed that the new Ancient Egypt and Nubia (present day Sudan) galleries are to open on 26 November, following a £5m development project. Lord Sainsbury's Linbury Trust, the Selz Foundation and other trusts have funded the work, which aims to build on the success of a new extension opened at the museum in 2009. Rick Mather Architects have led the redesign and display of four

Proposals for a new multi-million pound cultural visitor destination - Visions of China - in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, have been unveiled by the partnership leading the scheme. It follows a decision by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) to name China Vision Ltd and MCD Developments as its preferred developer for the Pithouse West site. The £100m+ project is being headed by China Vision chair Dr Lee Kaihung and joint CEOs

Oriel Mostyn Gallery - designed by Ellis Williams Architects - has received the Gold Medal for Architecture at the Wrexham and District 2011 National Eisteddfod of Wales. The contemporary art attraction in Llandudno, North Wales, underwent an extensive revamp that led to the addition of two new galleries at the Grade II-listed property. The Gold Medal for Architecture is sponsored by the Design Commission for Wales and is run in