Hong Kong-based luxury operator Langham Hospitality Group will operate a hotel and spa in Bangkok from 2021 – its first site in the Thai capital city. The company has signed a management deal to operate the 250-key property with Canapaya Development Co, which is building the hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. Facilities at the hotel will include a Chuan Spa, featuring extensive indoor and outdoor wet

Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde has been announced as a speaker at next year's TIDE conference at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE). Roosegaarde is an internationally acclaimed creative thinker and founder of the Studio Roosegaarde, a social design lab that develops smart and sustainable products for “the cities of tomorrow”. His projects include the Smart Highway, a solar-powered road that glows at night, and the Smog Free Project, the world’s

Designers GSM Project have delivered three exhibition spaces for the new Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, allowing visitors to “discover innovations and technology through immersive experiences”. The three galleries include 19 integrated interactive and media displays and a number of large-scale exhibits. The first gallery, ‘Into the Great Outdoors’, showcases more than 100 years of technological developments geared toward conquering and roaming vast landscape – from bicycles to

The first permanent venue built for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo has opened to the public. The Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, located close to Kengo Kuma’s forthcoming national Stadium, will host badminton, modern pentathlon fencing and wheelchair basketball and has a seating capacity of more than 10,000. Constructed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the arena includes a swimming pool, gym, multi-use sports area and two fitness studios

At first glance it may appear as just another cruise ship moored in Southampton – but look closer and you will see it is, in fact, a new spa hotel. UK-based boutique hotel operator Harbour Hotels' latest property occupies a prominent spot at Southampton Port’s Ocean Village marina and mimics the design of a super-yacht, helping it blend into its surroundings. The 91-bedroom Southampton Harbour Hotel is owned by property

Tokyo Disney could undergo its biggest expansion in over two decades, as operator Oriental Land is reportedly in discussions over a ¥300bn (US$2.68bn, €2.25bn, £1.98bbn) mega-development for the resort. According to multiple news sources in Japan, the plans are not part of the previous ¥250bn (US$2.22bn, €1.88bn, £1.65bn), 10-year expansion plan for Tokyo Disney, which includes new attractions based on Beauty and the Beast and Big Hero 6, as well

The ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, has greenlit plans for a 3.3km (2.1 miles) beachfront development incorporating new sports facilities, pedestrian areas, public services and landscaping. The Sharjah Urban Planning Council’s (SUPC) has proposed the project – which will include dedicated cycling paths, exercise areas and places for family activities – as part of its wider strategic plan to use leisure and regeneration to attract more

BIG founder Bjarke Ingels and CEO Sheela Maini Søgaard have revealed how they transformed a struggling firm 10 years ago into one of the world’s fastest-growing and best-known architecture practices today. Speaking to CLAD for our comprehensive BIG Special, Ingels and Søgaard described how a decade ago BIG found themselves facing an uncertain future. “By the fall of 2007, we were going down,” said Ingels. “I took control of our

A vacant plot located along the Harlem River waterfront in New York has been earmarked as the site for a major new residential and leisure development – including a home for the city’s first dedicated hip hop museum. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has announced a raft of ambitious plans for its new Bronx Point destination, including public open spaces, a hi-tech multiplex theatre, education facilities for

A former ski village in Sheffield, UK, will be reinvented as a sports attraction after a £22.5m (US$30.2m, €25.5m) plan was announced to breathe new life into the site. Working in partnership with Continuum Attractions, Sheffield City Council will resurrect the 48-acre (194,000sq m) site as a sports, leisure and entertainment venue under the Extreme brand. The first phase of the plan will see the restoration of the disused ski

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has launched the draft of his first London Plan – described as "the capital’s strategic planning bible". The 524-page document sets out Khan’s vision for urban development and offers firm guidelines for architects and developers in a host of areas. The plan focuses on tackling of London’s housing crisis – with proposals to build 65,000 homes per year and make 50 per cent of

The seventh proposed stadium for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will be constructed using shipping containers and will be completely demounted and rebuilt elsewhere after the tournament. The design of the Ras Abu Aboud Stadium – which will have a capacity of 40,000 and host matches up to the quarter-finals stage – has been officially revealed today (28 November), with World Cup organisers saying “it will change the

Australian architecture studio Group GSA have won a design competition to create an information hub for the ski resort hosting events during the 2022 Winter Olympics. The Four Seasons Town Reception Center will welcome spectators to Fulong Four Seasons Resort – the Olympic venue located 90km (56 miles) northwest of Beijing in the city of Chongli, Hebei province. Fulong is a master-planned, year-round community featuring 37 ski trails – the

Everton’s long-running quest to build a modern stadium has taken a major step forward, with the English club formally signing an agreement to lease land for the ground at Bramley Moore Dock. The lease, secured by club subsidiary Everton Stadium Development Limited, is conditional upon gaining planning consent for the proposed new stadium and securing funding for its construction. The deal will run for a period of 200 years at

Dutch designer Marcel Wanders has blasted minimalist hospitality design trends in an interview with CLADglobal. Wanders – best known for his colourful and often surreal hotel collaborations with the likes of Morgans Hotel Group, Park Hyatt and sbe – argued that architects and designers working in the hotel sector “should add fun and value to people’s lives”. “If you love design enough to give your life to it – studying

Visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of Apple’s futuristic new US$5bn (€4.18bn, £3.7bn) HQ can now get closer than ever before, with the opening of a new visitor centre overlooking Foster + Partner’s vaunted doughnut-shaped design. Designed as “an exclusive public gateway to Apple Park”, the centre opened to the public last week along Tantau Avenue in Cupertino, California. With Foster + Partners again on design duties, the building is

Liseberg CEO Andreas Andersen has provided an update on the park’s planned €200m (US$238.8m, £178.8m) expansion, with work on the project expected to start in 2019 as the park attempts to diversify its product offering to expand its operational season. The historic attraction in Gothenburg, Sweden, celebrates its centenary in 2023. In the build-up to this milestone, plans for a new indoor waterpark and hotel earlier were unveiled earlier this

It has just collaborated with Philippe Starck on a luxury apartment complex in the heart of Midtown Atlanta, and is in the midst of planning one of America’s most hotly-anticipated wellness communities. Now spa, fitness and leisure consulting firm WTS International is seeking to expand its team with the appointment of a project interior designer. The studio – which is involved with the concept design, planning, interior design and operation

The US$1.85bn (€1.56bn, £1.39bn) Nickelodeon-branded cultural resort coming to Foshan, Southern China, will be project managed by AECOM after a deal was signed at this year’s IAAPA Attractions Expo. Part of the Foshan Cultural and Ecological Coastal Project – an initiative to enhance the culture, tourism, sports, science and technology sectors to the city of Foshan – the development will cover 750 acres, 250 of which will be dedicated to

With admirers from Steve McQueen to Marlon Brando, Clint Eastwood to George Clooney, Pink to David Beckham – the iconic Triumph motorbike will be celebrated by all thanks to a new attraction opened in Hinckley, Leicester. The Triumph Factory Visitor Experience is laid out across eight themed zones, aimed at engaging its guests with the story of the historic manufacturer and demonstrating its prowess in design and engineering. Edinburgh-based Studio

Architects HawkinsBrown have completed an elegant timber pool hidden among the trees for a school in the English county of Surrey. Swimmers using the 25m, six-lane competition pool can view the surrounding woodland through a series of windows integrated into the building’s timber frame. The architects used off-site fabrication methods to create the facility for Freemen’s School in the village of Ashtead, which replaces a previous pool building destroyed by

The winners of The Structural Awards 2017 have been announced, with multiple leisure projects celebrated for their design and engineering excellence. The British Airways i360 in Brighton, UK, was honoured with The Supreme Award for Structural Engineering Excellence – one of the highest accolades in world engineering. In a unanimous decision, the judging panel, made up of industry experts, described the project as “a remarkable feat of engineering” and praised

The Le Meridien hotel in Cyprus will reopen in March 2018 under the new name Parklane, after an estimated €70m (US$83m, £62m) renovation as part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection. The resort, in Limassol, is well known for its large thalassotherapy facilities, which span 3,000sq m, and include two outdoor and two indoor seawater pools. The new Kalloni Spa will also include 12 treatment rooms and three suites, two of which

Canada’s Méga Parc attraction is to undergo a major steampunk-themed makeover, with a record-breaking gravity coaster travelling through a spokeless Ferris wheel at the heart of the CA$52m (US$41m, €34.6m, £30.8m) redevelopment. Built in Quebec in the 1980s, Méga Parc is the second-largest indoor theme park in Canada. Its overhaul will see the park transformed, with the majority of existing rides replaced and the park to be themed on steampunk

An elegant London hotel situated in a converted former bank building has been named the best new hotel in Europe at a ceremony held by the Awards for Hospitality Experience and Design (AHEAD). The Ned hotel, spa and club, with interiors designed by Alice Lund and architecture practice EPR, opened in April 2017. The creative team has transformed the Grade I-listed former Midland Bank Building to include 252 bedrooms, nine

Four international design firms are combining to create a new stadium for US baseball team The Oakland Athletics, better known as the A’s. Snøhetta – whose large-scale leisure buildings include the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art expansion in California – will collaborate with stadium specialists HOK, US studio Sasaki Associates and local firm Studio T-Square. Together, the partners will design a new

Luxury operator Four Seasons has announced plans to open its first property in Brazil in 2018. Located in Sao Paolo, the 250-bedroom hotel will be marketed as an urban retreat and is located in the Parque da Cidade – a large mixed-use complex currently under development in the city. The 29-storey hotel’s design will draw inspiration from Brazil's architecture and design traditions and will also house 84 Four Seasons Private