Veteran Walt Disney Imagineer Joe Rohde has revealed his secret to storytelling in theme parks, saying that to successfully utilise an IP, attractions creators must put visitors at the centre of their own immersive fantasy world. Recently celebrating the launch of his latest Disney project – Pandora ‘The World of Avatar’ at Orlando’s Animal Kingdom – Rhode said that creators of attractions based on film IPs such as Avatar or

Hospitality brand Andaz has opened its first hotel in Southeast Asia, the Andaz Singapore. Located within DUO – a large integrated development spread across two sculptural towers in the Ophir-Rochor district – the hotel features 342 contemporary guestrooms, including 26 suites, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing views of the city-state. German architect Ole Scheeren designed the concave skyscrapers, which are 186 and 170m high and clad in a latticework of hexagonal

The University of Warwick is building a £49m (US$64.6m, €54.9m) sports and wellness hub in a bid to become the “most physically active higher education campus” in the UK by 2020. Set to open in 2019, the hub will include one of the largest gyms in higher education, spanning 16,684sq ft (1,550sq m), as part of the university’s mission to get “everyone active every day”. With 300 stations, it will

A new holistic wellbeing destination spa is opening in the Greek Peloponnese next May. Designed to enable health and personal transformation, the Euphoria Retreat will include a spa offering a blend of treatments and experiences using ancient Greek and Chinese philosophies and medicines. Situated in a valley on the edge of the Byzantine town of Mystras, a 13th century Unesco World Heritage Site, Euphoria Retreat has been created in harmony

A Post-earthquake reconstruction and demonstration project in the city of Zhaotong, China, has been declared the 2017 World Building of the Year. Designed by a team of researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the rammed-earth structure is a prototype home for an elderly couple living in Guangming Village. A devastating 2014 earthquake destroyed hundreds of houses in the region, and the project was conceived to demonstrate "a safe,

A ‘performance resort’ and spa are coming to master-planned wellness community Lake Nona, outside of Orlando, Florida, in 2020. The Lake Nona Resort is due to break ground in 2018 and will include a 45,000sq ft spa and fitness campus with in-depth indoor and outdoor programming for all ages and levels. Designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, the eight-storey Lake Nona Resort will be located along the southern shore of Lake Nona,

Hidden below the streets of Bath, a quirky new spa has opened which celebrates the ancient city's heritage. Spa 15 – located in the No. 15 Great Pulteney hotel on Great Pulteney Street, Bath – includes four themed treatment rooms, a large cedarwood hot tub within exposed stone vaults, a barrel-shaped sauna and a steam room. In keeping with No. 15’s celebration of local up-and-coming artists, the treatment rooms showcase

The next batch of category winners have been announced on the second day (November 16) of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards in Berlin, with hotel and leisure, bar and restaurant and future cultural buildings all recognised. Vietnamese practice Cong Sinh Architects won the Hotel & Leisure category for Vegetable Trellis in Ho Chi Minh City, a mixed-use space bringing a cafe, restaurant, hotel, park and public educational space to

The Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, has become the first sports stadium in the world to achieve platinum certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). With a highly advanced stormwater management system and enough solar panels to power nine NFL games, the new home of the Atlanta Falcons and MLS team Atlanta United scored a record 88 points in its rating by the US Green Building Council (USGBC).

Plans for a botanic garden sheltered beneath a duo of biomes in the Omani desert have been unveiled by Arup, Grimshaw Architects and Haley Sharpe Design (hsd). The Oman Botanic Garden spans 420 hectares (1,037 acres) on the Arabian Peninsula and consists of two boomerang-shaped glass biomes, a visitor centre and education and research facilities. Located in the north of the country, 35km (22m) from Muscat at the foot of

Leisure architecture was a big winner on the opening day (15 November) of the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Berlin, with a number of cultural buildings triumphing in the first stage of the prestigious WAF Awards. The Culture category, which consisted of 15 completed projects, was won by Heneghan Peng Architects for the Palestinian Museum. The judging panel commended the studio for “working with the contours of Palestine”, adding that

The International Retail Real Estate Market (MAPIC) returns to Cannes today (15 November) with a focus on how investors, retailers, architects and designers can “create real experiences” for consumers, the show’s director told CLADglobal. About 8,500 international participants from 80 countries are expected to attend the annual show at the Palais des Festivals over the next three days – including more than 2,100 retailers, 2,500 developers and 1,000 investors. Speaking

German architect Ole Scheeren is bringing leisure and landscape design to the skies of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with an ambitious new development formed of three high-rise towers. Described as “a symbiotic vision of nature and living within the space of the city”, the Empire City scheme features apartments, offices and a hotel, in addition to large swathes of public space, from the ground to rooftop. The main structure,

The Oakland Raiders have broken ground on a $1.9bn (£1.45bn, €1.62bn) stadium in Las Vegas which is due to become their home from 2020. During a glitzy ceremony attended by celebrities, politicians and players last night (13 November), Raiders owner Mark Davis and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell shovelled the dirt to kick off development of the 65,000-capacity, glass-domed stadium – designed by sports architects Manica. The groundbreaking ceremony took place

German architecture firm GRAFT have completed work on a timber hotel and spa hidden in the woodland of Nohfelden, northern Germany. Designed as a product of the surrounding topography, the 12,860sq m (138,400sq ft) Hotel Bostalsee rests above a pair of green hills, overlooking Lake Bostalsee. Guests arrive through oak woodland, with the water hidden from view. The lobby is situated in the natural gap between the hills and reveals

Artist Asad Raza has created an indoor tennis court with a difference: it sits within a deconsecrated 16th-century church. Rather than an excitable crowd of spectators, players in the San Paolo Converso arena will be surrounded by murals of Saint Paul. Otherwise, though, the space is set up like a typical court – complete with lines, netting, racquets, chairs, a jug of iced jasmine tea and even coaches to practice

Citizens should be empowered to play a much more active role in the design of the built environment as part of democratic society, Daniel Libeskind has argued in an exclusive interview with CLAD. The architect – known for designing buildings that explore themes of memory and identity – said that the need to enhance public participation in the design process is “the biggest challenge facing architecture today”. He also discussed

Developer Dilip Barot, founder of Creative Choice Group, is building what he calls an “urban destination spa resort” on Singer Island in Palm Beach, Florida with a 100,000sq ft (9,300sq m) ESPA spa. Spread across seven acres on the Atlantic shoreline, the Amrit Ocean Resort & Residences will have a focus on wellness lifestyle, taking inspiration from Patanjali yoga, and is due to open in 2019. The one million sq

Designs for a new gallery dedicated to ancient Egypt have been released by Bolton Museum and exhibition designers Leach Studio. Work is already underway on the £3.8m (€4.3m, US$5m) addition to the museum, in the English town of Bolton, Lancashire, with the venue set to re-open in 2018 following essential roof repairs and electrical works. The Eternal Egypt gallery will showcase Egyptian artefacts, a replica Pharaoh tomb, and explain how

The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) orchestra has commissioned Frank Gehry to design a permanent new centre for aspiring professional musician in its home city – almost 15 years after he completed work on LA’s renowned Walt Disney Concert Hall. The American-Canadian architect will transform a 17,000sq ft (5,182sq m) facility in Inglewood to create a central resource centre for young musicians to receive training, counselling and mentoring on their

US-based Midtown Athletic Clubs, which manages a portfolio of premium health, fitness and racquet clubs, has opened its first hotel at the site of its flagship club in Chicago. The 55-bedroom Hotel at Midtown is the company’s first venture into the hospitality space and is the final element of a US$85m (€73m, £64m) redevelopment of the Chicago club – one of the world’s largest indoor tennis centres, housing 16 indoor

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London has made an unusual acquisition – a section of a former council estate that’s set to be demolished. The piece of the building that the museum has acquired consists of a three-storey maisonette flat, its exterior walkway and sections of concrete stairway, which was part of Robin Hood Gardens in Poplar, East London. It’s being taken apart and will be delivered to

Flyers of the future may be able to enjoy a session of yoga, a gym workout or a fine dining restaurant experience during their journey, thanks to a proposed modular system in aircraft cabins. A³, the innovation arm of aerospace giant Airbus, launched the Transpose company – which has since become independent – in 2016, with a mission “to change the way aircraft cabins are manufactured and monetised”. The concept

Edition, the boutique hotel brand created by entrepreneur Ian Schrager in partnership with hospitality giant Marriott International, has revealed plans to open seven new hotels during 2018. Describing the next 12 months as a “pivotal” year in the development of the brand, Marriott said the number of properties in the Edition portfolio will increase from four to 11 by the end of 2018. The first new launches of 2018 will

In a piece of good news for aspiring Holly Golightlys – it is now possible to follow in the footsteps of Audrey Hepburn and have breakfast at Tiffany’s in real life. Tomorrow (10 November), Tiffany & Co’s flagship jewellery store in New York is opening its first-ever retail dining concept, The Blue Box Cafe, as part of a comprehensive fourth-floor renovation. The in-house creative team have designed both the new

Global architects Perkins+Will have launched a list of the most “prolific and problematic” substances that people encounter every day in the built environment. Hosted on the firm’s ‘Material Transparency’ website, the compilation is described as “a user-friendly digital database that allows professionals to search for key substances and chemicals of concern using filters like project type, product type, and health and environmental impacts.” An earlier ‘Precaution List’ was developed by

Architecture and design studio Rockwell Group have completed a 6,000 capacity music and arts venue in Washington DC, anchoring a new mile-long neighbourhood along a channel of the Potomac River. Designed in collaboration with developers PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette, The Anthem is a 130,000sq ft (39,624sq m) space dedicated to indie and alternative music as well as conventions, art exhibitions, seminars, banquets and fashion shows. Rockwell Group were inspired