Culture, health and movement are the focus at MVRDV’s new community centre in Copenhagen, which encourages adults and children alike to enjoy a better quality of life through physical activity. Slides, fireman's poles, labyrinths, nets and climbing walls provide a means of navigating around the Ku.Be House of Culture and Movement, which is being opened today by Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark. The project, designed in collaboration with ADEPT, is

A pop-up preview of James Corner Field Operations’ Miami Underline will open on Tuesday (23 August) to showcase how the landscape architects plan to transform the land beneath the city’s MetroRail into a 10 mile linear park. The pop-up will take place at the Underline’s ‘Brickell Backyard’ fitness area, located at the north end of the Miami River, at 10.30am EDT. Event-goers – who are being encouraged to come to

The winner has been announced in a hotly-contested competition to design a new leisure centre and area of public realm for Finsbury, north London. Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects were selected from a five strong shortlist and will now develop their vision for the site, which will replace the existing 1970s Finsbury Leisure Centre building with a new sports and health hub. New council homes will also be provided as part

Indian architecture firm Studio Ardete have pledged to “break the stereotypes surrounding the design of fitness spaces” in the country after unveiling a gym which embraces quirkiness and idiosyncratic design. According to the architects, the Pro Fitness Gymnasium, located in the small city Kurukshetra, was “born from the idea that a health club can be both individualistic and practical”. The 5,000sq ft (464sq m) site – the largest of its

Luxury fitness chain Equinox will theme its first hotel/health club hybrids around movement, nutrition and regeneration in an appeal to regular travellers who want to keep fit. In an exclusive interview, the company’s vice-president Aaron Richter told CLAD that Equinox Hotels – which will open its first branch in New York’s Hudson Yards in 2018 – will implement the core philosophies of its well established fitness clubs to “the art

The Welsh Government is funding a masterplan for a multi-million pound wellness village in South Wales. The Llanelli Wellness and Life Science Village is just one of a number of projects being delivered through ARCH (A Regional Collaboration for Health), a partnership between three local university health boards. Located on the Carmarthenshire coast, the Llanelli Wellness Village will include a wellness hotel, sports and wellbeing centre, wellness spa, primary care

A social club founded by Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood for London’s high society has been redesigned by the HKS Hospitality Group as a family-friendly centre focused around health and wellness. Wood’s Harringdon Club – once a popular haunt for celebrities, young royals and fashionistas – was purchased by Sicilian hospitality entrepreneur Luca Del Bono, who has transformed the interiors of the listed Georgian-era music hall into the Mediterranean-themed South Kensington

Philippe Starck has revealed a new leisure concept centred around wellness and healthy living. 'Villa M' is a restaurant, hotel and training space exclusive to medical professionals, caregivers, patients, students and innovators working in the world of health and fitness. The building is being developed by health insurance company Groupe Pasteur Mutualité in the centre of Paris. The French designer’s concept is to allow visitors to learn about and medical

Interior designer Reinhard Strasser has created a new Alpine retreat in the Austrian mountains, featuring a high-altitude hypoxic chamber which can be used by professional athletes. The hotel, called Blumen Haus Lech, will launch in the village of Lech in December 2016. It is being funded by British businessman Andrew Flowers, who wants to “raise the bar for boutique hotels in Austria” and offer a luxury stopover for skiers in

Bootcamp fitness studio operator TRIB3 has launched a new design concept which will bring mobile gyms to local parks, schools and open spaces across the UK and overseas. The compact gyms are built within a shipping-style container. At the touch of a button, a hydraulic system opens up the gym within ten minutes, revealing a mini studio with treadmills and workout mats. The concept was created by TRIB3 and designed

The main contractor has been appointed for the construction of Urban Sports Park (USP) – a multi-level indoor skating complex in Folkestone, UK designed by Guy Holloway Architects. The developer of the project, Shepway Sports Trust, has commissioned Westridge Construction to carry out the main work on the building, which received approval from the district council in February. Preparations will take place soon for construction to begin, with a target

Architecture and property development practice Swisatec have announced new additions to their planned 40-hectare leisure village in Cape Town. A seven-storey mixed-use lifestyle centre and a five-star hotel are among the facilities the studio has revealed will feature prominently at Blue Rock Village – billed as Africa’s “most environmentally friendly estate”. The former, called the Santa Luzia Lifestyle Centre, will be designed to host interactive events such as local produce

Dubai investment firm Najibi Group has unveiled plans for a AU$400m (US$300.7m, €270.4m, £226.3m) “active lifestyle” destination in Queensland, Australia. Najibi recently launched its new Australian investment and development offshoot Sanad Capital, which has been created to serve as a springboard for a diverse range of projects on the Sunshine Coast. The firm’s first project will be a community lifestyle and tourism hub “never-before seen in Australia”, according to Sanad.

The government of Hong Kong is seeking non-binding Expressions of Interest for a planned sports park in Kai Tak. Construction companies and joint ventures, investors, sports operators, facility managers and stadium architects are invited to make their interest in the project clear before 8 July 2016. The Kai Tak Sports Park is described by the government as “the most important investment in sports infrastructure in recent decades”. The site –

Western and Japanese concepts of spatial definition and materiality merge in a newly opened spa and health club in Tokyo, designed by COE Architecture International. Aqua Sports & Spa, which was completed this month for fitness operator Seta Sports Connection, is a six-storey, 6,000sq m (65,000sq ft) building in Setagaya-Ku ward. It replaces a 1980s facility, and has been designed to promote personal sports training, Japanese bathing and social activities

French architects Agence Search have won a competition to design a sustainable, green-roofed aquatic centre on the west coast of France. The studio have been granted a budget of €8.7m (US$9.7m, £6.7m) by the local government of Chateaulin and Porza communes to create a currently unnamed 8,000sq m (81,000sq ft) complex bringing “leisure, education, relaxation and wellness to the community”. The centre will be located in a forested plot near

The £15m Crewe Lifestyle Centre, designed to be accessible for people with special needs and dementia, has been officially opened by the president of the International Paralympic Committee, Sir Philip Craven. The 7,800sq m (83,959sq ft) two-storey building is to serve as a central hub for the community of Crewe, UK, bringing together a range of different services under one roof. Architects Pozzoni were appointed by Cheshire East Council and

Upmarket London gym chain Third Space will debut its new boutique studio concept next week (23 May), targeted at “fitness-savvy, fashion-conscious Londoners.” Dubbed Another_Space, the spin-off is a 7,582sq ft (704sq m) site in Covent Garden’s Seven Dials area. Spearheaded by Colin Waggett, founder of boutique concept Psycle and CEO of Third Space, the Goldstein Ween-designed studio offers a range of class-based fitness training programmes. The studio is split over

Architecture studio Farrells have been honoured with an NEC Award for their delivery of a waterfront swimming pool in Hong Kong. The firm, led by Terry Farrell, won the NEC Award for Large Project Of The Year 2016 – which recognises excellence in project delivery and good practice. They were commissioned to build a new home for the Kennedy Town Swimming Pool, after its former facility was demolished to make

Five architecture practices have been shortlisted to design a major new leisure centre in Islington, north London. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, Grimshaw, Hawkins Brown, Pollard Thomas Edwards, and Henley Halebrown Rorrison were all successful in the first stage of a design competition – organised by Islington Council and the Royal Institute of British Architects – to replace the existing 1970s building for Finsbury Leisure Centre. The design ideas of

FaulknerBrowns Architects partner Michael Hall has described how the studio’s planned indoor waterpark project in Coventry, UK, uses elegant and community-focused design to create a “high octane” and “holistic” type of health and fitness facility. The practice has this week submitted its plans for the £36.7m (US$51.8m, €46.4m) Coventry Water Park – which will include a wave pool, six flume rides, a lazy river toddlers’ splash area, a 25m pool,

Architecture studio Waind Gohil + Potter Architects (WG+P) have transformed the ground floor and basement of an abandoned mansion block to create a bespoke gym in London. The gym, operated by boutique fitness studio Core Collective, features exposed concrete and masonry, ambient and interactive lighting, refined acoustics and several social spaces. WG+P have also added a cafe, shop, restaurant, juice bar and public art programme “to provide a truly unique

Metropolitan has just launched a 6,000sq m (64,500sq ft) club in Badalona, Spain – its first in the city. A €5m (US$5.6m, £4m) development, the club follows the philosophy of the rest of the Metropolitan estate, marrying good design and high quality, with an emphasis on both relaxation and training. Located in the city centre, the club has been converted from an old multiplex cinema, which started out as theatre

The philosophy of feng shui has inspired an Issy les Moulineaux-based swimming pool, sports and wellbeing centre designed by French architecture practice Mikou Studio. The centre, located in the southern suburbs of Paris and known as Piscine du Fort, is clad in an wave-like double skin, with open and accessible façades that use rounded windows and skylights to filter in daylight. Design features are carefully positioned to create a sense

Indian architects Studio Ardete have attempted to “define a new language for exercise and training centres” with a "whimsical" gym, spa and indoor cycling studio called Moksha. The practice were commissioned to extend an existing gym in the Indian district Panchkula by creating the new facilities in the building’s 2,000sq ft (186sq m) basement. The limited space and a restricted budget forced the architects to look beyond traditional gyms for

Innovative design can raise awareness of important social and environmental issues in an accessible, fun and persuasive way, according to the designers of VelO2 – an installation that illustrates air pollution through cycling and light. In an exclusive interview with CLAD, Matthias Gmachl, creative director of London based ‘spatial laboratory’ Loop.Ph, said: “If you have a fun, humorous and lighthearted way to introduce ideas, people are generally more open to

Interior designers and brand developers Ignacio Cadena and Michel Rojkind have created a cycling gym in Mexico City, which has been designed vibrant space for enhancing “physical and emotional fitness.” Described as “a 100 per cent Mexican concept”, Síclo is a 420sq m (4,500sq ft) glass-fronted gym formed around a huge white concrete stairway. The steps of the monolith – which are covered with multicoloured poly-chromatic cushions and a small