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

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

Third Space has jump-started its quest to become London’s premium health club operator with the £3.5m relaunch of its Tower Bridge gym. The 28,000sq ft (2,601sq m) club – which was formerly 37 Degrees before being taken over by Third Space owner Encore Capital in 2014 – has been given a comprehensive makeover. Specialist spa, fitness and wellness designers Sparcstudio led the redesign of the Tower Bridge site and is

Boutique fitness chain Heartcore has launched its eighth studio, this time in the London district St John’s Wood, as the operator continues its focus on prestigious postcodes in the city. Sited in a former church, the new location has a heavy emphasis on design – with the Heartcore team creating the entire concept in-house. The property’s soaring ceilings lend an airy, ‘Californian-feel’ to the studio, which is complemented by natural

London studio RPW Design have revealed more details about their multi-million pound renovations of two Marriott properties in London, including the transformation of a health and wellbeing space on the capital’s famous Park Lane. Refurbishment of The Club – the 342sq m (3,600sq ft) health facility at the five-star London Marriott Hotel Park Lane – will be completed in April 2016. RPW are designing a brand new treatment room, a

Health and fitness operator Life Time will open its first New York fitness club in Q1 2016 within Manhattan’s largest residential tower. The club will take up a 70,000sq ft (6,500sq m) area inside the 71-storey Sky building, which is set to be completed in the next few months. The structure was designed by Goldstein Hill & West with interiors created by David Rockwell's studio, the Rockwell Group. The Life

The winners of the 2014 Stirling Prize, Haworth Tompkins, have replaced Frank Gehry on a multi-million pound project to create a moderns sports and leisure complex in Brighton & Hove, UK. Plans to renovate the city’s King Alfred site – a leisure centre “which no longer meets modern expectations and is expensive to operate and maintain” – were first mooted in 2005 when development company Karis proposed a £300m (US$436.1m,

Architecture studio YOD have renovated and modernised a Soviet-era building in a Ukrainian pine forest to create a nature-inspired spa and leisure complex. The facility is an extension to the newly-built Relax Park Verholy Hotel, located in the Poltava region, which the Kiev-based studio designed last year. The new complex features a spa and sauna, an indoor swimming pool, a cafe, a fitness centre and 17 additional hotel rooms –

Sports giant Nike has launched a 3.2m sq ft (297,000sq m) expansion of its world headquarters in Oregon to add sporting facilities, mixed-use space and new offices. The architecture of the expansion is inspired by human movement, speed, plus the strength and energy of competition. A large beacon serves as the centrepiece of the new campus, featuring a sculpture of Nike’s namesake, the winged Greek goddess of victory. Open green

A facility billed as “the largest bouldering gym in the world” has opened in Austin, Texas after two years of construction. The 50,000sq ft (4,650sq m) facility, called the Austin Bouldering Project, was designed by Dylan Johnson of DJA Architects, with interiors created by local studio Lilianne Steckel and realised by general contractor LaBelle Construction. The developer was Texan company 3423 Holdings. The gym features 23,000sq ft (2,100sq m) of

Renowned London nightclub Annabel’s is to be given a new lease of life with plans to incorporate a range of leisure and wellness facilities as part of relocation proposals. The basement nightclub in Mayfair, which has hosted the likes of Princess Diana, Sir Mick Jagger, Frank Sinatra, Grace Jones, Kate Moss and Madonna in its 50-year existence, could soon be providing a substantially revamped offering. Restaurateur Richard Caring, who bought

Entertainment technology company, IMAX Corporation, which specialises in creating immersive, large-screen 3D and 4D cinematic experiences, is moving into the US health and fitness industry. The company has applied for a permit to open an indoor cycling studio in Brooklyn, New York, which will be fitted out with a giant screen. “The gym would consist of tiered rows of stationary bikes which would face the screen, which would play original

A French architecture studio have created a new dance school in Paris clad in a perforated metal veil that seems to change in appearance depending on the position of the sun. Dance School Aurélie Dupont – named after the famous French ballet dancer who retired last year after 32 years at the Paris Opera – hosts ballet, classical and jazz classes and has been built as part of the redevelopment

New research published by the University of Warwick in England suggests that urban architecture may have a far greater impact on our wellbeing than previously thought. While many studies have linked an abundance of green space with physical and mental wellbeing, new evidence suggests that the cohesion of architecture and design in our every day environments plays an equally important role in health and happiness. Using Scenic-Or-Not – a website

Parisian fashion brand Pigalle and architecture firm Ill-Studio have collaborated to create a vivid multicoloured basketball court squeezed between two apartment buildings in the French capital’s 9th arrondissement. Pigalle founder and basketball aficionado Stéphane Ashpool had previously renovated the Rue Duperré court – where he himself plays and offers coaching to local youths – in 2009 with the help of sports brand Nike and basketball icon LeBron James. The colourful

Work is nearing completion on a vast international sports complex in Hangzhou, China, created by international architects NBBJ Design. The Hangzhou Sports Park has been designed in collaboration with architects and engineering firm China Construction Design International (CCDI). It will host international sports fixtures and the 2022 Asian Games. Covering a project area of 400,000sq ft (37,000sq m), the park will be the largest of its kind to open in

Conceptual plans for a new £26m, "super-efficient" swimming pool complex in Exeter, Devon have gone on public view for the first time. The proposals for the Exeter Active centre – designed by Gale & Snowden Architects and driven by Exeter City Council (ECC) – show a 25-metre competition standard, eight-lane pool alongside a four-lane training and recreation pool. Both pools will have moveable floors to provide flexibility for a range

A design team led by Bystrup Architecture Design and Engineering has won a design competition for central London’s first car-free bridge for cyclists and pedestrians. Wandsworth Council, which is overseeing the project, is now likely to name the design team as preferred bidder for the project, which will link Nine Elms and Pimlico. The full winning design team includes several companies: Bystrup, Robin Snell & Partners, ÅF Lighting Aecom and

Liz Terry, CEO of Leisure Media and editor of CLAD, was invited to identify two architectural trends for the wellness industry in a Trends Jam brainstorming session at the Global Wellness Summit in Mexico City last week. Terry's first trend was Living Buildings. She said that in the future, buildings that are alive will be able to sense our every need: "One day, we'll live and work in structures which

A cyclist-friendly bridge – the first opening structure to be built over the River Thames since Tower Bridge – has moved a step closer following a successful feasibility study. The proposed development, which would become the first pedestrian and cycle bridge to be built in London, connects Canary Wharf with Rotherhithe. It was declared “deliverable” by a feasibility study conducted by reForm Architects, Elliott Wood engineers and engineering consultancy Arup.