Companies can inspire productivity, profit and improved health and wellbeing among their staff by introducing biophilic amenities such as green fitness centres into their workplaces. That is the view of Despina Katsikakis, a leading workplace design consultant, who claims that the cost of such changes is “negligible when compared the benefits it brings for the organisation, its staff and the economy.” She made the comments during a panel discussion recently

A 1,300sq m (13,993sq ft) spa has opened on the sixth floor of the new Hamburg Elbphilharmonie concert hall, a shimmering, glass-covered building designed by Swiss architecture studio Herzog & de Meuron. The elb spa features six treatment rooms on the upper floors of the Westin Hamburg, and has views of the spot where the port and city meet on the River Elbe. German skincare brand Babor has created exclusive

The studio of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels have agreed to design a new indoor football stadium for Greenland, according to media reports in the island territory. Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR) have reported that BIG will create “a new gathering point” for the capital city Nuuk by creating a modern stadium on a disused plot of land, with several large windows providing views of the harbour, surrounding fjords and the bay.

The contentious redevelopment of Roland Garros, the home of French tennis, will go ahead after the Administrative Court of Paris threw out a legal challenge brought by critics of the project. The ruling brings an end to a tumultuous saga, which has seen the Council of State and Paris Crown Court rule in favour of the project going ahead, only for a different court – the Tribunal de Grande Instance

Queens Park Rangers FC is exploring the possibility of building a 30,000-capacity stadium on the site of the Linford Christie Athletics Stadium after being thwarted in its attempt to develop at Old Oak Common. According to multiple reports, the Championship football club wants to demolish the athletics venue and build a stadium on the site alongside a new adjacent athletics facility. The Linford Christie Stadium – currently used by the

The government of Qatar is spending as much as US$500m (€467m, £399m) a week on infrastructure ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, according to the emirate’s finance minister. Ali Sharif El-Emadi told journalists on Tuesday that the weekly investment “will carry on for the next three to four years to achieve our goal and objective of really getting the country ready for 2022.” While nine stadiums are being built

Practices designing public squares should consider how they can enhance tolerance and provide platforms for peaceful democratic protest, according to landscape architect and theorist James Corner. Speaking exclusively to CLAD, Corner explained how well-conceived public city squares can be “conducive to more tolerance” at a time when “democracy is being challenged”. “They’re great spaces for people to be exposed to other people – people who are not like themselves,” he

FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) must “take the lead” on stadium sustainability to make the hosting of events less prohibitive, according to the architect behind the Commonwealth Games 2022 masterplan. Talking to CLAD, Ruben Reddy said building huge stadiums for one-off events was a large burden on the taxpayer, particularly in developing countries where “priority lists are quite long”. He stressed that major sporting events should be “global

Chicago's mayor, Rahm Emanuel, has announced ambitious plans to transform the city’s famous Willis Tower into a civic destination offering “unique retail and entertainment experiences.” The building – an architectural icon and, at 1,450ft (442m), one of the world's tallest structures – was designed by architect Bruce Graham at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and opened in 1973 as the Sears Tower. It has not been renovated in the four decades

The International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities (IAKS) has planned an “unprecedented sharing of expertise, insight and discussion” on the design, development and operation of leisure centres and swimming pools this week. International architects, engineers, government officials and leisure centre operators will converge in Dublin from 9-10 February to discuss topics such as state of the art sports facility design, creating sustainability, future-proofing and encouraging inclusion. Facilities used as

Mandarin Oriental will open a new hotel and branded residences in Honolulu in 2020. The new Hawaiian hotel will be the anchor of Mana ‘olana Place, a 36-storey, mixed use tower with gardens and public plazas, which is being developed by Los Angeles-based Salem Partners. It will include a Spa at Mandarin Oriental that will offer holistic rejuvenation and relaxation, with eight treatment rooms. Further leisure options include a comprehensive

Boutique hotelier Ian Schrager has won the 2017 Pioneer Award for “his outstanding impact on the hospitality industry” and his longstanding support for design-led hotels. The prestigious accolade is awarded each year by the the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) to celebrate the recipient’s active involvement in the industry, their contribution to hospitality, and their “personal qualities.” In its award citation for Schrager, the association said: “For over five

Lord’s Cricket Ground has become the first purpose-built cricket stadium in Britain to run on 100 per cent renewable energy. As part of the sustainability strategy devised by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) – the owner of Lord’s – the ground has met its 2020 emissions target already and reduced its electricity consumption by seven per cent since 2010. The ground’s new Warner Stand – which will be complete in April

French architecture studios Sockeel and Olgga have joined forces to revamp the stadium of football club ULS Dunkerque into a beautiful and accessible facility for the community in the historic beach town. The duo have won a design competition for the “demolition and reconstruction” project, which will see the aging Stade Marcel-Tribut re-designed and expanded by 2,000 seats to hold 5,000 spectators. Work will begin in September 2017 when the

The Hammer Museum will increase its exhibition space by 60 per cent, announcing plans for a 40,000sq ft (3,700sq m) expansion and renovation of its existing Los Angeles home by 2020. LA-based architecture firm Michael Maltzan (MMA) will head up the project, which will feature two new major galleries, with one specifically for works on paper, emphasising the museum’s growing collection of photographs and drawings. The multi-year plan will enhance

Toronto's urban waterfront has been transformed with the temporary addition of five mysterious installations in the parks, bridges and squares along Queens Quay. The large works of public art, dubbed ‘Ice Breakers,’ have been added to animate the city’s public areas during the cold winter months. The initiative is a collaboration between community group Waterfront BIA and the annual Winter Stations competition – which creates installations in the lifeguard posts

US National Football League (NFL) franchise the Green Bay Packers has revealed it is nearing completion on the first phase of its very own sports-anchored leisure district. The club has selected sports architects Rossetti to masterplan the 34 acre Titletown District – located just west of its 81,400-capacity Lambeau Field stadium – with a design strategy focused on “the vibrancy of the public realm,” particularly on match days. Designed as

W Hotels Worldwide has announced it is planning to to open a property in Melbourne, Australia, in 2020 as part of an ambitious and controversial mixed-use scheme. The lifestyle hotel brand, now part of Marriott International, has partnered with real estate firms Daisho Development Melbourne and Cbus Property to open the W Melbourne within Collins Arch – the forthcoming mixed-use AU$1bn (US$765.5m, €713m, £613.5m) luxury development designed by SHoP Architects

Legendary South Florida retreat The Surf Club has been reimagined by Four Seasons and is slated to open early 2017. In the 1930s, the property was a favourite destination for world leaders, artists and Hollywood film stars, and now the iconic club has been brought back to life by architect Richard Meier and Paris-based architect and designer Joseph Dirand with 77 guest rooms, 119 private residences and a 15,000 square

Creating buildings that inspire love is about more than just arranging and inventing forms, argues Peter Zumthor in an exclusive interview with CLAD. The influential Pritzker Prize-winning architect – who also runs through the latest on the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and his forthcoming projects in Korea, Germany, Switzerland and the UK – explains how his gift is to “see what’s ugly and doesn’t work in the

Danish architecture firm Kvorning Design & Communication have unveiled designs for a new visitor centre in Delphi, Greece, with experiences above and below ground chronicling the history of the Vagonetto-Fokis Mining Park. The attraction, which has allowed visitors to follow the lives of miners and visit a real underground gallery since it opened in 2003, will open its new visitor centre in September. The museum’s exhibits are inspired by the

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from Foster + Partners’ Mecca hotel to Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s RIBA Gold Medal. Monday • Construction has begun on a large-scale public space in central Hong Kong, designed by landscape architects Gustafson Porter + Bowman, bringing dense tropical vegetation to the heart of the concrete jungle. Read here. • Luxury hotel operator Aman will open a location

Italian architect and ‘vertical forest’ pioneer Stefano Boeri has unveiled his design for a pair of towers in Nanjing, east China, covered by 1,100 trees and 2,500 cascading plants and shrubs. The Nanjing Green Towers complex will house a museum, a green architecture school, a private club and offices in one of the buildings, and a Hyatt hotel with rooftop pool in the other. A 20m high podium will support

German studio GMP Arkitekten have won an international competition to add a retractable roof to Verona’s first century Roman amphitheatre. City officials want to add the new roof to the historic open-air structure – which once hosted Roman sports and ceremonies, but is now primarily a concert venue – in order to better preserve the structure and protect spectators from bad weather. The design competition was launched in March 2016

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation’s deputy director is to step down from his role in order to launch a new independent design studio with his brother. Ari Wiseman, who took up his role in January 2010, will start the studio with artist brother David, which will be dedicated to the creation and exhibition of projects with galleries, museums and other artists; and programmes that foster dialogue about design

Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta has been announced as the winner of a competition to design a new hotel on Helsinki’s Hakaniemi waterfront. The decision was announced on 1 February 2017 during a press conference held by the competition organisers; the City of Helsinki, Finnish real estate company AB Invest and the Finnish Association of Architecture. The winning design is for Hilbert’s Hotel, which is named for David Hilbert’s 1924 paradoxical

Dutch design agency NorthernLight is working on the redevelopment of Sochi’s Olympic Vilage, which is turning its former media centre from the 2014 Winter Olympics into a science and art park. The redevelopment of Sirius Park, which has been at the heart of Russia’s talent development programme, will take place in two phases, ultimately becoming the country’s largest educational attraction at 50,000sq m (538,000sq ft). Phase one of development will