The soon-to-be-built 60,000-capacity Perth Stadium could be the centre point for a Commonwealth Games bid after the Western Australian city threw its hat into the ring to host the 2022 edition. According to reports in Australia, Western Australia’s new sports minister Mick Murray said a bid would be looked at “in depth”. He added that while there may be some challenges getting the financial package sorted out, it was a

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from Bjarke Ingels’ LEGO House to the return of the world's biggest property fair. Monday • Asia’s best designed hotels have been celebrated at an awards ceremony held in Singapore. Read here. • Alberto Rolla, one of the architects behind the recently-constructed Juventus Stadium, has designed a 40,000-capacity venue for Serie A rival Fiorentina. Read here. • International

Renzo Piano’s controversial ‘Paddington Cube’ development in London looks set to go ahead, with the British communities secretary Sajid Javid deciding not to block the mixed-use scheme. The £775m (US$958.3m, €892m) project has already won the backing of the local Westminster City Council, but Javid blocked their decision last month while he reviewed Piano’s plans, which have been strongly criticised by local heritage groups. However, it is now reported he

Landscape architecture studio James Corner Field Operations have been appointed to “restore, reimagine and revitalise” a one-mile stretch of Washington D.C’s historic Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park. The practice will work with local group Georgetown Heritage and the National Park Service to masterplan a section of the park focused around a canal network. The park’s locks, towpath, plazas, stones, landscaped areas and street crossings will be improved to “maximise

Plans are underway to create a vintage-themed recreational complex as an ode to the golden days of automobile travel, at a disused gas station on one of France’s most iconic routes. The Bel Air service station on the former N6 route (now renamed the D973) was once a popular – and necessary – stop on the journey from Paris to the French Riviera. However, when the A6 connecting Paris and

David Chipperfield Architects have been invited to develop design proposals for an extension to Russia’s historic Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre, seven years after they won an international competition to refurbish and extend the building. Following a meeting on 3 March with Maxim Reshetnikov, the acting governor of Perm City, the studio have been asked to visualise a new freestanding building for the opera house on the southern bank of

Situated in an iconic building originally designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and recognised as a national heritage site, the flagship Gran Melia Nacional Rio De Janeiro is now open. The tubular skyscraper property which is located on the beachfront in Sao Conrado bay, has been extensively renovated to create 413 hotel rooms, including two presidential and 10 executive suites set over 34 floors, and features the only Clarins spa

Concrete – a multi-functional cultural space designed by OMA for Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue – officially opened to the public yesterday (15 March). Located in the Al Qouz industrial area, Alserkal Avenue was founded in 2007, with the aim of promoting cultural initiatives in the region. In the intervening years it has become the emirate’s most important arts hub, with twenty-five galleries and art spaces. OMA were commissioned to address the

The drive to make Abu Dhabi's Yas Island one of the world’s top leisure and entertainment destination continues with the under-construction CLYMB, a futuristic building that will hold a supersized flight chamber and climbing wall. Miral, the developers and management company behind Yas Island, has said the 9.75m (32ft) flight chamber will be the widest in the world and the 43m (141ft) indoor climbing wall will be the tallest. “CLYMB

The James Beard Foundation has released the list of nominees who may taste glory at its 2017 Restaurant Design Awards on 25 April. The organisation – which celebrates America's culinary heritage – will hand out awards in three categories: restaurants with 75 seats and under, those with 76 seats and over, and an honourary Design Icon Award – which will be presented to The Grand Central Oyster Bar and Restaurant

A crack team of robots have comprehensively renovated a community art gallery in Shanghai, predominantly using recycled bricks. The innovative project is the work of Chinese design studio Archi-Union Architects, who programmed the robots to build a new exterior facade for the West Bund Art Exhibition Area in the city’s Xuhui district. Grey-green bricks were taken from the existing gallery building, which had been deemed unfit for purpose, and carefully

The winners of the 2017 Architectural Review MIPIM Future Projects Awards have been announced, with this year’s prizes going to projects from eight countries across 11 categories. The competition recognises projects that are under construction or currently in planning, through to competition entries and conceptual designs. The jury awards architects based on their response to the brief and their consideration of the full impact their building will make on the

The British seaside town of Bognor Regis looks set for a major leisure-led regeneration, with members of the district council throwing their weight behind a mixed-use scheme worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Initial concepts developed by regeneration consultancy Urban Delivery, architect Kay Elliott and multidisciplinary practice Arup visualise an expansive linear park connecting a car park near the train station to Regis Centre. The focal point of the development,

It has been open less than a year, but Canyon Ranch’s first location outside of the US will soon change hands, with Six Senses taking over management of the property in May 2017. The Canyon Ranch Kaplankaya opened in July 2016 on the Turkish Riviera near Bodrum, and includes 141 bedrooms and a 107,000sq ft (9,941sqm) spa, fitness and Health & Healing Centre with 38 treatment rooms. Canyon Ranch Kaplankaya

The wealthy owner of one of the world’s largest logistics companies is preparing to open a luxurious new Hamburg hotel, designed to promote the city’s image and capitalise on the popularity of Herzog and de Meuron’s recently-opened Elbphilharmonie. Set to open in the final quarter of 2017, The Fontenay will be the first five-star hotel to open in Hamburg for almost two decades. The 131-bedroom property will be located close

Construction on a number of major new attractions in Shanghai will begin before the year is out, according to city officials. Dozens of museums and art galleries are to be built across a 67,000sq m (721,000sq ft) area in Jiading District – forming the Haishang Cultural Museum Complex. According to the Shanghai Daily newspaper, the local government is concerned that too many of Shanghai’s museums and theatres are located an

Architects, designers, investors, developers and politicians from across the world have descended on Cannes for MIPIM – the world’s largest property market. Over 20,000 attendees are expected to at the four-day exhibition, conference and networking event, which begins today (14 March) on the French Riviera. Major international real estate projects – from residential to commercial, hotel, tourism and logistical – are being showcased by representatives from 23 nations. These include

After 30 years, Gordon Dorrett is stepping down as CEO and president of Forrec, with Cale Heit taking over from October 2017. Heit, who serves as executive vice president of operations at the experience design and architecture firm, started with Forrec as a landscape architect 25 years ago. He worked his way up through the ranks to lead the theme parks business before taking his current role. Dorrett, who joined

Danish toymaker the LEGO Group has revealed new photographs, renderings and an aerial drone video of its forthcoming Bjarke Ingels-designed brand museum in the city of Billund, where the company was founded 85 years ago. The visitor attraction – built to resemble a giant stack of Lego bricks – is rapidly taking shape, and an opening date of 28 September has been announced. Consisting of 21 huge multi-coloured blocks built

An abandoned Brazilian palace designed by iconic late architect Oscar Niemeyer is to finally see the light of day, with hotel group Oetker Collection opening the building as their first property in the Americas. Palácio Tangará will open in São Paulo in June 2017. The building was first constructed in the 1940s as Tangará Ranch, when wealthy Brazilian businessman Francisco ‘Baby’ Pignatari commissioned it as a gift to his fiance.

International design studio KCAP Architects & Planners have won an international competition to redevelop Seoul’s Sewoon District 4. The scheme, which has been approved by the city’s government, will transform the 280,000sq m (3 million sq ft) area into a mixed-use zone featuring offices, shops, hotels, entertainment facilities and schools. According to the practice, they will develop a “people-oriented urban design that preserves the site’s historic and cultural values, and

Alberto Rolla, one of the architects behind the recently-constructed Juventus Stadium, has designed a 40,000-capacity venue for Serie A rival Fiorentina. The ground will be located in Florence and cost around €420m (£367.2m, US$448m) to build. Stadium seating will be tight, with fans in the front row seven metres from the pitch. The surrounding 48 hectare area will be developed to include a hotel, a shopping mall, public realm, 700

Asia’s best designed hotels have been celebrated at an awards ceremony held in Singapore. Winning design practices at the inaugural AHEAD Asia awards include Blu Water Studio, LTW Designworks and Tony Chi. Entries were assessed on aesthetics, guest experience and commercial viability by a panel of industry and design leaders. AHEAD – which stands for The Awards for Hospitality Experience and Design – is a new platform that has consolidated

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from two Frank Gehry projects to the prestigious Women in Architecture Awards. Monday • Gabriela Carrillo has been named as Woman Architect of the Year 2017 at the Women in Architecture awards, with Rozana Montiel winning the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture. Read here. • The Delta Development Group has signed an initial agreement to drive forward

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) have formed their own specialised BIG Engineering unit, which will be dedicated to “ensuring the structural, mechanical integrity and resilience of BIG buildings globally.” Duncan Horswill, the former chief operating officer of Copenhagen company Søren Jensen Engineers, has been hired to lead the new team. Studio founder Bjarke Ingels said the move would allow the practice to “stretch the boundaries of the physical, financial, regulatory and

A new museum celebrating French art, aesthetics and urbanity is set to be built in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, with a design by Pritzker-winning architect Frank Gehry. The building, described as “a major new cultural institution with international influence”, will be part-funded by the luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, who launched the project at a press conference on Wednesday (8 March) alongside Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo

Italian Serie A football team Cagliari Calcio has inched closer to realising its ambition to build a new stadium after receiving a loan for its construction. The club has been provided the money by the local government and Sardinian financial institution Sfirs to build the 21,000-capacity stadium, which is being designed by Polish architect JSK Architekci. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Cagliari Calcio president Tommaso Giulini, the city’s