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.

Health and wellness will be at the core of a groundbreaking billion-dollar urban development in Tampa, Florida. Real estate company Delos – which is collaborating on high profile wellness schemes with the likes of actor Leonardo DiCaprio – has masterminded the US$2bn (€1.8bn, £1.3bn) scheme, which will stretch to 40 acres. While the district will feature familiar hallmarks of a city – including an urban waterfront and 200,000sq ft (18,500sq

We’ve had suggestions for a floating cycle highway along London's river Thames and and another in the sky. Now a quirky scheme has been proposed to enable people to travel around London with ease – a moving walkway following the city’s underground Tube train network. The concept, designed by architects at NBBJ, would reinvigorate urban mobility in the capital, which suffers from overcrowding during rush hour. The studio proposes replacing

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to harness the “huge transportation capacity” of London’s Thames River to create a floating cycle highway running through the heart of the congested city. The team behind the Thames Deckway - a 7-mile (11km) stretch of cycle path that would float alongside the banks of London’s famed river - are aiming to raise £175,000 (€245,000, US$264,000) on IndieGogo to pay for a feasibility study

Consett Leisure Centre, a new £44m (US$68 E61) complex which combines educational establishment, Consett Academy, with a new leisure centre – to be shared by students and the public – has opened in County Durham in the UK. Financed by local government body Durham County Council, the two venues occupy a new single building – designed by Seymour Harris Architecture – and located in the heart of Consett on the

French designer Philippe Starck has created the first “inflatable” building in Montpelier, France, by cladding health and fitness club with fluourine-based EFTE to create a bubble-like façade housing health and fitness facilities over five floors. Opening on 11th September, the Le Nuage club includes a fitness studio and gym, swimming pool, café, children’s area, hairdressers and beauty salon. Starck furniture has been used throughout the stylish and striking interior, with

Fitness First Group has debuted its exclusive new health club concept, Gravity. The first Gravity club launched in Singapore earlier this month – designed by Fitness First and HBA – while Fitness First is understood to have ambitions of bringing a marquee site to London at a later date. The US$7.3m (€6.5m, £4.7m) gym sits proudly at the top of the new CapitaGreen Tower in the Singapore Central Business District,

Transport for London (TFL) has issued a public tender for a designer and supplier to create the next generation of ‘Boris Bikes’ and inspire more Londoners to get active. Although the contract to supply bikes for London’s public cycle network doesn’t expire until 2017, TFL is already on the hunt for a new party to take on the job of designing, building, testing and supplying the next generation of bikes

A £16m neighbourhood hub designed to provide leisure, health and cultural services in Great Sankey, Warrington, UK, has been given the green light by planning officials. Local government organisation, Warrington Borough unanimously agreed to approve operator LiveWire’s proposal to transform the existing Great Sankey Leisure Centre into a multi-purpose community hub. The new building will feature a wide range of leisure facilities to provide residents with a one-stop-shop for all

A new £200m UK investment fund seeking opportunities to acquire leisure properties has completed its first three transactions and is on the hunt for further assets. Property investment company Otium Real Estate raised £200m in December 2014 for its leisure-focused fund Otium Leisure Ventures, which seeks to add value through active asset management. Exclusively targeting leisure real estate – such as leisure parks, city centre leisure blocks and stand-alone assets

Designs from Hopkins Architects, Amanda Levete and Arup (two entries) are among those in final contention for a new £40m pedestrian and cycle bridge across London's River Thames intended to boost active commuting. Active design has been a hot topic in recent months, especially in light of new research which found cities which strive to promote physical activity gain a significant economic advantage. A study from cycling charity Sustrans, meanwhile,

Investor, developer and operator, Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, is on site with Shangri-la at the Fort, a mixed-use development in Manila, the Philippines which will open in Q4 this year. The building will be one of the tallest in the country at 250m (820ft) and one of the first luxury lifestyle developments in the Philippines. Shangri-la at the Fort will include a Shangri-La hotel and residences, as well as Horizon

Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners founder Richard Rogers has launched a UK parliamentary inquiry into how design in planning can affect behaviour change. Rogers kicked off the eight-month-long Design Commission inquiry in the Houses of Parliament in London this week. The cross-party investigation aims to explore how the increased use of design in planning of the built environment could lead to positive behaviour change in local communities. The inquiry comes