Plans for the development of a new £18.5m visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland, have received a £9.25m boost from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB). The funding announcement comes after the tourism agency reached an agreement with the National Trust (NT), which owns the attraction and plans to enhance the World Heritage Site's visitor experience. Dublin-based architects heneghan.peng are behind the designs for the new visitor centre,

Plans for a major multi-million pound revamp of Old Trafford cricket stadium in Manchester have been given the green light by Trafford Council's planning committee. Government Office North West will now decide whether to formally approve the project, which has been put forward by the Old Trafford Partnership - comprising Ask Developments, Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC) and Tesco. Plans for the transformation of a 50-acre (20.2-hectare) site include a

St. Louis, US-based PGAV Destinations has won contracts to undertake the planning and design of Zhuhai Ocean World and the expansion of the Terracotta Warriors Museum, both in China. The Ocean World project is being developed by the Chimelong Group - which operates theme parks, animal safari parks, waterparks, and hotels in Guangzhou's Panyu district - as part of its Hengqin Island Development. When completed it will become the largest

Nottingham City Council (NCC) has lodged plans for the £9m development of the city's new Victoria Leisure Centre, which will be built on the site of the existing facility. Designs for the complex have been drawn up by London-based architects Levitate and form part of a wider £32m council-led scheme to upgrade leisure provision across Nottingham. The existing Victoria Leisure Centre is due to close on 1 April to make

Rafael Viñoly's masterplan for the £5.5bn redevelopment of London's Battersea Power Station site has been given the backing of the government's architecture advisory body. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) said plans for the 40-acre (16.2-hectare) site, submitted by developer Treasury Holdings UK in October, has achieved an "impressive amount within the constraints of the building". Battersea's Grade II*-listed power station building is at the heart of

London mayor Boris Johnson has welcomed plans for £5.5bn redevelopment of Battersea Power Station but called for more work to be done on the scheme to ensure it meets the city's planning strategy. In his report to Wandsworth Council, the mayor advised that parts of the Rafael Viñoly-designed development fail to comply with policies set out in the London Plan, with concerns over a lack of affordable housing and children's

Plans have been unveiled for a new €30m (£26m, US$42m) football stadium in Budapest, Hungary. The 22,000-capacity venue, designed by S.A.M.O architects, will be the new home of the city's Ferencváros Football Club and is scheduled to open in 2012. UK-based Capita Symonds will provide project management, cost management and design services including structures, acoustics, health & safety, m&e and transport planning. The stadium will anchor a larger, €400m (US$560m,

Jamie Oliver and New York chef Adam Perry-Lang are to open a new restaurant at One New Change in the City of London. The business will be headed up by restaurant operator, Kevin Bacon. The new venue, situated opposite St. Paul's Cathedral and due to open in October 2010, is as yet un-named and will also have a retail outlet. The One New Change building will also be offering eight

Stoke-on-Trent City Council (STCC) has announced that six design teams have been shortlisted to lead plans for a multi-million pound refurbishment of the city's public squares and streets. Aecom; BDP; Camlin Lonsdale Landscape Architects; Gillespies; Nicholas de Jong Associates and Planit are the firms to be selected by the council to draw up more detailed plans as part of a wider £1.5bn transformation of the area. Covering around 80,000sq m

Westminster City Council has granted permission for the construction of a 'pod' style hotel as part of the redevelopment of the Trocadero tourist spot off London's Piccadilly Circus. The development - by Criterion Capital - will see the creation of 495 en-suite rooms measuring between 12-17sq m (129-183sq ft) and occupying the second to the seventh floors of the Grade II-listed structure. The first and ground floors will house retail

Northern Ireland tourism minister Arlene Foster has welcomed the "good progress" being made on the new £97m visitor attraction, which will be located in the centre of Belfast's Titanic Quarter. The Titanic Signature Building, which was designed by a team of international firms, including Eric Kuhn Associates, RFR and Event Communications, will tell the story of the city's association with the ill-fated luxury liner. Located at the head of the

Work has begun on the new US$185m Perot Museum of Science & Nature in Dallas, Texas. The museum’s new home, designed by Thom Mayne of LA-based architects Morphosis, is being built at Victory Park in downtown Dallas. Chair of the museum’s board, Frank-Paul King, said: “The groundbreaking of the Perot Museum of Nature & Science is the next major milestone toward opening the doors to a world-class facility, one designed

Raffles Hotels and Resorts is set to manage a new luxury hotel in the holy Islamic city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Located in the Abraj Al Bait Complex, the 198-bedroom Raffles Makkah Palace will include a cafe, an ice-creamery, a chocolate parlour and the Levantine Restaurant. An outdoor dining terrace will overlook the holiest site in Islam - the Masjid al-Haram (Grand Mosque). Health and fitness facilities will include

Aldar Properties has announced the completion of the external structure of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi. Located on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, the new retail, leisure and entertainment destination and host venue for the inaugural Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi will reportedly be the world's largest indoor theme park and the first ever Ferrari theme park when it opens in 2010. The red roof of the

A new campaign has been launched to safeguard the historic Aveling and Porter building in Strood, Kent, which is set to make way for a new riverside development. Medway Council is seeking to demolish the Edwardian building in order to allow for the construction of a new retail and residential scheme on the site, which is located on the banks of the River Medway. However, campaign group SAVE Britain's Heritage

Rockwell Group Europe has teamed up with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide to design the W Paris-Opéra, W Hotels' first property in France. Diego Gronda, managing and creative director of RGe - the Madrid office of New York's Rockwell Group - is leading the design team, with the project scheduled to open on 1 February, 2011. Owned by Barcelona-based Meridia Capital, the hotel occupies an 1870s Haussman-era building situated across

Work has started on the £48m redevelopment of the Rose Bowl stadium near Southampton, which aims to transform the venue into a leading international cricket venue. Two new stands - designed by EPR Architects in conjunction with The Miller Partnership - will be constructed either side of the existing pavilion as part of the project in order to increase the venue's permanent capacity to 15,000. Due for completion in April

Construction work on a new 25,000-seat stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, US, which will provide a new home for New York Red Bulls, has reached a fresh milestone after the final piece of turf was laid. The Red Bull Arena has been designed by Los Angeles-based Rossetti Architects to be more in line with soccer venues across the world. Supporters will be seated 21ft (6.4m) from the pitch, fully covered

Plans by Tiger Developments for a £250m (US$409.2m, 276.7m euro) scheme in the centre of Edinburgh, which would have included a 17-storey, leaf-shaped Intercontinental Hotel and a Travelodge, have been turned down by the Scottish Government. Although passed by the city council in 2008, a public enquiry into the project - designed by Richard Murphy Architects and also featuring offices and retail space - found that the 17-storey hotel would

Plans for a £5.5bn mixed-use redevelopment of Battersea Power Station in south London have been submitted to the local authority by developer Treasury Holdings UK. Wandsworth Council will now decide whether to grant planning consent for the proposed redevelopment of the 40-acre (16.2-hectare) site, which has remained derelict since the 1980s after a series of failed attempts to regenerate the iconic Grade II*-listed building. A masterplan for Battersea Power Station,

Plans to create a new business quarter as part of the proposed redevelopment of a 37-acre (15-hectare) site in the centre of Coventry have been submitted to the local authority. Friargate Coventry, the development vehicle for the Dublin-based property firm, Cannon Cannon Kirk, is behind the office-led scheme, which includes two new hotels, restaurants, bars and retail units. The plans, which have been drawn up by architects Allies and Morrison,

Plans for a major £400m mixed-use development scheme designed to transform the centre of Reading has received outline planning consent from the local authority. Reading Borough Council (RBC) has backed Sackville Developments' proposals for Station Hill, which aims to regenerate a 5-acre (2-hectare) area situated adjacent to the town's railway station. Designed by architects Scott Brownrigg and Chapman Taylor, the plans include a new arts complex, a 5,400sq ft (500sq

Plans for the construction of a new £100m retail and leisure development at Llanfairpwll on Anglesey, North Wales, have been withdrawn by the company behind the scheme, Ynys Mon Estates. The Isle of Anglesey County Council has confirmed that it has received written confirmation from the developer that it had pulled out of the Ty Mawr project seven months after it was given the green light by planners. A Cineworld

Southampton City Council has named property company Grosvenor as the preferred bidder for the city's new £13m arts complex. Grosvenor's scheme, which will combine a mix of uses for the proposed site, was chosen over a number of competing bids. Plans drawn up by Grosvenor's partner architects, CZWG, include 75,000sq ft of gallery spaces, auditoriums and educational areas as well as restaurants and retail units. Councillor Royston Smith, cabinet member

Plans for an extensive redevelopment of Hayle Harbour's South Quay area in Cornwall, which have been drawn up by ING Real Estate Developments,have been put on public display. The proposals include transforming the South Quay into a vibrant waterfront area for visitors to enjoy the views from buildings and public spaces, with a number of restaurant units and improved pedestrian access earmarked, as well as retail units. A new 40,000sq

Plans to establish a new 495-bedroom 'pod' hotel at the Trocadero in London as part of an overhaul of the Grade II-listed property have been deferred by Westminster City Council. According to Criterion Capital's proposals, the hotel is likely to be operated by French company Accor and will occupy part of the second to seventh floors in the building, offering en-suite rooms with an average size of 12 to 17sq

Construction work has started on an 11-month refurbishment of Newport railway station in South Wales in a bid to cater for an increase in passengers travelling to the 2010 Ryder Cup golf tournament. The new 2,100sq m (22,604sq ft) station, which will be nearly twice the size of the existing site, has been designed by an architectural partnership between Atkins and Grimshaw to improve accessibility and safety, as well as