The first safe-standing section within a Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium is being built in the new home of Orlando City SC. According to the franchise, the stand will take inspiration from the ‘Yellow Wall’ in Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion which creates a loud and intimidating atmosphere. The steep stand will form part of the club’s new US$100m (£80.6m, €95.8m) stadium, which is being designed by Populous. Originally designed as a

Italian architects Schiattarella Associati have won an international competition to refurbish the 50,000 capacity King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The studio have been commissioned to design the project by the country’s General Sport Authority (GSA), which said it was impressed by their decision to create an artificial hill at the base of the multi-purpose stadium, creating a formal joint with the surrounding landscaping. This sloping surface forms a

Hotel giant JW Marriott has opened its first hotel in Singapore across several buildings brought to life by designer Philippe Starck and architects Foster + Partners. The high-profile creative team have designed two new hotel blocks and restored three heritage buildings to create the 634-room Singapore South Beach hotel, which is located in close proximity to the city-state’s Marina Bay entertainment and business districts. Contemporary architecture, restored heritage and a

Elevating new buildings above existing transport infrastructure is an increasingly viable way of unlocking commercial value from previously undevelopable properties, a leading engineering consultant has told CLAD. Ian Washbrook, associate at Entuitive, believes that innovative new technologies and engineering solutions can ensure downtown areas continue to develop even as available sites become more scarce. The firm’s Canadian office, which Washbrook leads, is currently building Calgary’s New Central Library above the

Here are some of the stories that appeared on CLAD this week, from Kengo Kuma’s Tokyo National Stadium, which is now under construction, to Ian Schrager’s first Chinese hotel. Monday • German aviation company Lufthansa-Technik has designed a new VIP aircraft interior concept with a wellness and relaxation theme and on-board spa. Read here. • The first design images of a new contemporary art museum in Moscow, located within a

Organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will reject the chance to host volleyball in an existing facility and build a new venue despite it adding to the spiralling cost of the Games. The development of the Ariake Arena was part of the original plans put forward to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but the rising cost of hosting the event resulted in the organisers considering a facility in nearby Yokohama.

Hotel operator Minor Hotels is to open a new hotel under its Anantara brand in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in which “spa and wellness will be a major focus”. An extensive selection of wellness journeys will be available as part of Anantara’s ‘Balance’ programme including detox, de-stress, weight management, anti-aging and rejuvenation. Also on offer will be therapies such as ayurveda, hammam and reflexology. Guests can tuck into wellness cuisine and

The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi in Malaysia, due to open in July 2017, has released details of its spa to CLAD. On top of a range of conventional treatments and features, the spa’s standout offering will be its five floating cocoon-shaped spa pavilions, shaped to resemble Malay Bubus, which are intricately woven fish traps that have been used for centuries by local fishermen. The pavilions will float above the Andaman Sea and

Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts has opened its first Vietnamese resort – a luxury development in Hoi An, on the country’s central coast. The Four Seasons Resort at the Nam Hai, Hoi An is home to a 14,018sq m spa, with eight lake villas complete with overwater relaxation pavilions with their own crystal singing bowls. The Heart of the Earth Spa’s treatment suite has an entire octave set of alchemy

Design studios Motionspot and Ryder Architecture have been crowned winners of the Celia Thomas Prize, which promotes hotel design that is accessible for disabled people. The international accolade, which was presented at the RIBA Bespoke Access Awards in London, received submissions from as far afield as Germany, Russia, Hong Kong and Canada. The winning concept, called AllGo, is a universal approach to hotel room design that ensures all rooms are

A plan to develop a new Populous-designed rugby stadium in Paris has been scrapped by the French Rugby Federation (FFR) following the election of its new president. Former national team coach Bernard Laporte was elected earlier this month. In one of his first moves as president, Laporte has opted to end the project despite its advanced stage. Instead of building the 82,000-capacity stadium, Laporte told the FFR Executive Committee that

AndArchitect’s ambitious “flexible” stadium for Luton Town FC is closer to coming to fruition after the club purchased the land to facilitate the development. The League Two football club’s property arm – 2020 Developments – signed an agreement with British Land PLC to acquire the plot in the Power Court area of Luton. Plans to build a retail and hospitality development on the land have been mooted, with profits made

The home stadium of US National Basketball Association NBA) franchise the Cleveland Cavaliers is being lined up to be transformed by SHoP Architects at a cost of US$140m (€131m, £110m), it has been announced. The Quicken Loans Arena opened in 1994, but is now the second oldest arena in the NBA not to have had a major upgrade. The proposed renovation would address important structural and operational deficiencies in the

Sydney’s Australian Museum has unveiled a AU$285m(US$214m, €201m, £168.6m) masterplan proposing a new multi-storey extension to stretch over the top of its existing building in the largest redevelopment in the institution’s 189-year history. The Barrabuwari Muru (future path) masterplan by architecture studio Hames Sharley places a new extension in the museum’s eastern quarter, an area currently taking up a car park and storage facility. The 2,700sq m (29,000sq ft) extension

The hotels of 2060 will self-assemble and morph from one design to another based on the votes of their guests, a leading futurist has predicted in a study on how the hospitality industry is likely to change over the next 43 years. Dr. James Canton of the Institute for Global Futures – a think tank that advises Global Fortune 500 companies on emerging trends in innovation and technology – predicts

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held tomorrow (15 December) for the transformation of the iconic Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight Center at New York’s JFK International Airport into a 505-room hotel. The modernist terminal building – a designated New York landmark – was designed by renowned Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962, soon becoming a symbol of the Jet Age. However, it ceased operating in 2001 and has

Spa by Clarins has marked its Indian debut, opening at the new W Hotel in Goa. Spread over 14,000sq ft of land, the Spa by Clarins at W Goa houses eight treatment rooms, special couples’ rooms, a heated indoor vitality pool and a wet section complete with steam, sauna, and experience showers. There is also a relaxation area and waiting lounge in the premises. Treatments will incorporate Clarins’s lengthy range

Hotel visionary Ian Schrager – considered by many to be the founder of the boutique hotel category – has opened his first hotel in China, the Sanya Edition. Located on Hainan Island, just off the coast of Southern China, the hotel is the latest addition to Edition hotels – the brand Schrager conceived in a partnership with Marriott International. With buildings designed by SCDA Architects and set within 50 acres

Wellness resort operator Six Senses has revealed details about its upcoming five-location Bhutan project, scheduled to open in the second half of 2017. Each of the five individual satellite resorts are in separate locations, but packaged as a journey under one name: Six Senses Bhutan. With just 82 suites and villas distributed between five intimate lodges, the journey is designed to show guests the heritage and hospitality of the Kingdom

Details have emerged of Bjarke Ingels Group’s latest high-profile US project; a mixed-use complex in Los Angeles’ Arts District formed of a giant superstructure of plant-topped concrete frames. According to the LA Times, the sizeable new development includes two connected buildings, which rise to 30 storeys at their highest point. Each frame within the structure could be filled by glass-walled offices, apartments or shops, depending on the demand. Some tenants

Dutch design agency NorthernLight is working on a wide range of hands-on exhibits and science and art installations as part of the high-profile expansion at Experimenta science centre in Heilbronn, Germany. The 13,500sq m (145,000sq ft) extension, which is currently under construction and is slated to open in late 2018, was designed by Berlin-based Sauerbruch & Hutton and aims to be an “architectural lighthouse” for Heilbronn. The facility includes four

Hong Kong-based global conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited (CTFE) – parent company of Rosewood Hotel Group – has bought the troubled US$3.5bn Bahamian mega-resort Baha Mar, with plans to open it in phases, starting in April 2017. The Baha Mar project was originally slated to be finished in 2014, but a series of hitches and legal battles – including a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in July 2015 – led

Canadian architects Office OU have been announced as winners of South Korea's international competition to masterplan a National Museum Complex (NMC) in the new administrative city Sejong. Choongjae Lee, the city’s administrator, has vowed to build “the world's most beautiful and liveable city” through investment in architecture, technology, urban planning and design and environmental sustainability. The design contest was held to select a vision for a complex containing five museums:

Construction work has kicked off on Tokyo’s new National Stadium, the Kengo Kuma-designed stage for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. The design by the Japanese architect was chosen to replace Zaha Hadid Architects’ original scheme – ostensibly due to the rising cost of that project – in December 2015, and received the green light two months ago. Kuma’s stadium is estimated to cost 150bn yen ($1.5bn, €1.3bn, £1.1bn) to build.

The myriad of potential applications of a spray-on protective polymer have being showcased through an unlikely medium: an online video of an indestructible watermelon. In the video, produced by Australian record breaking enthusiasts How Ridiculous, the fruit is covered with the coating before being dropped from a height of 148ft (45m). It survives the fall and bounces off the road below. Later, the polymer-protected shell remains intact despite being hacked

Australian architecture studio FJMT have been selected to design the proposed hotel and residential tower at The Star Sydney, which will accommodate a new six star Ritz-Carlton. A design competition featured submissions from three major architectural firms, and FJMT were confirmed as the winner after community and stakeholder feedback. Their design proposes a slender 60-storey tower that gradually twists as it rises. An associated development – featuring bars, restaurants and

The first design images of a new contemporary art museum in Moscow, located within a former military factory complex, have been revealed. The new Exhibition Centre of the state-run Hermitage Museum has been designed by New York studio Asymptote Architecture, whose co-founder Hani Rashid presented the plans at a public forum last week. The building, set to open in 2020, will be a luminous, semi-transparent, abstractly formed structure. Inside, the