Architecture firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) have unveiled a long-term masterplan to develop a vast new urban district in Philadelphia. The scheme, which is centred around the city’s 30th Street Station precinct, envisions 40 new acres of open space and 18 million square feet of new development, including an entirely new mixed-use neighbourhood. Over the next three decades and beyond, city planners want the station to become a new

Two international architecture competitions have been launched to design a pair of major arts facilities for one of the biggest districts in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. The district government of Bao’an has fired the starting gun on the contests to create both a Public Culture and Arts Center and a new library and concert hall. The former is a new build project which will house a museum, art gallery

The main contractor has been appointed for the construction of Urban Sports Park (USP) – a multi-level indoor skating complex in Folkestone, UK designed by Guy Holloway Architects. The developer of the project, Shepway Sports Trust, has commissioned Westridge Construction to carry out the main work on the building, which received approval from the district council in February. Preparations will take place soon for construction to begin, with a target

Championship football club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) has won planning permission to build a £175m (US$231.4m, €209.2m) mixed-use development on the site it has identified for a new stadium. The football club and Genesis Housing Association have received the green-light from the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) to establish 605 new homes – 40 per cent of which are being described as affordable – and leisure amenities

Developers hoping to build a mixed-use complex near London’s Paddington Station have revealed Renzo Piano’s latest vision for the project. A previous tower proposal nicknamed ‘the Paddington Pole’ drew a barrage of criticism from some quarters about its height, and the plan was abandoned in January. However, Piano was retained by the Sellers Property Group (SPG) and Great Western Developments to comprehensively rethink the design. The result is the Paddington

Four Seasons is opening a resort on the remote island of Desroches in the Seychelles as well as a new luxury hotel in the heart of Tokyo’s bustling Otemachi business district. The Four Seasons Resort Seychelles at Desroches Island is the only resort on the island of Desroches, and is an existing property that will undergo extensive renovations before opening as a Four Seasons in 2017. Featuring 40 beach suites

One of Copenhagen’s most popular parks will be filled with sunken pools and water-purifying plants to ease the risk and impact of flooding and to create a public space with a difference. Architecture studio SLA have won the ‘Cloudburst and Culture’ competition to design the DKK140m (US$21m, €18.8m, £15.6m) project for Hans Tavsens Park in the Nørrebro neighbourhood. Once complete, the park’s basins will cover over 85,000sq m (915,000sq ft)

Plans to build “the world’s first underground park” in New York have taken a major step forward with the city’s Economic Development Corporation (NYEDC) approving the project. The US$60m (€53.6m, £44.8m) Lowline scheme, designed by James Ramsey of Raad Studio, will see the transformation of an abandoned underground trolley terminal in Manhattan's Lower East Side into a community-oriented public and cultural space. Solar technology will directly deliver sunlight underground, lighting

Designers Rockwell Group and architectural firms WATG and Pacific Asia Design Group will work together to significantly transform the Pacific Beach Hotel in Hawaii. The hotel – which is located next to the former residence of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii’s last reigning monarch – is being renovated and rebranded at a cost of US$115m (€103.5m, £86.5m). The Pacific’s exterior façade, 839 guestrooms and suites, public areas and lobby aquarium will all

Disney has revealed a new artist's impression for its Star Wars lands being built at its theme parks in Florida and California. The largest land expansion in Disney’s history, the 56,655sq m (609,840sq ft) Star Wars Land will feature a virtual reality Millennium Falcon ride allowing guests to “take the controls of one of the most recognisable ships in the galaxy." It also includes the iconic cantina first seen in

Destination spa Miraval is set to buy the historic Cranwell Spa and Golf Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, marking the brand’s first East Coast location and the first “full-blown” Miraval outside of Tucson. “Cranwell is a great fit for us – it’s a large property where we can create the Miraval experiences,” Chevis Hosea, Miraval Group vice president of development told CLAD. “It’s got a great history, great architecture – the

The role that infrastructure projects play in urban regeneration and the creation of new public spaces will be discussed today (14 July) at a talk hosted by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London as part of its engineering season. World leaders in the fields of architecture, engineering and economics will debate how new roads, bridges and tunnels can bring life to communities and become leisure destinations in their

Studio Libeskind have won an international architectural competition for a mixed-use complex to be built in the business district of Vilnius, Lithuania. The firm swayed the judges with their vision for a 20,000sq m (215,000sq ft) complex formed of an 18-storey tower atop a six-storey podium – with the two linked by a luminous glass galeria. The bold, sculptural design of the building – called The Downtown Tower-k18B – is

The owner of British National League football team Forest Green Rovers hopes the club’s ambitious stadium plans will act as a catalyst for the development of more eco-friendly sports facilities. After tending out a brief to design the stadium earlier this year, Dale Vince and the Forest Green board have whittled the competition down to two firms – Glenn Howells and Zaha Hadid Architects – from an original pool of

Two leisure projects have made the shortlist for the prestigious 2016 Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building, which was announced today (14 July). Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall by Caruso St John and Weston Library in Oxford by WilkinsonEyre are among six projects in the running for the UK’s highest accolade for architecture. The winner will be announced by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) on 6

Architecture and property development practice Swisatec have announced new additions to their planned 40-hectare leisure village in Cape Town. A seven-storey mixed-use lifestyle centre and a five-star hotel are among the facilities the studio has revealed will feature prominently at Blue Rock Village – billed as Africa’s “most environmentally friendly estate”. The former, called the Santa Luzia Lifestyle Centre, will be designed to host interactive events such as local produce

Viceroy is set to open a resort and residences in Bocas del Toro, Panama, with dramatic overwater villas and three miles of private white sand beaches. Due to open in 2019, the Viceroy Bocas del Toro will also include a spa featuring private rejuvenation pools tucked in blossoming pockets of the rainforest. The 42 overwater villas will each have their own private plunge pool and direct access to the ocean

Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos and Llama Urban Design have been declared winners of an international design competition to expand the Lima Art Museum in Peru. The studios will develop a new public plaza and extension to the museum, including new galleries for its permanent collection, a library for 40,000 books, classrooms, a café and workshop spaces. The competition jury received 387 entries from 56 countries, which was whittled down to

A construction agreement has been reached to revamp the Century Plaza, California's iconic crescent-shaped hotel. According to Commercial Property Executive, real estate firm Next Century Partners has secured $1bn (€902m, £752m) in construction financing to begin overhauling the Los Angeles hotel as part of a wider US$2.5bn (€2.25bn, £1.8bn) mixed-use development of the Century City neighbourhood. When finished, the hotel – which has hosted several US presidents and was particularly

Architecture studio Jestico + Whiles have transformed a historic Glasgow bank into a new bar and brewery for food and drink group Glendola Leisure. The former Commercial Bank of Scotland, built in the 1920s, has reopened this month as The Shilling Brewery Company; a 160-seat brewpub with stipped back interior features that highlight the building’s 20ft high coffered ceilings. Fragments of the original bank – designed by the architect James

A billion dollar entertainment district and hockey arena is rapidly taking shape in Detroit, US. The HOK-designed Little Caesars Arena is on schedule to open in Q3 2017. It will be the new home for the Detroit Red Wings National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, and will host a number of other sports, entertainment and community events. The proposed 20,000-seat arena will replace the current Joe Louis Arena, which has been

A large-scale urban park has opened in Guangzhou, China, with a design that tips its hat to sports stadiums. Described by architects Benoy as both “a new building typology” and “a stadium for retail”, Parc Central is a 110,000sq m (1.2m sq ft) leisure zone of shops, food and beverage amenities and public realm located in the heart of the city’s Central Business District. Benoy have transformed a nondescript city

Spa, fitness and lifestyle consultancy and management firm WTS International has designed the 6,000sq ft (557sq m) Ocean Spa at the Marriott Autograph Playa Largo Resort and Spa, which is set to open in Florida later this year. The first new-build in the Upper Keys in over 20 years, the Key Largo property – which is co-owned by Shaner Hotel Group and Prime Hospitality Group – is also the Marriott

Landmark London hotel The Berkeley Hotel has unveiled its new entrance, created by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSH+P) to “create the ultimate sense of arrival”. The building, designed for the hotel by architect Brian O'Rorke in 1972, has had an extensive redesign, particularly to its facade. RSH+P added a huge glass canopy supported by sixteen sculpted carbon fibre beams, each 9m long, using materials and technology more often seen

Two leisure projects designed by Zaha Hadid Architects as part of a masterplan for Lusail City in Qatar have gone into development, it has been announced. The first scheme is a 70,000sq m (753,500sq ft) hotel with residential apartments located in Lusail City’s Marina District. Set to be completed by 2020, the 38-storey project has been inspired by the structure of the Desert Hyacinth; a flowering plant native to the

Architects around the world have been challenged to push the boundaries of modern wood building design in cities. Wood manufactured Metsä Wood has launched a competition seeking suggestions as to how wooden extensions could add density to existing city buildings. The company said that the world’s growing urban population and the rising demand of housing and interior spaces mean cities must start developing strategically and environmentally. In a statement, it