Marina One, the lush garden-themed Singapore tower scheme designed by Ingenhoven Architects, has topped out in the city-state’s Central Business District. Dubbed “the Green Heart," the high-rise, mixed-use complex will resemble a green mountain in the middle of one of the world's most densely populated cities. Shrubs, trees, and flowers will appear on every floor of the four towers that form Marina One. Two large urban parks will flank the

The Geffrye Museum of the Home in London will be comprehensively revamped in a bid to improve the experience of visitors to its Grade I listed buildings and gardens. Wright & Wright Architects have designed a £15m (US$19.5m, €17.6m) scheme – called Unlocking the Geffrye – to significantly open up the museum’s 18th century almhouse buildings, improving circulation and access and revealing previously hidden spaces to the public. This, along

Citysurfing, a company that makes eco-friendly floating structures, has partnered with the Elegancia Hotel Group to create a hotel and bar located on the River Seine in Paris. Moored at the foot of the Austerlitz railway station, the OFF hotel and bar features 54 rooms, four suites, a bar, a plunge pool and a marina on a floating structure. The hotel is built using architectural floating technology developed by Citysurfing

Wellness real estate firm Delos is expanding its Stay Well hotel room portfolio into a handful of Marriott International hotels. The company has completed the installation of Stay Well rooms at six Marriott properties in the US, including Charlotte Marriott City Center, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Richmond Marriott Short Pump, Residence Inn Orlando Lake Nona, Courtyard Orlando Lake Nona and Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina. “The growing demand for healthy

Rome's Archaeological Heritage Department has completed the first phase of a major restoration of the historic Colosseum, aimed at returning the landmark to its former glory and possibly turning it into a regular entertainment venue. With funding support from Italian fashion brand Tod’s Group, the first phase of restoration has included the surface cleaning of the northern and southern façades, removing dirt and gunge created mainly by vehicle pollution, which

The hard shells of coconuts could hold the key to designing buildings able to withstand earthquakes and other natural disasters, researchers from the University of Freiburg have claimed. Coconut palms can grow as high as 30m, and when the ripe fruits fall to the ground their walls must protect them from splitting open. To protect the internal seed, coconuts have a structure of three layers which allow them to withstand

A biblical theme park in the US state of Kentucky opens tomorrow (7 July), with a full-size recreation of Noah’s Ark at its heart. The Ark Encounter explores the famous Bible tale of the great flood and Noah’s quest to build an ark to save his family and two of every animal on the planet. The boat is 510ft (155.5m) long, 85ft (26m) wide and 51ft (15.3m) high – converted

The 77-villa St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort is set to open in September, complete with a 2,000sq m (21,528sq ft) Iridium Spa that includes one of the biggest salt water hydrotherapy pools in the Maldives. Designed by Singapore-based WOW Architects, the St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort was short-listed for the World Architecture Festival Awards last year. The hydrotherapy pool, named The Blue Hole pool, will accommodate up to 12 guests,

James Corner’s huge ice-themed installation for the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. has opened to the public. The immersive work, called ICEBERGS, occupies an area of 12,540sq ft (1,100sq m) in the museum’s Great Hall. It allows visitors to feel as though they are walking through an underwater world of ice fields. A host of newly-released images reveal the varied elements introduced by Corner and his studio Field Operations.

A unique museum dedicated to a single bronze statue of Apoxyomenos has opened its doors on the Croatian island of Lošinj. The CK25m (US$4m, €3.6m, £3m) Museum of Apoxyomenos, funded by the City of Mali Losinj and the Croatian Ministry of Culture, has been designed by architects Idis Turato and Saša Randic. Centred around Apoxyomenos – a bronze statue of a young athlete, discovered in 1996 in the area at

The ‘Creating Atmospheres’ pavilion at the upcoming pool, spa and sauna trade fair Interbad, set to take place 27 - 30 September in Stuttgart, Germany, aims to show how to create the ‘right’ environment for all the senses. The pavilion will include architecture, green areas, lighting and acoustics, and is developed in co-operation with the Association of German Interior Designers (BDIA), the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects and the interior design

South Africa’s Verde Hotels group has won a contract to develop the transformation of an old building in Zanzibar, Tanzania into the archipelago’s “greenest” hotel. Real estate firm Bakhresa Group is developing the property, formerly known as Mtoni Marine Hotel, and wants it to become pioneering as both a luxury five-star destination and a flagship for sustainable development. Verde Hotels is best known for opening an airport hotel in Cape

Following the sudden death of its founder earlier in the year, plans are moving forward to create an £80m (US$105m, €94.2m) dinosaur attraction inside a former quarry in Dorset, UK. Dubbed Jurassica, the project suffered a major blow when CEO Michael Hanlon died from a heart attack in February, aged just 51. The project’s board however, which has the backing of the likes of businessman Sir Tim Smit and naturalist

According to media reports in Bahrain, the country’s government is planning to build its biggest integrated sports stadium, with capacity for 50,000 spectators. The facility, to be located in Sakhir, Southern Governorate, would have an international standard football pitch and facilities to accommodate basketball, handball, bowling, badminton and table tennis. A shopping complex, sports training school, Olympic-size swimming pool and cinema are also planned, according to the Gulf Daily News.

Projects to build a museum in a historic Polish city square and to recover an orchard in Spain have been named the joint winners of the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2016. The annual award celebrates the creation, recovery and improvement of public spaces “as clear indicators of the democratic health of our cities”. This year, 276 candidatures from 33 countries were submitted to the prize, and the winners

Construction has begun on Foster + Partner's billion dollar transformation of one of Stockholm’s oldest locks into a dynamic urban quarter. The project, called New Slussen, was won by the studio following an international competition. Their masterplan is to convert the city’s Slussen – the sluice that separates the sea from the freshwater of Lake Mälaren – into an attractive new public realm. The project is one of the largest

English League Two football club Luton Town has filed a planning application as its ambitious bid to build a new stadium complex gathers pace. The application includes plans for a 17,500-capacity stadium in the Power Court part of the town, and a mixed-use development including hotels and a cinema – expected to fund the stadium – to be built in Newlands Park. The project has been designed by AndArchitects. The

Dubai investment firm Najibi Group has unveiled plans for a AU$400m (US$300.7m, €270.4m, £226.3m) “active lifestyle” destination in Queensland, Australia. Najibi recently launched its new Australian investment and development offshoot Sanad Capital, which has been created to serve as a springboard for a diverse range of projects on the Sunshine Coast. The firm’s first project will be a community lifestyle and tourism hub “never-before seen in Australia”, according to Sanad.

Glenn Howells Architects (GHA) and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) have reached the final in the competition to design a new stadium for Forest Green Rovers Football Club in Gloucestershire, UK. Almost 50 entries from around the world were submitted to the competition, and the winning pair have been selected from a shortlist of nine candidates. The brief called for a fan-focused and sustainable 5,000 capacity stadium in line with the

Natural elements such as spa gardens are increasingly important to today’s spa design, and creating an authentic experience through design and programming is key, said Ashley Scott, principal director of global design and infrastructure services firm AECOM, in an exclusive interview with CLAD. “Spas were traditionally quite internal to the hotel and resort, but now what we are experiencing is that spas are very much destination components of the hotel

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has revealed the architects and buildings in contention for awards glory at this year’s event in Berlin in November. The prestigious WAF Awards celebrate completed architectural projects, future projects and landscape projects across 30 categories. A panel of industry professionals – including David Chipperfield and Christoph Ingenhoven – alongside former winners and festival speakers have selected the final shortlists based on entries submitted from architects

Just a few months after announcing plans to add a fourth theme park to its expanding attractions portfolio, Six Flags has started work on a development at Dubai Parks and Resorts. The AED2.67bn (US$727m, €639m, £515m) project – the first Six Flags development in the Middle East – will operate under a licensing model with an opening date of Q4 2019. The Six Flags park will contain 27 rides split

The international architecture competition to design a Museum of 20th Century Art in Berlin is entering its final stages, with 42 firms asked to submit their proposals before a decision is made by the end of the year. Sou Fujimoto, Zaha Hadid Architects, David Chipperfield, Herzog & de Meuron, REX Architecture, OMA, Snøhetta, SANAA and UNStudio are among those to have qualified from previous rounds, or who have been invited

Engineering design experts Thornton Tomasetti have been selected to work on the £70m (US$92.8m, €83.4m) project to renovate Wimbledon’s No. 1 Court. The studio will work alongside KSS Architects to provide structural and facade design engineering services for the new development, which will include a retractable roof. Improved public facilities, 15 new hospitality suites and an increased capacity to 12,000 seats will also be included in the project. Thornton Tomasetti

Four Seasons has opened a hotel in Jakarta’s Central Business District at the all-new Capital Place, an award-winning architectural landmark by Cesar Pelli. The hotel features a spa that takes its inspiration from Southeast Asian cultures woven together with global influences. Facilities include eight treatment rooms, two couple’s suites, a hammam, relaxation lounge, spa shop, a 24-hour fitness centre and an outdoor pool on the fifth-floor rooftop. A beauty salon,

Danish architecture firm Kvorning Design & Communication has won the contract for a new Secrets of the Sea exhibition at the Norwegian Petroleum Museum, designed around a whirlpool creation as the new centrepiece for the museum. Featuring different zones with analogue and digital activities to encourage collaboration, learning and play, the exhibition design has been inspired by the sea, which is fitting for the museum located in the port of

Design studios should embrace temporary architecture projects as a means of experimenting with how buildings can shape our environments. That is the view of Roland Rom Colthoff, principal of Canadian firm RAW Design. The practice have organised several temporary events celebrating adaptive reuse of structures, including Winter Stations – an exhibition of art installations built around lifeguard points on Toronto’s wintry beaches – and a series of one-night “architectural stunts”