Starwood Hotels is opening the Westin Hamburg next year in the highly anticipated Elbe Philharmonic complex. The 10-storey, 205-bedroom Westin Hamburg Hotel, designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, is due to open in October 2016. The Elbe Philharmonic complex, built around a historical warehouse on the banks of the river Elbe and also designed by Herzog & De Meuron, will include three concert halls, 45 private apartments, and

ReardonSmith has returned the Lanesborough hotel in London to its former glory following a complete renovation. Acting as lead design consultant and architect, ReardonSmith partnered with the Alberto Pinto agency and several specialist craft companies to rejuvenate the hotel near Hyde Park Corner. The aim of the works was to re-establish the Georgian property, which was converted into a hotel over 20 years ago, as London’s finest hotel. As part

New York-based architect Rogers Partners’ designs for a new pier in St. Petersburg, Florida, have been approved by the city council. Landscape architect Ken Smith and local firm ASD are also part of the The Pier Park design team. The project combines a large transparent building located at the end of the pier with a collection of smaller experiences in “zones of activities” positioned along its entire 1,380ft (420.6m) length.

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, has revealed finalised plans for its US$200m (€108.8m, £130m) facility expansion as part of a larger ongoing US$650m (€587.6m, £422.2m) Advancement Campaign. Based on initial work by Rick Mather Architects, with subsequent work from Richard Olcott of Ennead Architects, the museum will gain a new 40,000sq ft (3,716sq m) wing for galleries and temporary exhibition space, while a new 80,000sq ft (7,432sq

A new 160-room hotel in Melbourne will give guests the chance to stay the night with Beyoncé – or at least inside a curvy skyscraper inspired by the global superstar. Australian architect Elenberg Fraser’s 226m (741ft) high Premier Tower features a series of curves and bulges and its form pays homage to Beyoncé’s ‘Ghost’ music video – in which naked dancers gyrate while wrapped in stretchy fabric.

The Hong Kong Museum of Art is to close in August for a four-year HK$930m (US$120m, €109m, £78m) renovation, which will nearly double the amount of exhibition space available to the 53-year-old institute. Scheduled to reopen in 2019, the museum’s main exhibition area will be expanded to 10,000sq m (107,600sq ft), with an additional three galleries also being developed, increasing the total number to 10. The re-christened Hong Kong Art

Swissotel has opened a new resort on a private beach in Turgutreis, just outside Bodrum, Turkey. Designed by Gokhan Avcioglu of Turkish design studio GAD International, The Swissotel Bodrum Beach includes 66 bedrooms and suites along with 72 private serviced residences. Avcioglu has used sweeping lines in his design to fuse the Aegean coast’s rolling landscape with the local tangerine gardens, blending the structure with the natural landscape by using

Design Hotels’ latest property aims to offer an authentic and quintessential Italian experience having secured the services of designer Alessandro Agrati. Filario Hotel & Residences is located by Lake Como, in Lezzeno, Italy, and features 21 rooms and apartments, each with their own private terrace. In creating the hotel’s décor, Agrati implemented his signature style of “dressing” interiors with textiles and light and strong-tempered objects. Guestrooms have been designed to

Tottenham Hotspur FC (THFC) will install an innovative multi-use pitch at its 61,000-capacity stadium in North London – allowing it to host a minimum of two National Football League (NFL) games each season. The club will use a retractable grass field at its new £400m venue – designed by sports architects Populous – with an artificial surface underneath that will be used for NFL games. The design will allow greater flexibility

An up-and-coming designer has created the perfect canvas for drinkers seeking to paint the town red: the world’s first completely black and white bar. Everything in the new Bulmers #LiveColourful Bar in London is strictly monochrome, with the walls, all of the furniture, pictures, art, ping pong table, board games, bar food and even the staff completely stripped of all colour. The bar was created by Alexandra Toomey – who

Six Senses will open its first resort in Europe next week, located in the Portuguese UNESCO World Heritage area of the Douro Valley. Set on 22 acres and designed by New York-based Clodagh Design, the 57-bedroom, 19th century Six Senses Douro Valley is surrounded by sloping vineyards and pays homage to its surroundings through several nods to the grape, including wine-themed spa treatments. Designed with an interior palette of light

British architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners have won a competition to build a research and conservation facility for the Louvre. The new facility will be built in in Liévin in northern France and will house around 250,000 works of art from more than 60 different French locations. The Musée du Louvre and the Nord-Pas de Calais region announced that RSH+P, known for the British Museum’s new World Conservation and

Construction work on Zaha Hadid Architects’ Olympic stadium in Tokyo, Japan, is to begin in October, after the Japanese government confirmed the final details of the project. It will now cost US$2bn (€1.8bn, £1.3bn) to build – almost double the original estimate. Work is scheduled to be completed a few months later than planned, in May 2019, but still in time for the Rugby World Cup due to be held

The Studio Museum in Harlem – an institute promoting the work of artists of African descent – could move from its century-old headquarters, with plans by the architectural team of Adjaye Associates to develop a new US$122m (€110m, £79.1m) home in New York City. The conceptual design for the five-storey museum building by British-Tanzanian architect David Adjaye – which will be submitted to the city’s public design commission on 14

Italian club AC Milan has been given the green light to build a new €330m (US$363m, £236m) stadium in the north of the city. The seven-time European football champions’ plans for a new 48,000-capacity stadium in the Portello region of Milan were approved by city administrators after a six-month long consultation period. Designed by sports architects Arup, the club has described the stadium as “the most innovative in the world”.

Proposals to regenerate wasteland in the heart of London’s Shoreditch through a mixed-use scheme are being carried forward by developers Hammerson and Ballymore, aided by a phalanx of top designers. The Bishopsgate Goodsyard development would see the creation of the mixed-use complex just a stone’s throw from hipster hangout Brick Lane, comprising 1,356 new homes, offices, 200,000sq ft (18,580sq m) of commercial space, a 2.4 acre public park, plus a

The Sahara desert may not be the most obvious location to build a futuristic ‘vertical city,’ but French architects OXO’s latest design aims to kick sand in the face of such a tough challenge. Comprising eight per cent of the world’s land area, the Sahara is expanding south, forcing many of the four million people who live there to migrate – and so a sustainable city is proposed as a

A new US$5 million, 10,000-square-foot spa designed by AHA Universo has opened at Grupo Vidanta’s Riviera Maya in Mexico with a 100sq ft (9sq m) salt cave for halotherapy. “Spatium is an ultra-luxurious spa, which offers an unrivalled experience in an environment infused with relaxing natural elements,” said Norma Suárez, director of the Grupo Vidanta Riviera Maya. Suarez said the philosophy behind the 10-treatment room spa is “to create a

The Wanda Group, China's largest commercial property company, is to build a 134-room luxury boutique hotel and spa alongside 193 residences and new public gardens on prime Beverly Hills real estate. "Beverly Hills is known worldwide as a city of sophistication and style. We believe building this project will complete the western gateway to the city," said David Shu, General Manager of Wanda Beverly Hills Properties. Designed by Richard Meier

A new multi-sensory restaurant, theatre and dance venue, created by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté and renowned culinary masters Ferran and Albert Adrià of elBulli fame, has opened in Ibiza, Spain, with a gastronomic concept designed to merge food, music and art. Heart Ibiza, located inside the Ibiza Gran Hotel, is divided into three spaces – the terrace, supper and club. The restaurant and entertainment complex has a capacity

Planning permission has been granted for a major mixed-use development in Edinburgh, UK, which will see a luxury hotel, 30 restaurants and a multi-screen cinema created. Allan Murray Architects and BDP masterplanned the £850m ($1.3bn, €1.2bn) Edinburgh St James scheme which is located in a World Heritage Site at the Scottish city’s St James Quarter. The five-star hotel, designed by London-based Jestico & Whiles as the centrepiece of the project,

The Vucedol Culture Museum by Radionica Arhitekture has opened its doors to the public after more than a decade of development. It was completed in 2013 but only opened on 30 June. The museum has set up shop at Vucedol on the bank of the river Danube in eastern Croatia, one of Europe’s most important archaeological sites. The HRK179m (US$26.2m, €23.6m, £16.7m) building is made up of a series of

A twisted temporary pavilion from J. Mayer H. is helping the German city of Karlsruhe celebrate the 300th anniversary of its founding. The KA300 pavilion features a large auditorium with a stage and its design is a nod to the strictly geometric, radial layout of the Baroque planned city of Karlsruhe, with the palace as its focal point. Erected in the city's castle gardens, the event pavilion will host concerts,

Following a six-year US$25m (€22.5m, £16m) renovation by Ennead Architects, the New York Hall of Science in Queens is celebrating the reopening of its Great Hall. Originally designed by Harrison and Abramovitz Architects for the 1964/1965 World’s Fair, the Great Hall’s cobalt blue dalle-de-verre glass and concrete walls are designed to give the illusion of being in deep space. In its original format, visitors to the World’s Fair could see

The Mi Xun Spa opens this month in a restored monastery at Swire Hotels' The Temple House – an urban hotel in Chengdu, China. The spa includes 11 treatment areas, a gentleman’s barbershop, and a teahouse, as well as a retail spa shop. This is the third in Swire’s House Collective portfolio, following The Opposite House in Beijing and The Upper House in Hong Kong. The hotel is located in

Herzog and De Meuron’s Triangle Tower – which features a 120-room four-star hotel and panoramic restaurant – is to become Paris’ first skyscraper for more than 40 years after getting the green light from the city council. The controversial pyramid-shaped structure was initially rejected by councillors, but the November 2014 vote was annulled by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. In the re-run, the project was approved after receiving 87 votes in

Renzo Piano’s designs for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures are to be realised, after Los Angeles City Council gave the final stamp of approval for the US$300m (€263.5m, £190.4m) development. With planning permission now granted, museum representatives hope to open the facility to the public by 2017. The council voted unanimously 13-0 in the development’s favour, with construction potentially starting by the of this summer. The Academy Museum's architectural