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

The Museum of London has been awarded £200,000 ($314,453, €281,571) to set up an architectural competition to choose a practice to design its new home at nearby Smithfield Market. The Greater London Authority (GLA) designated the funds as part of its backing for the proposed relocation, on behalf of London’s mayor, Boris Johnson. The museum will now appoint an architect and other consultants to develop the design of the new

New Mexico’s Spaceport America – the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world – has launched a new experience tour and exhibition for its visitors as it looks to offset operational costs for the US$219m (€195m, £139m) facility. A new US$7m (€6.2m, £4.4m) visitor centre, which sits in the hot-springs district of the city of Truth or Consequences, is located inside a historic 1930s adobe building. The visitor centre offers

The Hyatt Place hotel brand has made its long-awaited entrance into the African market with the launch of the 152-bedroom Hyatt Place Taghazout Bay in Morocco. Designed by Moroccan firm Karim Chakor Architecte, the 152-bed hotel is located 10 miles (17 kilometers) north of the Moroccan coastal town of Agadir. Hyatt Place Taghazout Bay is part of Morocco’s Taghazout Bay Resort, a sustainable development in the foothills of the Atlas

Construction is to begin on a Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)-designed office building adjacent to a newly-opened public park in Philadelphia, US. Developer Liberty Property Trust and joint venture partner Synterra Partners broke ground on the 94,000sq ft (8,733sq m) building, 1200 Intrepid Avenue, yesterday (30 June) at The Navy Yard waterfront campus. The four-storey structure curves inward on one side to connect to the new park. Its double curved surface

At least fifteen world class architecture projects shortlisted for the Inside Awards 2015 World Interior of the Year are for leisure venues. I n the bars and restaurants category is Mecha Uma in the Philippines, designed by Jorge Yulo Architects & Associates. The project uses concrete, steel, copper, glass and wood using a ‘raw approach’ The kitchen counter is clad in copper and an installation of squares is suspended above

Chelsea Football Club (CFC) plans to replace its current stadium in south London with a 60,000-capacity landmark venue celebrating the heritage of sport in and around Stamford Bridge. The club has launched a three-day public consultation on the stadium plans, during which local residents will be able to view and offer their views on the proposals. The conceptual designs, which have been put on display at Stamford Bridge, pay homage

The team behind an ambitious New York design project to create the ‘world's first underground park’ have turned to Kickstarter to raise US$200,000 (€179,000, £127,000) for technical development for the complex scheme. The US$60m (€53.8m, £38.2m) Lowline project, designed by James Ramsey of Raad Studio, would see the transformation of an abandoned, underground trolley terminal in Manhattan's Lower East Side. It would harness solar power to become a fully-lit public

Willmott Dixon Interiors have been named winners of a £20m (US$31.5m, €28.2m) contract to fit out London’s Design Museum, which is planning an £80m (US$126m, €113m) move to the former Commonwealth Institute building in Kensington. The Grade II-listed building will become the new home for the Design Museum, which is dedicated to contemporary design and architecture. The interior vision, imagined by British architect John Pawson, will include provision of new

US private equity firm KSL Capital Partners has sold the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin UK hospitality chains to Singaporean serviced apartments group Frasers Hospitality for US$570m (£363m, €511m). The sale marks a tidy profit for KSL, which bought the hotels in 2013 for a reported US$314m (£200m, €282m) and then spent money renovating existing properties and expanding into new locations. Malmaison and Hotel du Vin are a collection of

Seven-time Wimbledon tennis champion Roger Federer pitched up in South London, UK over the weekend to help launch sports goods giant Nike’s legacy project for this year’s Wimbledon tennis tournament. Nike has taken over four community tennis courts in Tanner Street Park, Bermondsey, investing £17,500 in resurfacing the ageing courts with a designer touch in pink and blue and setting up a branded tennis and activity hub. The NikeCourt Club