Minnesota Children’s Museum has revealed new renderings for its US$28m (€24.1m, £18.4m) expansion, designed to reimagine existing galleries, plus add new amenities and engaging activities for visitors. The expansion will increase the museum’s size to around 74,000sq ft (6,874sq m) and will include new interactive exhibits for children. Additional exhibits will include expanded air and water play space, as well as a new obstacle course comprising a four-storey climbing structure,

Toledo Zoo in Ohio is entering the final stages of a three-year, US$25m (€21.5m, £16.4m) renovation of its aquarium, which has seen the interior of the historic facility completely renovated. The aquarium, which first opened in 1939, was closed in 2012 for the renovations. The new development has almost tripled the amount of water inside the aquarium. The aquarium’s new saltwater Pacific Reef holds 90,000 gallons of water – nearly

Milford Hall Hotel, a Georgian mansion dating back to the 1800s just a short drive from Stonehenge, UK, is adding a £500,000 (US$756,200, €652,300) spa to its four-star amenities. The property is owned by Hughes Hotels, which has brought in consultancy Spa Creators to create the Lime Spa – expected to open in May 2015. Alistair Johnson, managing director of Spa Creators, spoke exclusively to Spa Opportunities, detailing the company’s

Global design firm PGAV Destinations, which won accolades for Chimelong Ocean Kingdom last year, has announced a completely different type of project. Following on from the blockbuster Chinese theme park comes a change of pace, as the practice starts work on California wild animal rescue centre Big Bear Alpine Zoo. PGAV has been commissioned to redesign the facility, which is being relocated to a nearby site. The zoo originally opened

Prime Minister David Cameron has fired the starter pistol on plans for a £400m (US$608m, €525m) leisure, health, sport and education destination on a reclaimed opencast mining site in Chesterfield. On a recent visit to the US, the UK premier announced a raft of bilateral investment deals worth more than £1.1bn (US$1.7bn, €1.4bn), with Chesterfield being the standout story. The Peak Resort project aims to bring together leading hospitality, university,

Aman Resorts, known for its high-end hotels in exotic locations, has opened its first urban property, an 84-bedroom hotel in Tokyo’s financial district. The Aman Tokyo is the company’s first Japanese venture and occupies the top six floors of The Otemachi Tower. Kerry Hill Architects was in charge of the interior design, which mirrors local cultures and traditions, with shoji paper sliding doors and a Japanese engawa porch. Two floors

George Lucas has said that his proposed legacy museum to be built on the Chicago lakefront could end up going to Los Angeles, after the project met with opposition from an open space campaign group. Last year Lucas picked Chicago over both San Francisco and Los Angeles, with Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti strongly pushing for the museum to come to his city. In November, a federal judge put a

Operator Swire Hotels is set to unveil a 100-bedroom hotel and 42 adjoining serviced apartments in Chengdu, China, this May. The project forms part of the city government’s conservation project to preserve the surrounding heritage buildings, which are integral to the success of a wider mixed-use development. The Temple House will be located within the Chengdu Daci Temple Cultural and Commercial Complex, a joint venture to be developed by Sino-Ocean

The City of Miami has approved US$9m (€7.8m, £6m) in tax subsidies for the upcoming US$430m (€371m, £283m) SkyRise tower – an entertainment complex topped by a 1,000ft (304m) observation tower. Located next to the American Airline Arena and Miami’s Bayside Marketplace, the tower itself is expected to be the second-tallest observation tower in the US, after Las Vegas’ 1,148ft (350m) Stratosphere Tower. Also set to be included is a

The Gateway to Science Center in Bismarck, North Dakota, is planning a new US$40m (€34m, £26.3m) facility to expand its target audience from children to people of all ages. Overlooking the Missouri River, the new space will morph the centre from a hands-on children's facility to one that benefits visitors young and old. Scheduled to open in Q1 of 2017, the 65,000sq ft (6,000sq m) facility will sit on a

The Condado Vanderbilt Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico has reached the completion of the second stage of its revival, including the addition of luxury guestrooms and a spa. The US$200m (€149m, £118m) revitalisation of the five-star property, built in 1919 by Frederick William Vanderbilt, has taken 10 years. The hotel was originally designed by Warren and Wetmore, the architectural firm known for Grand Central Station and the New York

Bill Hellmuth, president of global architecture practice HOK is “excited” by the firm’s recent re-entry into the sports sector. Speaking to Sports Management, Hellmuth said the acquisition of sports specialist 360 Architecture, which will form part of a new global practice called HOK Sports + Recreation + Entertainment, has “filled a void” in HOK’s operations. “It’s great to be back in sports,” he said. “It’s a piece of our practice

One of Germany’s longest autobahns is to undergo a major transformation – sections of the A7 will be covered over, allowing for the creation of parks, meadows, woods, cycleways and gardens on the newly-created ‘roof’. Excessive noise pollution caused by increased traffic has been affecting the town of Hamburg – the solution is to send a stretch of the road underground. Reinhard Schier, from Hamburg’s Ministry of Urban Development and

The first Virgin-branded hotel has opened in Chicago’s Loop district in the 26-storey Old Dearborn Bank Building, originally designed by architecture firm Rapp and Rapp. The Art Deco building, a Chicago landmark, has 250 guestrooms, including 40 one-bedroom suites and two Penthouse Suites. There are four restaurants – three of which are scheduled to open between February and April of this year. The hotel’s spa will open in Q2 and

Plans to convert a 1926 art deco cinema in London into a luxury residential development have been rejected by Kensington & Chelsea Council, following a firm word from London's favourite fictional detective. Squire and Partners’ plans for the site has been in the works since 2007, when planning permission was originally granted. However, the 'Save Kensington Odeon' campaign brought the development to a standstill following its most recent plea, which

Rockliffe Hall in Darlington is investing approximately £1m in various projects to expand its hospitality and leisure facilities and a portion of those funds will include the creation of a spa garden that will sit adjacent to the existing 13- treatment room wellness centre. The five-star resort, which features 61 bedrooms and two luxury houses, will add a 200sq m (2,153sq ft) spa garden area that will include an infinity

The 67-key Baglioni Hotel London facing Kensington Gardens has completed a full renovation of its spa, designed by Milanese architects Rebosio+Spagnulo. Open to both hotel guests and external clients, the Baglioni Spa offers female and male Turkish baths and three treatment rooms for massages, facial and body treatments, with products from Natura Bissé. Natura Bissé has developed unique signature facial and body treatments for the Baglioni spa, such as a

American football team the Atlanta Falcons has released details its new US$1.4bn (E1.2bn, £922m) 83,000-seat stadium, which will open in downtown Atlanta in 2017. The unique multi-use stadium features an eight-petal retractable roof – a first for any venue of this type – as well as the world’s largest 360 degree HD video screen, which will be viewable from every seat. Also included is an exterior 61,000sq ft (5,600sq m)

The 189-residence botanic haven in Al Barari, Dubai, has launched a destination spa within its sustainability-focused residential development. Owned and run by the Zaal family and its company, the residential estate called Al Barari encompasses a gourmet restaurant, health club and what it claims is the region's largest privately-owned plant nursery. Eighty per cent of the 14.2 million sq ft (390,192sq m) development is made up of landscaped gardens, lakes

Ole Bouman, previously the head of the Netherlands Architecture Institute, has been named as the director of the upcoming Shekou Design Museum in Shenzhen, China. The new Design Museum is a joint collaboration between the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and China Merchants Property Development Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate China Merchants Group (CMG). Bouman, who has a deep interest and involvement with all things architecture and design,

The Museum of Fine Arts, in Houston, Texas, has unveiled its US$450m (E381m, £297m) expansion plan to carry it through to 2019. The masterplan – by Steven Holl Architects – will see a redevelopment of the 14-acre (56,600sq m) campus to include new buildings, gardens and a top floor restaurant. Plans include a 164,000sq ft (15,200sq m) gallery to showcase the museum’s collection of 20th and 21st century art, as

Manchester-based architecture firm Buttress has seen off stiff competition from Heneghan Peng and Austin-Smith Lord to win the design contract for a £21m (US$32m, €27m) museum in Blackpool Winter Gardens. The Blackpool Museum will document the town’s rise as the world’s first working class Victorian seaside town and celebrate its contribution to pop culture. As part of the plans, the close to derelict Pavilion Theatre – which is part of

A new state-of-the-art planetarium dome being built in the Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram has been forced to delay its grand opening after design flaws forced the under-construction Kerala State Science and Technology Museum (KSSTM) to scrap previous plans. Originally planned to open later this month, Priyadarshini Planetarium will now debut in April. “In the original design, 48 poles had to be angled at precisely 15 degrees to hold up the

Final plans for Europe’s largest museum development have been revealed with new renderings released for the HUF75bn (US$277m, €235m, £183m) cultural quarter known as Park Budapest in Hungary. Following the judge’s selection, which was narrowed down from more than 500 anonymous applications, the Museum of Ethnography will be built in line with plans by French architecture practice Vallet de Martinis DIID Architectes, while Japanese firm Sou Fujimoto Architects has designed

Global engineering and design company HOK is returning to sports facility design for the first time since 2008, after completing a deal to acquire Kansas City, US-based sports architects 360 Architecture. The deal is part of HOK’s strategy to expand its footprint in the sports sector and forms a central part of HOK’s new Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice. Patrick MacLeamy, HOK’s chair and CEO, said: “We acquired 360

Castleford Tigers CEO Steve Gill has said the weather damage caused to Wheldon Road stadium last weekend highlights the club’s “great need” to find a new home. The Super League club was forced to close its Princess Street stand for Sunday's match against Bradford after a retaining wall collapsed. The 4,000-capacity stand will remain closed for Tigers’ next two pre-season games against Widnes and York. Gill said the ageing Wheldon

A 17.6km (10.9mile) long cycleway will be built in Jiaozhou, China, designed by architecture and design firm Mecanoo. The Golden Ribbon cycling route will be funded by the World Bank and is the result of research on ‘innovation in mobility’ by the University of Shandong. The cycleway has been designed for “connectivity, comfort and experience”, while encouraging the use of bikes to improve public health, air quality and the environment.