The Six Senses Zil Pasyon resort, located on the private island of Félicité in the Seychelles, is scheduled to open in July 2015 with a Six Senses Spa and a yoga pavilion on the granite boulders that punctuate the shoreline. Designed by Richard Hywel Evans of Studio RHE, the resort will comprise 28 one-bedroom villas, two two-bedroom villas and 17 private residences – all with private pools. Six Senses will

MOBO Architects has won a design competition to refurbish vertical and horizontal access structures of a UNESCO-protected fortress in Cartagena, Colombia. The London-based practice will revamp the 20,000sq m (215,000sq ft) area that surrounds the walled, colonial city with the aim of creating a pleasant walking tour through the city’s bastions and walls. The winning proposal offers a series of urban interventions that will unify the existing disparate structures and

Swiss-based architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron is working on plans to increase the capacity of Chelsea Football Club’s Stamford Bridge ground in west London in partnership with London-based practice Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands. The club wants to expand from the current 41,837 seats, to a 60,000 seat capacity, following the recommendations of a feasibility study undertaken in June 2014. At the time, the club said: “The study will assess the

Damian Rogers Architecture, in partnership with Arup, has unveiled a concept for a beach and surf park for Melbourne’s Central Pier, Australia. The development would be based on a floating wave pool, with filtered water from Victoria Harbour, and a sandy beachfront. Offering surfers a chance to catch waves between 1-1.8m (3-6ft) high, the heated wave pool would be one of several attractions in the 16,000sq m (172,222sq ft) development.

Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts has signed a memorandum of understanding with developers Summit Group of Nepal to collaborate on the first of four hotels to be built across the country as part of a development rollout. The five-star Leela Kathmandu – designed by John Gerondolis of Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates of Atlanta, US – will be the first hotel created by the partners, to capitalise on tourism

French architecture firm Valode & Pistre is set to break ground on what would become Africa’s tallest skyscraper in June 2015. Planned for a yet to be confirmed site in Morocco, the building will be more than 500m (1,640ft) tall and have 114 floors representative of the number of chapters found in the Quran. More than just an incredibly tall tower, the building will also have a luxury shopping area,

Plans to create a €400 million (£314m, $489m) metropolitan theme park on the outskirts of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, are being developed by a caucus of leading design firms. The project – Park 21 – would be a 1,000-hectare (3,000 acre) cultural, recreational urban parkland, with landscaped and leisure elements. Facilities such as shops, restaurants, hotels and attractions are central to the proposal, which would offer a ‘cluster concept’ where visitors

Virgin Hotels and owner/developer Lam Group have revealed building designs for their first project together in New York City, expected to open in 2017. VOA Architecture has been appointed as architect and interior designer for the new structure, which includes a street-long high-end retail space, 457 guest rooms, multiple food and beverage outlets – including a rooftop bar – plus an outdoor pool and spa. The spa’s details have not

The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) has reopened its American art wing following a US$7.9m (€6.4m, £5m) two-year redevelopment. The 15,000sq ft (1,400sq m) area has undergone a full renovation, which now sees artworks arranged chronologically with the aim of demonstrating how American artists were involved with art coming from overseas. The wing’s unveiling also coincides with the reopening of the building’s main entrance, the neoclassically-designed John Russell Pope entrance,

By 2020, a new super museum will be constructed in central Copenhagen, dubbed the Natural History Museum of Denmark. Blending together three of the city's existing institutions, the Natural History Museum, the Geological Museum and the Botanical Museum, the new facility is expected to be one of the largest of its kind in the world. Following a recent DKR550m (€73.933m, US$91m, £58.1m) grant from several private foundations, the University of

Edinburgh’s imposing Royal High School could be transformed into a multi-million pound arts hotel under new plans outlined by developers. Proposals from Duddingston House Properties (DHP) detail a development plan – designed by architect Gareth Hoskins – backed by £55m ($86m, €70m) from a consortium of institutional investors led by DHP’s Bruce Hare and David Orr of the Urbanist Group. Hoskins was appointed to oversee a major four-year refurbishment of

Brazilian football club SE Palmeiras has taken delivery of its new 43,600-capacity Allianz Parque stadium in Sao Paolo. Designed by Brazilian architects Edo Rocha Arquiteturas, the venue has been described as “Latin America’s most modern multi-purpose event complex”. With 43,600 covered seats – in addition to the 178 corporate boxes with seating for more than 3,000 people during football games – the venue is also equipped to host concerts, mega

London mayor Boris Johnson has finally approved planning permission for Thomas Heatherwick’s controversial Garden Bridge. After planning was approved by both Lambeth Council and Westminster Council earlier this year, Johnson’s official approval of the project means that the construction of the £175m (US$294m, €216m) bridge can begin next year. In a statement, Johnson said: “The Garden Bridge will provide a fantastic new landmark for London whilst supporting regeneration and economic

The District of Columbia Council has approved plans to build a new home for US-based Major League Soccer (MLS) club D.C. United. To be located in Buzzard Point, Washington D.C., the stadium will have a capacity between 20,000 and 25,000 and will become the 17th “soccer-specific stadium” in MLS. Designed by sports architects Populous, the District of Columbia Soccer Stadium is expected to open in 2017 and provide a major

Dubai developer of integrated communities, Emaar Properties, has opened The Burj Club – an exclusive fitness and wellness retreat in Downtown Dubai, adjacent to the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa. The 6,320sq m (62, 028sq ft) five-storey health club comprises a fitness centre, spa, juice bar and rooftop pool. Male and female sectioned gym facilities spread across 590sq m (5,597sq ft). The equipment is all connected to the centre’s ‘mywellness’

A ship in Norwegian Cruise Line’s fleet will boast the largest waterpark at sea when it launches later this year, with the company unveiling a raft of leisure facilities on board. The investment comes as the cruise market continues to experience rapid growth and the broadening of its customer profile. The 4,200-passenger ship – Norwegian Escape – with interior design by SMC Design and Tillberg Design, will feature an Aqua

A large hourglass has been installed in Turin, Italy’s, Piazza San Carlo, counting down progress as the €50m (US$62.3m, £39.7m) redevelopment of the city’s Egyptian Museum reaches its final stages. Scheduled to fully reopen on 1 April 2015, Museo Egizio or the Egyptian Museum of Turin is one of the world’s oldest Egyptian museums. Founded in 1824, it ranks second only to its counterpart in Cairo. The museum is at

Developers are cashing in on the redevelopment of a resort originally built by the Third Reich in the run-up to World War II – part of a Nazi vision for the future of tourism. The project saw blocks of six-storey buildings, stretching 2.8 miles (4.5km), erected on the Baltic Sea and nicknamed the ‘Colossus of Prora’. Construction of the 10,000-key complex slowed during WWII and it was briefly claimed by

The old War Office building in Whitehall, London, has been sold to investment conglomerate Hinduja Group, in partnership with Spanish group Obrascon Huarte Lain Desarrollos, for £300m (US$472m, €378m). Opened in 1906, the War Office was recently sold off by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a cost cutting move after being declared surplus to the ministry's requirements. Boasting over 1,000 rooms and two and half miles of corridors, it

Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts has five new openings planned around the world for 2015 in Hawaii, Morocco, Korea, the Kingdom of Bahrain and Florida. The first to open, in early 2015, is the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay – which you can read about here. This property will feature the largest spa in the Four Seasons portfolio. Scheduled to launch on 1 March 2015, the 273-bedroom hotel – designed

New York’s American Museum of Natural History is planning a major expansion with the addition of a US$325m (€261m, £207m), six storey building, intended to expand the institution’s role for scientific research and education. The proposed Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation would stand on what is currently open space within the confines of the museum’s land. Planned to be completed in time for the museum’s 150th anniversary

A High Court judge has ruled that Northern Ireland’s environment minister Mark H Durkan acted “unlawfully” when he approved plans for a new 38,000-seat GAA stadium in the heart of Belfast. Mr Justice Horner said there had been failures in the environmental impact assessment of the £77m stadium and that the decision to grant planning permission was “irretrievably flawed”. The High Court ruling comes after a Belfast residents' group issued

Starwood’s Westin Turtle Bay Resort & Spa has opened in the historic Turtle Bay of Balaclava on the north west coast of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Located 15km (9m) from the island’s leisure hub Grand Baie and 15km (9m) from the capital of Port-Louis, the 190-key resort is spread across 10 hectares (25 acres) of land. The resort’s 1,500sq m (16,146sq ft) Heavenly Spa features 10 treatment rooms, a

Nikki Beach Hotels & Resorts, a division of Nikki Beach Worldwide, plans to open its first Middle Eastern property in Dubai, working alongside local development company Meraas Holding. DSA Architects and interior design firm Gatserelia Design will create the 52,000sq m (560,000sq ft) five-star resort on Pearl Jumeirah – set to open in Q3 of 2015. It will include 117 rooms and suites, 14 beach villas, a separate 1,350sq m

Construction work has begun on the 60,000-capacity Perth Stadium in West Australia. Designed by a team consisting of Cox Architecture, design studio Hassell and architects HKS Sports and Entertainment Group, the multi-purpose stadium will form the centrepiece of a new sporting precinct at Perth’s Burswood district, located on the banks of the Swan River. The AU$820m (US$770m, €570m, £450m) venue – funded and owned by the Government of Western Australia

A host of leading architecture practices feature on the shortlist – revealed today (12 December) – for the competition to design a culture and education quarter at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. Stirling Prize Winner and recently announced Architect of the Year Haworth Tompkins features in one of the six star-studded teams vying for the project, with David Chipperfield Architects and Alison Brooks also in contention. Billed as the

Major League Baseball (MLB) team Atlanta Braves has released new renderings of its planned SunTrust Park stadium in Cobb County, north of Atlanta, showing the mixed-use elements surrounding the venue. The new plans shed light on the number of restaurants, bars and retail outlets to be built on the site, while also show a hotel and office building towering beyond the 41,500-capacity venue. The properties will form an important revenue