Muf Architecture/art has won a competition to design a new interactive gallery for the Science Museum, London. From a shortlist of several renowned architectural firms, including David Kohn and Grimshaw, Muf has been chosen by the museum to design the £4m ($6.4m, €5m) new space. Due to open in 2016, the new gallery aims to build on the success of the current ‘Launchpad’ children’s gallery and create a larger, more

The Regina Hotel Baglioni in Rome, Italy, unveiled its Spa by Caschera on 1 September, designed by Milanese architects Rebosio+Spagnulo. The 118-key Regina Hotel Baglioni is one of the Baglioni Hotels Collection – owned by CEO Guido Polito – and is a member of Leading Hotels of the World consortium owned by Hotel Representative, AG. The Spa by Caschera will be managed by spa consultant and entrepreneur Paolo Caschera and

Colombia’s answer to Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer is nearing completion as Monumento Santisimo – the centrepiece of a new US$23m (€17.7m, £14.2m) eco-park in Floridablanca in the north of the country – starts to take shape. Slightly differentiating itself from the famous Brazilian statue built in the 1920s, Monumento Santisimo comprises a large statue of Jesus Christ with his left hand over his chest rather than outstretched. At around 40m

Frank Gehry’s designs dating back to 2003 for a $395m (£245m, €305m) performing arts venue at the World Trade Centre have been axed after the project's management made a u-turn on the plans. As part of Daniel Libeskind's masterplan for the World Trade Centre and Ground Zero site, Gehry’s performing arts centre has been the slowest to materialise. Now, more than a decade later, the board behind the centre have

The Opus Building, located in the Burj Khalifa district of Dubai, UAE, is to dedicate 250,000sq ft (23,225sq m) of space to a new ME Hotel, completely designed by internationally-renowned ‘starchitect’ Zaha Hadid. The entire complex is a mixed-use development and Meliá Hotels International is keen to expand its experience-based brand by placing a 100-bedroom hotel within The Opus Building itself, developed by real estate company Omniyat. Although no stranger

A US$300m (£183.3m, €231.7m) museum for the Oscars has come up against problems, with Los Angeles City Planning department expressing concern over potentially explosive gas pockets under the proposed site. The department has released a draft environmental impact report on the project, which highlights deposits of methane and hydrogen sulphide gas that could potentially harm construction workers and ultimately visitors. The planned Academy Museum of Motion Pictures – which will

As part of the London Design Festival 2014 (LDF), Zaha Hadid Architects will unveil a temporary installation in the John Madejski Garden at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). The structure, named Crest, will be stretched across the pool in the V&A gardens from the 13 to 21 September, the duration of the LDF. Made of thin aluminium, the form will explore the relationship between different elements, such as the

Plans for the new £25m (US$41.1m, €31.3m) St Michael's Spa & Wellness Resort in Falmouth, Cornwall, UK have taken a step further forward having been given unanimous approval by the Falmouth Town Council Planning Committee. Having met with the current St Michael’s owner and project developer Nigel Carpenter, the council has agreed on the plans on the basis that a layer of car parking and four eco lodges that were

Plans have been unveiled for the creation of two new cycle superhighways running from north to south and east to west London, with the £913m (US$1.5bn, €1.1bn) routes being dubbed 'Crossrail for bikes'. The plans come as London mayor Boris Johnson continues to push to make the capital into a safe and cyclist-friendly haven, much like what is offered by the European cities of Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam. Not only

Thomas Phifer and Partners (TPP) has been chosen, from a shortlist of eleven architectural practices, to design Warsaw’s new Museum of Modern Art and TR Warszawa Theatre, Poland. The New York-based practice has beaten other architectural heavy weights to the win the commission, including Foster + Partners and UNstudio. The new museum will be located in Warsaw’s Defilad Square, at the foot of the Palace of Culture and Science. TPP

A competition has been launched to find a landscape design team for the RAF Museum’s revamp. The attraction is undergoing a £23m renovation as it builds up to the centenary celebrations of the Royal Air Force in 2018. The winning team will help achieve the master plan designed by architecture firm Wilkinson Eyre in 2011. The four-phase renovation of the site in Hendon, London, is known as the Centenary Programme

Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) is to launch a consultation on its plans to build a new 40,000-seat stadium on land at Old Oak in West London. As well as a new stadium, the plans include the regeneration hundreds of acres of brownfield land, opening the way for thousands of new homes and jobs to be delivered with easy access to the planned Crossrail/HS2 interchange. The English Premier League

Work has started on Copenhagen’s House of Culture and Movement (Ku.Be.) in Denmark, aimed at engaging the local population in a healthy and active lifestyle. Set to become a new major attraction in the Frederiksberg district, Ku.Be. will feature a range of facilities mixing the function of a community centre with exhibition and performance spaces, as well as a playground, park and health centre. Masterminded by ADEPT, a Danish architecture

The Welsh coastal region of Aberavon is to become home to a new multi-million pound leisure development with work well underway on the construction of Neath’s beachfront leisure centre. Led by developer Corban Investments and contractor Heron Bros, the projected is expected to cost £13.4m and will deliver a range of new leisure and community-focused facilities to the region’s Hollywood Park site. Expected to be completed in late 2015, the

Macedonia’s capital of Skopje is undergoing a major revamp, but some are calling the controversial makeover – intended to attract more tourists to the country – a “crime” against heritage and culture. Skopje, which became the capital of Macedonia in 1991 after the breakup of Yugoslavia, is trying to make a name for itself on the international stage, using eye-catching architecture to entice visitors from abroad. The €500m (US$656m, £395m)

A 60-day programme, conducted by Saudi Arabia’s National Urban Heritage Center (NUHC) and giving Saudi students comprehensive training in heritage renovation, has been completed by a class of graduates. The series of training programmes led by NUHC, an affiliate of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), was undertaken by students of engineering and architecture from a number of Saudi universities, including King Abdul Aziz University, Al Qassim University

A prototype design for an attraction, conceived by Hong Kong’s OVA Studio, could recreate the world’s oceans, using projected imagery on LED screens to bring the Bahamas, Maldives, Great Barrier Reef and more to a uniquely designed swimming pool. The pool would be housed inside a glass dome and both pool and dome would be lined with LED screens. These would display live feeds from underwater cameras positioned in oceans

The well established British brand of London Dry Gin, Beefeater, has recently opened its new visitor centre and exhibition space in London. Following a competition held in 2008, Lee Boyd Architects and Four-by-Two design consultants made the winning bid to construct an extension that has tied two of the Beefeater sites’ original buildings together; creating a new point of entry and allowing visitors to move freely inside the distillery without

The Le Rosey school in Switzerland is set to open its new concert hall and centre for art and culture – designed by Bernard Tschumi Architects (BTA) – on the 2 October 2014. After a long construction process, the new venue, constructed by BTA and Swiss-based Fehlmann Architects, will cover 8,000sq m (26,246sq ft) and boasts a number of features. A rectangular auditorium sits under the circular steel dome, with

Design and production group Kingsmen Creatives has landed a US$25.2m (€19m, £15.1m) contract to design and build the interiors for KidZania Singapore. Kingsmen, which worked on the recently opened KidsSTOP Science Centre also in Singapore, will handle construction and maintenance of fit-out works for the ‘edutainment’ centre set to open in 2015 at Sentosa Island’s Palawan beach. The Mexico-based KidZania brand encourages children aged four to 14 to learn about

Louis Vuitton’s museum project, designed by Frank Ghery of architecture firm Ghery Partners, is nearing completion almost eight years after plans for the €100m (US$132m, £80m) Paris-based attraction were first revealed. Set to open in October, the 126,000sq ft (11,705sq m) Louis Vuitton Foundation – designed to resemble “a cloud of glass” – includes 11 exhibition galleries dedicated to Vuitton’s private collection alongside a space for temporary exhibitions in addition

Prominent architectural design firm 360 Architecture is to be acquired by fellow practice HOK, with the US-based group looking to expand its footprint in the sports sector. Founded in Kansas City, US, 360 Architecture is known for its award-winning designs of stadiums, ballparks, arenas, recreation and wellness centres, plus mixed-use entertainment districts. The firm has also won competitions to design corporate facilities, commercial office spaces and government-led projects. “As a

China’s burgeoning architectural landscape could soon be home to a new standout piece, after architecture firm RMJM won a competition to design a 93-metre tower in the coastal city of Zhuhai. The Doumen Observation Tower, featuring leisure facilities, shops, housing and a viewing platform, would be built as three rising sections and decorated with 1,400 bent panels made from perforated aluminum to represent the scales of a fish. Lead architect

A giant inflatable turtle the size of a house has been installed in Australia's Sydney Harbour to mark the launch of an underwater art exhibition at the city’s aquarium. The 15m (49ft) long turtle is covered in a black and white coral reef pattern, with organisers looking to raise awareness of the Great Barrier Reef, which is deteriorating at a rapid rate thanks to a combination of pollution and seabed

Developer Bruntwood and The University of Manchester, UK, have submitted plans for a mixed-use precinct regeneration, which forms phase two of the £50m (US$83.25m, €62.4m) redevelopment of Manchester Business School (MBS). The phase two plans focus on the redevelopment of the existing precinct centre to create a 40,500sq ft (3,763sq m) retail and leisure offering, with architects BDP and Leach Rhodes Walker responsible for the designs. The proposals reconfigure the

The Hotel Bellevue has relaunched as a five-star property on the Croatian island of Lošinj, in Cikat Bay, in the coming months, after a €50m (US$67m, £40m) refurbishment by owners Jadranka Group. As the first five-star hotel in Lošinj, this property completes Jadranka’s portfolio of tourism developments on the island. The hotel is the flagship property for Jadranka – which was founded in 1947 by the National Cres-Lošinj County to

Three years behind schedule, significantly over budget and with no lack of controversy, the Picasso Museum in Paris finally looks set to open. The French culture ministry announced the long-awaited unveiling would take place on 25 October, exactly 133 years since Pablo Picasso was born. Musée Picasso closed to the public in 2009 for the renovation of the 17th-century building and an ambitious expansion that would double the exhibition area.