The Four Seasons Hotel Westcliff Johannesburg, the global operator's first in South Africa, is set to open in the second quarter of 2014. The original luxury Westcliff Hotel was built in 1997, but closed in June last year to undergo renovations and new constructions after the owners signed a long-term management agreement with Four Seasons. The brand new Spa at Four Seasons will feature nine treatment rooms – one of

The redevelopment of the Aspen Club and Spa in Colorado, including the addition of 20 timeshare condos, will break ground in Q3 this year. First proposed in 2005, the US$65m (€47m, £38.6m) project to drill geothermal wells in the area of the existing tennis courts – where the new condos will be – received approval in 2010. The Club’s owner and managing director, Michael Fox, told local media that the

Beneath the renowned Gemstock peak of the Useren valley, the Chedi Andermatt resort – owned by Andermatt Swiss Alps AG – is now open for business. The Swiss resort's 25,833sq ft (2,399sq m) spa is being operated by GHM and its 10 treatment rooms are used for a range of offerings using products by Alpienne, ila, Ren and SpaRitual. The spa can accommodate 35-40 guests daily. Thermal facilities include a

Dubai developer Damac has begun work on a 33-storey tower in Jumeirah Village, complete with 388 serviced living units, expected to open mid 2017. Conceptualised and designed by its in-house team of architects, the tower’s Chrysalis Spa at Vantage offers separate male and female steamrooms and saunas – as is the local custom – a whirlpool, floatation room, beauty salon and fitness centre. The Chrysalis Spa will feature a fusion

Shiseido is the new spa treatment partner in the U Spa Barrière at the Parisian Hotel Fouquets Barrière – the only spa in Paris to offer exclusive treatments by Shiseido. Operated by U Spa Barrière, the 750sq m (8,072sq ft) spa, which originally opened in 2006 at the same time as the hotel, features a 15m swimming pool with an aqua trail of waterfalls and jets, separate steamrooms and saunas

The UK’s economic recovery has received a welcome shot in the arm from the leisure industry, with development activity in the retail and leisure sector reaching a record high, according to new data. The latest research from property agent Savills found that 32 per cent of respondents to its monthly survey reported a rise in retail and leisure activity in March, the sector’s highest score since 2003. Developers are also

Ealing Council’s £19m redevelopment of Acton Town Hall in west London is complete, with the new leisure centre due to open this Saturday (19 April) after 22 months of construction. The comprehensive redesign – drawn up by S&P Architects and carried out by Willmott Dixon – has resulted in the addition of a 100-station gym, eight-lane 25m swimming pool, 12m training pool with movable floor, two dance studios, multipurpose rooms

The Geffrye Museum has named Wright & Wright Architects to lead the design of its £14m (€17m, US$23m) development scheme. The project will create new spaces for the museum’s collections and library – set to feature a gallery, cafe and conference facilities as well as a rejuvenation of the current public spaces. A planning application will be submitted by 2016 and the opening of the redeveloped museum is set for

A museum charting the history of National Socialism in Germany has launched an open design contest for its £14m ($23.5m, €17m) expansion project. The Obersalzberg Centre of Documentation in Berchtesgaden, Germany is located close to Adolf Hitler’s now-demolished Kehlsteinhaus – or Eagle’s Nest – mountain retreat. The museum opened in 1999 and attracts 160,000 visitors per year. The expansion project will refurbish the existing 675sq m (7,266sq ft) building and

Zurich-based architects Gruppe, have been announced as the winners of a competition organised by the Architecture Foundation and the Museum of London (MOL). The winning design was chosen from more than 70 entries from around the world: competitors were asked to create a structure which encourages interaction between visitors. Called the the House of Muses, the plywood structure is modelled on a pillar from an imaginary monument and is inspired

Work has been completed on the US$425m (€307m, £254m) Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) in South Korea. ZHA won an international design competition for the project back in 2007 and the scheme has finally come to fruition, having opened in time to host Seoul Fashion Week at the end of March. The 86,574sq m (931,874sq ft) DDP comprises a design museum, educational facilities, a sky lounge

Council bosses have agreed to sell land to a shopping centre in Stoke to facilitate a £20m expansion leisure project. Despite blocking a similar deal 18 months ago, Stoke-on-Trent City Council plans to sell off 537sq m (5,780sq ft) of land at Quadrant Road to intu Potteries for a fee of £180,000. The 60,000sq ft expansion – called The Hive – will feature five restaurants and a Cineworld multiplex, but

The Deep Nature spa in Belgium’s highest residential tower – the UP-site – is set to launch on 1 July this year in Brussels. Set within the 140m high 42-storey tower, the 600sq m (6,458sq m) spa features five treatment rooms including a double suite for couples’ treatments, a scrub room, swimming pool, hot and cold baths, sensory showers, a hammam and a sauna. Skin care products will be provided

A heritage row has erupted over plans to build a permanent home and museum for the Nobel prize – the first in the award’s 114-year history. The new headquarters threaten two historic buildings with demolition and a group of more than 5,000 has formed in protest of the plans. Under the proposals, a 25,000sq m (269,000sq ft) facility will open in 2018. The new centre will house nearly all Nobel’s

The Paris Peninsula Hotel and Spa is expected to open in August this year, only a few paces from the Champs Elysées and l’Arc de Triomphe. Construction of the first Peninsula hotel on European soil began in 2010 and upon completion, the neoclassical 200-bedroom hotel’s spa will be situated on the first level of the three-floor basement and will cover more than 1,800sq m (19,375sq ft). Spa consultant Hydroconcept has

Preparations for the construction of a new three-storey 20,000sq ft (1,858sq m) spa at Sun Valley Resort have begun, adding to the existing Sun Valley Lodge in Idaho, US. According to the design-review application – to be discussed later this month by the Sun Valley Planning and Zoning Commission – the 141,100sq ft (13,108sq m) lodge will be expanded to 172,487sq ft (16,024sq m) once the project is completed. The

The ESPA beachfront spa is now open for business at the Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal. The 16-treatment room spa spans 21,500sq ft (1,997sq m) and consists of one hammam, two saunas, three steam rooms, four experience showers, two ice fountains and two swimming pools - all designed, supplied and installed by spa engineers Barr + Wray. The heat experience showers and one of the steam rooms have been built

Mountain Lodge, Adler Resorts’ fourth hotel, is set to open on 3 July this year in the heart of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site after more than 10 years of planning. Located way up in the Italian mountains – at a height of 1,800m – the hotel’s main lodge top-floor spa comprises three treatment rooms, a sauna, relaxation area and a wrap-around infinity pool with panoramic views of the

Work has begun on a new £6m hotel and gym facility in Harrogate town centre. Pure Gym and Travelodge will occupy the mixed-use development, occupying a 70-bedroom hotel and a 16,900sq ft gym facility respectively. Leeds-based Gregory Property Group bought the former bowling alley in 2011 and secured planning approval to redevelop the site in February 2013. It had already secured a 25-year lease with Travelodge to operate the hotel

Leisure design and build specialist Createability has secured health, fitness and leisure industry veteran Brian Thompson as its new sales director. Thompson, whose career spans more than 20 years in the sector, will be responsible for defining the company’s sales strategy, taking the business into new sectors, building a sales team and ultimately increasing turnover. Thompson began his career in 1989 as a duty manager within a local authority leisure

The Grand Ho Tram Strip Hotel in southern Vietnam is up and running after the first phase of the resort development – including a 1,650sq m (17,760sq ft) spa – was completed at the end of last year. Asian Coast Development (Canada) (ACDL) is the international development company behind this 400-acre integrated resort destination – expected to become the largest tourism complex in Vietnam. ACDL’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Ho Tram Project

A collaboration led by architectural firm Francisco Mangado has been commissioned to convert an old hospital into a thermal bath facility in France following a design competition. Francisco Mangado, along with V2S architectes, Terrell, SACET, Alayrac, and GAMBA Acoustique Architecturale & Urbaine, will convert the old Thermal Hospital of the municipality of Amélie-les-Bains in southern France into a spa. Scheduled to open at the end of 2016, the €6.5m (US$9m,

Marilyn Monroe Spas opened its Timeless spa this week at the 487-bedroom, 54-storey Hyatt Hotel in Times Square, New York. The 4,200sq ft (390sq m) spa which comprises five treatment rooms – one of which is for couples – was designed by George Wong and will be open to both locals and guests. “We are delighted to bring Hyatt guests, area residents and visitors to New York a new and

The Brando eco-resort, opening this July in French Polynesia, is planning to become the first resort in the world to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification. Previously owned by Marlon Brando, the island of Tetiaroa features a Deep Nature spa called the Varua Polynesian Spa, built on a freshwater lake. Designed by Lonsdale Western Design, the spa will feature its own Varua-branded skin care products. There

A Mars encounter could soon become a reality, after plans were revealed to build a US$80m (£47.7m, €57.9m) Mars-themed attraction in Brevard County, Florida. 4Frontiers – the company behind the plans – has launched an initial private offering to finance the first phase of Interspace Florida, an interactive space-themed destination focused on the red planet. The first phase of development will see construction of one-third of the site, leaving room

Work to create Sydney’s version of New York’s High Line has begun, with plans to transform a disused rail track, originally used for transporting freight, into a reinvigorated public space for leisure. The High Line is a public park built on the former rail line that ran above the streets of New York and is the inspiration for the Australian Sydney project. The Goods Line in Sydney stretches for 500m

The men’s only grooming brand, Gentlemen’s Tonic, has extended its global expansion with the launch of a 1,800sq ft (167.2sq m) barbershop in India – with facilities for women provided by its partners – Worship Salon. Gentlemen’s Tonic India and Worship Salon are located at the DLF Emporio shopping resort in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. Designed by Anica Kocchar of Phenotype Designs, the two Gentlemen’s Tonic India treatment rooms use