After a soft opening earlier this Summer, the Hotel Ambassador in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, will be welcoming guests to its newly renovated rooms and spa. Constructed in 1969, the new Crans Ambassador has re-opened after a renovation which was started at the end of 2009 by architect Pierre Gervais, who supervised the building’ entire renovation process and architectural design of the spa’s interior. The SPA 360? covers an area of 1,300

Northampton Town FC chair David Cardoza has said plans to redevelop the club’s Sixfields Stadium are “the biggest thing which has ever happened to the club.” A planning application was submitted on 10 October, with the plans including an expanded west stand and a complete redevelopment of the east stand, with new corporate boxes and a conference centre. If planning permission is granted, work could begin as early as February

Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva in Switzerland has launched the inaugural Spa Mont Blanc, which opened today (15 Oct) following a three-year renovation. The 1,200sq m (12,916sq ft) spa, designed by Turkey-based architectural firm Metex Design Group, features seven treatment rooms, including a double suite with private hammam. Also included is a fitness centre, rooftop terrace, Japanese-fusion restaurant, infinity pool, male and female-only hammams, a hairdresser, silent vitality pool

Mirbeau will be adding its second location with the opening of its new Inn & Spa at Pinehills, New England, US in 2014. The Mirbeau Inn & Spa will feature a distinctive design and décor, recreating the look of a French country estate. The 50-bedroom destination retreat has been designed by Boston-based firm Arrowstreet, with interior designs by Mirbeau Companies co-owner Linda Dower and Desson Design’s Westley Spruill. The hotel’s

Interior designers, design worldwide partnership (dwp) has had its skills endorsed for designing hotel restaurants by scooping two awards at the 2013 Design & Architecture Awards in London. Both awards were for Restaurants with a Hotel. The Horizon Restaurant & Skybar at the Hilton Pattaya, Thailand designed by the Thailand office, won the International Hotel & Property Award. The Belon Oyster Bar & Grill at the Banyan Tree, Macau, designed

Developers of a new district in Chengdu, China - designed to house two million people - have turned to Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, UK for inspiration. Letchworth was designed as a self-contained, sustainable community with proportionate areas for homes and recreation, and Chinese developers believe the plan can be adapted for cities of up to 14 million people. Industrial areas in Letchworth were set aside and all parts of

Construction work has begun on the £30m Islands project at Chester Zoo in Cheshire following a groundbreaking ceremony. Set to open in 2015, Islands will fill a previously unoccupied area of the zoo and will feature flora and fauna from the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Bali, Sumatra, Sumba and Sulawesi. There will also be an Indonesian jungle house, one of the largest indoor zoo exhibits in the UK, which will

The Storytelling Architecture Technology Experience (SATE) Conference 2013 kicks off today (3 October) at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) with Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Centre (ETC) founder, Don Marinelli making the keynote speech, entitled SATE: the reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic of the 21st Century. Organised by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), the conference is an annual, international gathering of themed entertainment and experience design creators, producers, owners

The Serpentine Sackler Gallery, a £14.5m arts and gallery space designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, has opened in London. The Sackler is Hadid’s first permanent structure to be created in central London and features 900 metres of exhibition space, a restaurant and room for socialising. The building is seven minutes’ walk from the main Serpentine Gallery. Located in Kensington Gardens – in an 1805 gunpowder store formerly known as The

A luxury holiday home built within the walls of a derelict castle in Warwickshire has won this year’s RIBA Stirling Prize for architecture. Astley Castle, near Nuneaton, was chosen from six shortlisted buildings – including the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre in Northern Ireland – to win the award, which is the highest accolade of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The building dates back 1,000 years, has links to

The world’s first ever Compact Athletics Facility (CAF), designed to allow track and field facilities to be built in places where there is limited space, has opened in Hackney, north east London. A joint initiative by England Athletics and Sport England, the £370,000 facility at Stoke Newington School includes a sprint straight, a long jump straight and pit, a high jump area, a throws area and a running trail around

Described as a cross between the Royal Albert Hall and the Coliseum, Scotland’s latest entertainment venue opened its doors, in Glasgow, on 23rd September. Rod Stewart was the opening act for The Hydro, the 12,000-seater music, sport and entertainment arena which is expected to be the fifth busiest entertainment arena in the world, alongside venues such as London’s O2 Arena. Situated next to the Clyde Auditorium and SECC, the £125m

Sweden is putting its tradition and knowledge of building sustainable cities to the test with an urban development project on a brownfield site next to the harbour and Ekoparken national park. Plans are afoot to transform 236 hectares into a mix of homes, offices and green areas, by 2030. Within easy cycling distance of the city, the site is set to have 12,000 apartments and 135,000sq m of commercial space,

Two new luxury hotels by Four Seasons are set to open next year in Dubai and Bahrain. The Bahrain hotel will be Four Seasons' first venture in the kingdom and will be part of the $2.5bn (£1.56bn, €1.87bn) Bahrain Bay waterfront community - a rapidly developing area on the north coast of Manama. Included will be 263 bedrooms, a spa, conference centre and ballroom, business centre and restaurants. The spa

A planning application for an £11m leisure centre in Washington has been unveiled by Sunderland City Council. The centre will include a six lane, 25m pool, a four court sports hall, a multi-purpose sports hall, two squash courts, sauna, steamrooms and relaxation area, a soft play centre and football pitches. A wellness centre will comprise a 100-station gym, spinning studio, exercise studio and two consultation rooms. Pellikaan Construction has already

The Shangdong area of Qingdao will soon be home to its first Westin Hotel, when it opens at the end of 2013. The Westin Qingdao will be one of the tallest buildings in the central business district of the city, overlooking the Olympic Sailing Centre. The new hotel will feature 321 bedrooms, a Heavenly Spa by Westin and a WestinWORKOUT fitness centre, in addition to 2,000sq m (21,500 sq ft)

The Bavarian Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts and Haus der Kunst have announced that David Chipperfield Architects has won the final round of the competitive tender process for the renovation of the Haus der Kunst art museum, one of Munich’s most iconic and controversial architectural landmarks. David Chipperfield's record in renovating museum buildings within an international context was given as a major reason for the choice. The jury

Plymouth Argyle Football Club's (PAFC) chair James Brent has said the club will finally be able to shed its 'Cinderella status', following the approval of plans for a £50m regeneration of its Higher Home Park stadium. Plymouth City Council's planning committee gave its consent to the plans, which will see the aged venue turned into a regional hub for sport and leisure in South West of England. Brent hopes the

Japan's ability to organise and deliver on major projects and its fortitude in the face of a major challenge – as demonstrated by rebuilding after the tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster – is thought to have won it the 2020 Olympic bid. Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), stressed the importance to the IOC of ensuring the 2020 games is of the highest quality, saying: "Tokyo

Plans have been revealed to transform a 32-acre site in Kirkham, Lancashire into an £18m community sports, science and education centre. Plans for the Mill Farm site, drawn up by Frank Whittle Partnership, include a new 6,000-capacity home stadium for non-league AFC Fylde, a large indoor sports science building, a range of all-weather pitches for community use and a 63-bedroom hotel. There will also be a food store, a distribution

Netherlands-based hotel company citizenM has revealed plans to open two new hotels in London during 2014. The first to open will be citizenM Tower of London, a design-led 'pod hotel' which will be built over the exit hall of the Tower Hill London Underground Station. The nine storey hotel will comprise of 370 luxury modular bedrooms over eight floors, a ground floor cafe, bar, living room spaces and a SocietyM

The lavish JW Marriott Resort & Spa on the island of Sacca Sessola in Italy, which is set to open end of 2014, has announced details of its wellness offerings. The resort is situated 15 minutes by speedboat from Piazza San Marco in Venice. The Sacca Sessola is a 40-acre man-made island, is one of 118 islands in the Venetian lagoon. Spa consultant and management company GOCO, is developing a

YTL Hotels, part of Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corporation Berhad, has announced a new hotel and spa project in the UNESCO World Heritage City of Bath, UK. The Gainsborough Bath Spa, the company's first Classic Hotel in the UK, will open early in 2014. The hotel will have direct access to Bath's natural thermal waters. The 99-room property is located on Beau Street and made up of three historical buildings, each

The Regional Fund for Contemporary Art in the Centre region (FRAC Centre) will open its doors in a new location in France in September, with a striking public reception piece designed by architects Jakob + MacFarlane. The Turbulences, the public entrance area, features a cafeteria, bookshop and auditorium. The prefabricated tubular structure is covered in an anodised aluminium casing and will be programmed with lighting displays. The FRAC Centre will

Italy’s eagerly-awaited science museum, the eco-friendly Museo delle Scienze (MUSE), has opened in Trent, Italy, providing the public with an education about science, nature and the environment. MUSE offers a progressive range of displays, with visitors beginning at the top of the building in the mountains and working their way down to a rainforest at the bottom, as they gain an understanding in how habitats change with altitude. Some of

Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) has begun initial talks over the possibility of building a new 40,000-capacity stadium. It's believed the club is looking into a site at Old Oak Common in West London – close to its current home Loftus Road, which has a capacity of 18,400 and has been deemed too small to fit in with QPR's plans of becoming a regular Premier League club. The club's

The Peterson Automotive Museum in Southern California will mark its 20th anniversary in 2014 with an exterior transformation and interior redesign, creating world class facilities displaying the art, culture and heritage associated with automobiles. The museum’s new exterior is designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and will incorporate long ribbons of stainless steel that wrap around the redesigned red building, in order to create imagery linked to speed and the