Cheshire West & Chester Council has approved £15m plans for a new sports and leisure village in Ellesmere Port. To be built on the former Stanney High School site, the village would include: an eight-court badminton hall with seating capacity for 1,400; an eight-lane competition pool; and an 80-station gym. The leisure offer would meet the town's predicted needs in growth and usage until at least 2030, however, the council

Vivanta by Taj has reopened its Bentota resort in Sri Lanka following an US$12.5m (9.5m euro, £8m) redevelopment of the property. The resort's new look, by Malaysia-based interior designer Nic Proud, has been described as a "blend of contemporary style with colonial charm". The centrepiece of the redesigned resort is the 7,500sq ft (700sq m) Jiva Spa, which houses six treatment rooms. Located adjacent to the main resort, the free-standing,

Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa will open in Kuwait on 7 May - the first Jumeirah hotel in the Gulf region outside the United Arab Emirates. Designed by New York's Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the luxury beachfront development includes 316 rooms and suites, 80 residential suites and 12 villas with views of the hotel gardens. The 3,500sq m (37,674sq ft) Talise Spa includes 17 treatment rooms and two private

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has officially opened its new Shanghai resort in China. Located on the banks of Huangpu River, Mandarin Oriental Pudong is housed within Harbour City, a new 62-acre waterfront destination developed by Shanghai Rui Ming real estate company. The resort, which occupies 111,000sq m (1,195,000 sq ft), features 318 guestrooms and 44 suites along with 210 executive apartments, designed by architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia of Arquitectonica. Presidential suites

Aberdeen Art Gallery has revealed £30m plans to redevelop its premises, landing Heritage Lottery Fund support to progress the project. Designed by Glasgow architects Gareth Hoskins, the redevelopment would restore and modernise its buildings, bring to life its internationally significant permanent collections, expand temporary displays and enhance the visitor experience. It would also raise the prominence of the gallery's War Memorial building - the current focus of the annual Act

Plans to transform part of East Manchester with new sports and community facilities have been granted council approval, with work due to begin later this year. The joint venture between Manchester City Council, Manchester City Football Club and urban regeneration company New East Manchester will see a 16-acre site in Beswick redeveloped with a new leisure centre, pool and school. A sports research centre, offering academic research and diagnostic facilities,

Popular UK attraction The London Dungeon, operated by Merlin Entertainments, has reopened at a new location on the city's South Bank following a £20m investment. Adjacent to two other Merlin Entertainments attractions - the London Eye and Sea Life London Aquarium - it boasts 18 shows, using actors within detailed sets, and two thrill rides. Features include a "medieval" lift, Guy Fawkes conspirators show, a maze set in Jack the

Hyatt has announced a Grand Hyatt hotel is planned for Changsha, Hunan Province in central China. The 324-room hotel will include a spa, as well as fitness facilities, pool, meeting and banquet facilities, and restaurants and bars. It will occupy the upper floors of a 268m-tall skyscraper, located in a mixed-use complex – The Central – and expected to become the new landmark of Changsha. The hotel is currently being

Restaurant group Nobu has officially opened the first Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, US. The 181-bedroom property – a collaboration between Caesars Palace, chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Nobu Hospitality primary shareholders, actor Robert De Niro and film producer Meir Teper – has been designed by New York-based David Rockwell, who has fused Japanese and Asian traditions with Western influences. Guests staying at the hotel can take advantage

The British Museum has revealed it is progressing on schedule for the opening of its new £135m exhibition space, due to open in March 2014. Construction on the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre (WCEC) began in autumn 2011 in the north-west corner of the museum's central London estate. The redevelopment project is one of the largest in the museum's 260-year history and will include a new public exhibition gallery, state-of-the-art

London's Science Museum has revealed details regarding its communications gallery Information Age, due to open in September 2014. The £15.6m space will include interactive displays and reveal personal stories about how human life has been transformed by communication innovations over the past 200 years. Covering a space of 2,500sq m - the largest exhibition space in the museum - the gallery will be divided into six zones focused on transformative

Turkish design hotel Marti Istanbul has unveiled Marti Wellness by Spa Soul on the top floor of its property. With views over the city the spa offers five treatment rooms, steamrooms, sauna, two private marble hammam rooms and a Roman bath in an 850sq m (9,149sq ft) Ottoman-inspired space. In addition to traditional Turkish treatments, including the Turkish Hammam Bath, the spa menu includes algo-radiance facials and foot acupressure. Those

The Spa at Williams Island, Florida, has reopened following a US$5m (4m euro, £6m) refurbishment, as part of a US$10m (8m euro, £6m) revamp of the 84-acre community. The 27,000sq ft (2,508sq m) spa will offer therapeutic facial, massage and body treatments, a 60ft indoor lap pool, steamroom, sauna, whirlpool and cold plunge pool. Massage treatments include hot stone, reflexology and spine stretch Breuss massage. Spa product lines will include

Premier Rides, the ride support division of Premier Service, has been selected by Ocean Park Hong Kong theme park to provide new ride technology and technical services and support for multiple rides over an extended period of time. Premier and Ocean Park will work together to incorporate elements such as the latest in new ride technology into existing legacy rides. The upgrades will include the incorporation of controls and braking

San Francisco's Exploratorium science museum officially unveiled its US$300m (228m euro, £197m) expansion at Pier 15 on the city's waterfront on 17 April. The museum now has 330,000sq ft (30,658sq m) of floor space - trebling the footprint it had at its former home at the Palace of Fine Arts. It will display more than 600 exhibits. Established in 1969, the museum is dedicated to science, art and human perception,

London-based architects Carmody Groarke have submitted a planning application to the Lake District National Park to redevelop the Windermere Steamboat Museum into a heritage attraction. The £13.4m museum development will include exhibition space, a wet dock to display heritage boats and a conservation workshop open to the public. Highlights of the collection will include: steam launches of the 1890s and 1900s; SL Dolly (1850) - the oldest mechanically powered boat

S&P architects have merged with AFL Architects to form AFLS+P, which will be one of the largest architectural practices in the UK. By joining forces, they plan to extend their operations nationally and internationally. AFLS+P has offices in London, Manchester, Glasgow, Dublin and Doha. Regional growth will continue in the UK, with a new office in Birmingham in May this year, and internationally, where it will build on work in

A new boutique hotel, which can be booked in its entirety for up to 22 guests, has opened opposite Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. Owned by the G1 Group - which also operates Central Hotel, Grassmarket Hotel and Bank Hotel - Murrayfield House has been designed by Jim Hamilton to create a homely ambience. Features include vintage furniture from India, light fittings from Holland and chairs from Paris, as well as

Planning approval has been granted for a community sports centre to be built at Coleshill School in North Warwickshire. The facility will replace the ageing Coleshill Leisure Centre, which according to planning documents would have been too costly and take too long to refurbish. The planning document also stated that despite attracting 100,000 visits a year the leisure facility's popularity had dropped 14.5 per cent between 2008/09 and 2010/11. The

SportScotland has revealed bidders who have made it to the second stage of the process to develop a National Performance Centre for Scotland. A preferred bidder for the multi-sport centre, to receive up to £25m of government support, will be announced in summer with the facilities expected to be complete by early 2016. Six stage one bids were received in February and those that have been invited to take their

Manchester City Council has revealed plans for a national home for both speedway and basketball, as part of the £10m Belle Vue Sports Village development. It will offer new sports facilities for the community and elite athletes alike, while also modernising the existing Belle Vue Leisure Centre. A purpose-built 6,500-capacity speedway will provide the Belle Vue Aces with their own home allowing them to hold weekend meets, which will strengthen

COMO Hotels and Resorts is to open a secluded island retreat - Maalifushi by COMO - in the Maldives next October. The resort will be located on a 20-acre private island in south Thaa Atoll and will be the company's second resort in the Maldives. Designed by Japanese architect Koichiro Ikebuchi, the 66-room property will be the first luxury resort on the unspoilt Thaa Atoll and will offer a range

Sofitel Hotel Group has entered Uruguay with the opening of its latest resort - Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco and Spa - in Carrasco. Located on a national heritage site, the building is inspired by French 'art de vivre' and local culture and features 93 rooms and 23 suites. The company's signature So Spa will span 5,382 sq ft (500 sq m) and promises to provide a relaxing atmosphere for the

Luxury coastal spa Salcombe Harbour Hotel in Devon has announced it will reopen on 1 August, following an extensive refurbishment. The hotel will feature 50 new bedrooms - many with private balconies and panoramic sea views - and the Harbour Spa, which covers two levels and is excavated into the cliff. The spa will include five treatment rooms and a fitness suite on the first level, and a swimming pool,

Three consortia of renowned stadium developers - responsible for projects including the London Olympic Stadium, Adelaide Oval and Singapore Sports Hub - have been shortlisted for the right to bid for the design and construction of the new 60,000 seat Perth Stadium. The three consortia are WESTADIUM, led by Brookfield Financial and John Laing, Confidem led by Capella Capital and WestAdium led by Bouygues and Plenary Group. The stadium will

UK-based design and engineering group Atkins has been appointed to draw up plans for a five star hotel and residential complex with sea-side views and private beach in the Chinese city of Sanya. Atkins' scope of work consists of concept design development, schematic design and landscaping. The masterplan is centred on seashell-like curvaceous buildings and strategically placed landscaped platforms that terrace towards the sea, optimising beach views for the hotel

A new US$300m (€ 230m, £195m) Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is being developed in Los Angeles, US by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali. The Museum, which is slated to debut in 2017, will span 300,000 sq ft (27,870sq m). Located in the 1939 May Company Building on the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the museum will feature six levels of exhibition and programming