An £11.6m funding application to regenerate Shrewsbury’s eighteenth-century Flax Mill Maltings for public and commercial use will be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) by the end of March. The site comprises seven listed buildings and includes the Main Mill, which was built in 1797 and was the world’s first iron-framed building and the forerunner of the modern skyscraper. Other buildings to be renovated include the Kiln, the Dye,

Details of the UK's first Shangri-La - to occupy levels 34 to 52 of The Shard - have been revealed ahead of its opening this summer. The five-star 202-room property will be London's first elevated luxury hotel and promises panoramic views, including nearby attractions such as the Tate Modern, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral and Shakespeare's Globe. Room features will include custom-made beds, iPod docking stations, complimentary high-speed

A new interdisciplinary exhibition at New York's Museum of Design examines new design approaches in the post-millennial museum. After the Museum: The Home Front 2013 opened on 12 March and aims to get audiences reconsidering traditional notions of the structure and roles of museums through installations, digital initiatives, lectures and publications. Co-curator and manager of public programmes at the museum, Jake Yuzka, said: "Over the last on hundred years, both

Sunderland College is to undertake a multi-million pound project to improve sports and arts facilities that includes a new three-storey sports centre. The project, which will be developed by Bam Construction, will see the demolition of several buildings at the college's Bede Campus to make way for the new sports centre and a new visual and performing arts building. The 1,205 sq m (12,970sq ft) sports centre will include a

London's first railway hotel - Great Northern Hotel - will re-open in April for the first time in almost 12 years following multi-million-pound renovations. Situated between King's Cross Station and St Pancras International, the privately owned Grade II-listed building has been restored by owner-operator Jeremy Robson of Ram. Originally designed by architect Lewis Cubitt, the Great Northern Hotel opened in 1854 as the first of the new generation of Victorian

Dudley Council has approved plans for three attractions at Castle Hill submitted for planning permission in January. The £10.1m plans for the Dudley Zoological Gardens, the Black Country Living Museum and the Dudley Canal Trust include a shared arrival point for visitors, a new entrance for each attraction and 600 new parking spaces and an upgraded car park. The plans, which had been shared with the public in February, received

The Heritage Lottery Fund has this week awarded £704,500 for the permanent display of the largest and most valuable Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. The 3,500-piece Staffordshire Hoard, which includes 7th-century gold and silver metalwork, has been on temporary display since September 2009 – two months after its discovery in a field near Lichfield. The proposed gallery will showcase approximately 300 items and interpret the

Paisley Abbey has submitted plans to Refrewshire Council for the £2m reconstruction of its fourth cloister, to house a visitor centre, café, gift shop and function space. Architects Simpson & Brown have submitted the plans, received 28 February, and state the extension will complement the existing 12th-century abbey without copying what was there. It is hoped the two-floor expansion- to be constructed of heavy masonry on the ground floor and

The first phase of The New York Palace’s major revamp will see the hotel’s towers get a US$25m (€ 19m, £17m) upgrade and makeover. Two design firms have been selected, San Francisco-based BAMO ; who will redesign The Towers’ 176 guest rooms and suites as well as the new private reception experience; and New York-based design firm BBG-BBGM, who is renovating two of the hotel’s triplex suites and the new

London mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled plans to transform 15-acres of docklands in the city's east into the UK's largest "floating village" bringing jobs, commercial space and homes to the capital's waterways. The launch of an international design competition to find developers to design and deliver the scheme, coincides with his visit to the world's premiere property conference MIPIM where he will promote the site and others around the capital.

The Ritz-Carlton has officially opened a new luxury Middle East resort and spa - The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal - opposite the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Spanning 230,670 sq m (57 acres), the resort consists of ten buildings arranged in a crescent formation, that feature 447 guestrooms and suites, in addition to 85 private one and two-bedroom villas. The 2,000 sq m (21,500 sq ft) Abu Dhabi ESPA spa

A major partnership between East Sussex County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and the University of Sussex will see around 350,000 items moved from the Royal Pavilion & Museums to new historical resource centre The Keep, beginning next month. Based in Falmer the facility will house the area's archives and historical records including: maps and plans; written records; photographs and films; prints and drawings; oral histories; digital and electronic

Construction is underway on a £7m development of a cinema and restaurant complex in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. The 32,000sq ft (2,972sq m) Rowley Arts Centre is being developed Turnstone Estates and built by Briannia construction company. Britannia has begun transforming an old recycling centre and car park into the new complex that will comprise an 18,600 sq ft (1,728sq m) six-screen Cineworld cinema (capable also of hosting theatre productions) and

Don Valley Stadium in Sheffield is to be transformed into a £40m "sports and wellbeing park". The plans, described as the most comprehensive Olympic legacy project outside of the capital, would see the demolition of the existing Don Valley stadium and a complete redevelopment of the site. At the heart of the planned development is a new stadium - providing a new home for the Sheffield Eagles (Rugby League) and

Liverpool-based architecture and design company Broadway Malyan has secured a contract to design the Everton Park Destination Hub in Liverpool. The competition, which was organised by economic development company Liverpool Vision, saw Broadway Malyan beat off stiff competition from four other Liverpool-based architects, Austin Smith Lord, Cass Associates, FVMA and Studio Three. The winning design includes an information centre, event and gallery space and café and was deemed to make

Australia's Art Gallery of New South Wales has revealed it plans to double in size and transform itself into an art museum for the "Asian century", in time for the 150th anniversary of its founding in 2021. An international architectural competition will produce a design for the new building, which will expand northwards towards the harbour. Other improvements - part of a strategic master plan for the attraction - include

Hyatt is to make its debut in the Mediterranean Island Mallorca off the east coast of Spain with its first Hyatt-branded hotel opening in 2015. The hotel will be located at the centre of a 61-acre master development, which is owned and being developed by Spanish developers Grupo Cap Vermell. Overlooking the Canyamel valley with views of the sea and the ancient town of Artá, the resort will feature 142

New sport-inspired mixed-use development The:Square3, which will consist of three towers of gold, silver and bronze, is expected to open in Berlin in 2017. Located near the Olympic sports centre and Europe's largest urban nature reserve, The:Square3 urban quarter will offer hotels, 1,000 apartments, educational facilities and sport-themed retail experiences all in one place. Conceived by Berlin-based developer Moritz Gruppg and designed by architects, LAVA, the 146,000sq m (1.5m sq

London mayor Boris Johnson has signed off £1.5bn plans for the regeneration of Elephant & Castle in the city's southeast, providing new leisure and community facilities, thousands of new homes, and shops and offices. The plans, submitted by Southwark Council's development partner Lend Lease, will see 23 acres of Heygate Estate demolished and redeveloped, creating 5,000 construction jobs and a further 1,255 permanent jobs once the transformation is complete. The

Alton Towers Resort has worked with researchers at New Scientist to ensure its news £18m roller coaster The Smiler delivers park visitors maximum thrills. The ride, which will reach speeds of 85km/hr along 1,170m of track, will feature "twisted psychological effects to mess with riders' minds" including blinding lights and optical illusions to maximise the fear factor. Alton Towers aims to make visitors to feel "spaced out, or mashed up"

Financing to fund the first phase of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia, US, has been secured, with construction to start this month. The US$125m (96m euro, £84m) project, which will detail the African-American civil rights movement and ongoing human rights issues, had been slow to secure funds due to the economic downturn. However, on 7 March PNC Bank and Invest Atlanta announced US$24m (18m

Disney has unveiled the first image of Shanghai Disneyland Resort, at its annual meeting of shareholders this month. Set to open in 2015, the resort will include 225-acre theme park Shanghai Disneyland, two themed hotels and 16,000sq m (495,000sq ft) of retail, dining and entertainment, recreational facilities and a lake. The Enchanted Storybook Castle will be the centrepiece of the theme park and will be surrounded by themed lands. Walt

Filmmaker George Lucas has revealed his vision for a populist art museum to be built in San Francisco overlooking the Bay Area, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. His proposal is one of 16 received by the Presidio Trust, which is overseeing the rejuvenation of the former commissary site at Crissy Field, with others proposals including an observatory, an environmental museum and a museum dedicated to the US response to

A new multi-million euro sports, music and culture indoor arena, designed by C3XN, is set to launch in Copenhagen, Denmark. Designed to hold between 12,500 and 15,000 spectators, the arena will be situated in the Ørestad-area of Denmark's capital, and is scheduled to be completed by Q3 2015. The development team includes sports and venue specialists from AECOM, HKS Architects, Arup, ME Engineers and Planit. Realdania and the City of

Zaha Hadid Architects has revealed plans to transform a former textile factory in Belgrade, Serbia into a 94,000sq m (1m sq ft) mixed use leisure development. Greek company Lamda Development, which bought the Beko factory in 2007, appointed EPR Architects as hotel consultants. Located near Kalemegdan Castle, overlooking the junction of Sava and Danube Rivers, the Beko site will house a luxury boutique hotel, a congress centre along with residential,

Australia’s Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens are to get a new “Biome” structure to showcase plants and insects from the Australasian and Indomalaya regions. According to the Sydney Morning Herald work on the AU$20m (US$21m, 16m euro, £14m) structure, designed by architectural firm Hassell, will begin this year and will be completed in 2015. It is expected to attract 70,000 visitors to the park annually. New South Wales environment minister Robyn

Australia’s Queensland state government has approved an AU$600m (US$617m, 472m euro, £408m) resort for Great Keppel Island, which will be one of the biggest tourism developments in the country – pending approval from the federal government. The proposed first stage of development would include: a 250-room hotel at Fisherman’s Beach with restaurant and conference facilities; a 250-berth marina and yacht club at Putney Beach; 150 precinct apartments and staff accommodation;