The world's tallest hotel, JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai in the UAE, has been officially opened to guests. Soaring at 335m (1,099ft), the hotel is spread across two towers, which feature 1,608 guestrooms. The 72-story property houses a 4,000sq m (43,056sq ft) Saray Spa and Health Club featuring 16 treatment rooms. The spa draws inspiration from the caravanserai silk route across Arabia focussing on places of rest and recovery along

Planning permission for a luxury golf and spa resort development for Northern Ireland’s North Antrim coast has been upheld by the High Court, following a challenge by the National Trust. Northern Ireland environment minister Alex Attwood has welcomed the decision on the Bushmills Dunes Golf Resort and Spa, which he granted approval for in February 2012. The £100m development will include a 120-room hotel with spa and conference facilities and

England’s first national stadium for beach sports will be constructed at Skegness Beach, Lincolnshire, pending planning permission. The 2,040-seat facility would be home to the National England Beach Soccer Team and also host sports such as beach volleyball, rugby, cricket, handball and Futsal It will also host events such as fun days for kids, sand sculpture events, movies on the beach, and Red Bull events. It is expected to attract

A legal challenge to prevent Oxford City Council closing a public swimming pool so a £9.2m replacement can be built has been dropped, following the High Court’s rejection of the claim the community had not been properly consulted. Councillor Van Coulter, member for the council’s leisure board, said he was glad the “costly and time consuming” case – launched in October 2011 – was over. The council plans to operate

Virginia's planned presidential library for George Washington has achieved its US$100m (76.9m euro, £66.5m) capital campaign goal ahead of schedule with a gift from one of the United States' foremost philanthropists. The Mount Vernon Ladies' Assocation revealed on what would have been Washington's 281st birthday that David M. Rubenstein had donated US$10m (7.7m euro, £6.7m) to the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. The association

Belfast communities are being consulted this week regarding opportunities to improve local sport and leisure facilities in tandem with the development of Windsor Park and Casement Park. Northern Ireland sports minister Caral Ni Chuilin has pledged £130m to sport developments in the city, including the two stadia. Belfast City Council is consulting residents on opportunities to provide public leisure facilities in both stadia, a welcoming boulevard style entrance to Windsor

Nikki Beach has chosen Bodrum as the location of its first Turkish resort and spa – set to open in 2014 – due to the region’s popularity with Turkish holidaymakers and international jetsetters. The Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Bodrum will feature 57 suites and villas across 40,000sq m (430,556sq ft) of peninsula overlooking Torga Bay, the Mediterranean and nearby islands. The Nikki Spa – a feature of all the

Harvard Art Museums, comprising the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion project and will reopen in Q3 2014. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the project will bring the three museums under one roof for the first time. The new facility will feature expanded permanent collection galleries along with galleries programmed in consultation with students and faculty and flexible

Dudley Council has shared its plans for the three attractions at Castle Hill with the public, following its submission of planning permission in January for the major redevelopment. The £10.1m proposal 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. During

Tonbridge is one step closer to getting a new leisure and community centre, shops and a cinema for its town centre, with the council signing a legal agreement with Sainsbury's for the redevelopment. The purpose of the regeneration is to stimulate the town's economic vitality, attracting new retailers to the area and shoppers back to the city centre, creating new jobs in the process. Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council and

Plans for a new £50m leisure and retail development - designed by architects Marchini Curran Associates (MCA) - are to be considered by Daventry District Council (DDC). Developer Henry Boot said the Mulberry Place development in Daventry town centre would include 100,000 sq ft of town centre retail and leisure space, a six-screen cinema, together with an 80,000 sq ft food store and 40,000 sq ft of bulky goods on

Construction work on the £22m Aquatics Centre at the Aberdeen Sports Village has reached another landmark and the facility is on track to open in early 2014 - in time for the Commonwealth Games. Graham Construction, which is building the facility, has taken delivery of the centre's Olympic standard diving boards. The installation of the three, five, 7.5 and 10-metre boards is the last major structure to go in before

A Brazilian spa backed by The Body Shop co-founder, AOL's former president and two local entrepreneurs has officially opened in the heart of the country's Atlantic Rainforest. The Botanique Hotel & Spa, said to be the first 100 per cent Brazilian spa, features indigenous treatments, essential oils, therapies and rituals and an all Brazilian staff. Designed by Sao Paulo architects Colletivo de Arquitetos the spa covers 10,000sq ft (929sq m)

A government grant for rural development has partially funded the conversion of a former Durham garage into a quintessentially English spa. The Garage, at Greta Bridge in rural Teesdale, draws on its heritage as a refuelling and repairing point for some of the country’s first motorcars with guests offered “Tune Up Treatments” at the Body Shop and manicure or pedicure treatments at the Paint Shop. An exclusive product line made

Nottingham City Council has granted permission for the demolition of the city’s former Turkish Baths, built in 1928, to make way for a new link road. The application for demolition has now been referred to the secretary of state for a decision, with work to start in summer if it is given the go ahead. The baths are currently vacant but had been part of the Victoria Leisure Centre before

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto has been appointed to design the temporary Serpentine Gallery Pavilion for 2013, which will open in London's Kensington Gardens in June. Fujimoto's design vision for the 350sq m space is a latticed structure with a semi-transparent appearance that will see it blend with the landscape and the gallery's colonnaded east wing. For the first time design firm AECOM will provide technical and engineering services for pavilion.

Planning permission has been granted for an 18,000-capacity stadium at Windsor Park in Northern Ireland, in the fastest turnaround ever for a major planning application. The Irish Football Association (IFA) submitted the application for two new stands and an extension of the north and west stands in early December and permission was granted in 11 weeks. The project is part of a £110m pledge by Northern Ireland sports minister Caral

Wyre Forest District Council has appointed S&P Architects to draw up outline plans for a new £10.1m leisure centre in the Worcestershire district, which will provide a cost-effective alternative to existing facilities. A council review into leisure provision in the region determined a new centre would save the council around £7.5m in maintenance costs over 30 years. Council cabinet member for community wellbeing Ian Hardiman said: "The district deserves a

Construction work of Center Parcs' new £250m village in Bedfordshire is on schedule for a spring 2014 opening. The company has now revealed the first artist's impressions and a 3D 'fly through' video of the Woburn Forest site, which will be Center Parcs' fifth UK village. The holiday village will comprise 625 forest lodges, a 75 bedroom hotel and an Aqua Sana-branded spa with six associated spa suites and two

Work has begun on the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA), which will open in 2016. More than US$95m (£61.4m, 71m euro) of the US$100m (£64.6m, 75m euro) campaign for the new facility was raised by private donations. Designed by New York City-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), the centre will feature "bold new architectural form," that will focus on “beauty and accessibility.” The

Scottish Football League team Berwick Rangers FC has commissioned a feasibility study into building a new stadium, which would see them move from their existing facility in Northumberland, by the English-Scottish border. The club is said to be negotiating the possible purchase of land nearby, also in Tweedmouth, which architecture and design firm Frank Whittle Partnership (FWP) has been commissioned to complete a stadium feasibility study for. The Rangers' current

Work has started on a £6.3m development project at Lee Valley White Water Centre in North London as part of legacy plans for the London 2012 Olympic venue. Scheduled to be completed by early 2014, the works on the site will include improving the international competition-standard facilities with the creation of a new gym and physiotherapy suite housed in an extension to the existing centre. For non-competition users, there will

Plans have been unveiled to turn the former Loudoun Castle theme park site in East Ayrshire, Scotland, into an environmentally-friendly, £300m golf resort. Project management company Vicon UK has joined forces with investor FML to launch the ambitious masterplan, which proposes a world class championship standard 18-hole golf course, club house and educational golf academy as well as a new whisky distillery, homes, retail and a food and drink 'centre

A Minnesota-based construction firm has been selected to build a new $975m (£600m, 750m euro) Vikings stadium by the Minnesota Sports Facility Authority (MSFA). Local contractor Mortenson Construction has built more than 100 sports and entertainment venues and expects the new Minnesota Vikings stadium to be open for the 2016 football season. MSFA, which will own and operate the new stadium, chose Mortenson based on the company's national sports construction

Public donations of £35,000 raised in just over a week mark the end of a £35m appeal to fund a new home for Tudor warship the Mary Rose in Portsmouth. The museum was scheduled to open in autumn 2012 but a final fit out of interiors was to take longer than expected, and the attraction is now expected to open late spring. In addition to the restored ship, the boat-shaped

Animation studio DreamWorks – behind films such as Madagascar, Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon – has revealed it has entered a partnership to open three family theme parks across Russia by 2015. At 35m tall – the height of a 13-storey building – the entertainment attractions will be the largest indoor theme parks in Europe and will open in St Petersburg, Moscow and Yekaterinburg. Russian property developer REGIONS

The Queens Museum of Art (QMA) is undergoing a multi-million dollar expansion that will see its exhibition space double to 105,000sq ft (9,755sq m). Designed by architect firm Grimshaw, the new spaces will include additional gallery spaces, artist studios, education classrooms, a cafe, special events spaces, and administrative spaces. The expansion, which is due to open October 2013, is supported by the Office of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the