A luxury wellness spa inspired by Spanish themes has launched at The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey in Los Angeles. Located on the waterfront, Spa Nautica features seven treatment rooms including separate rooms for couple's treatments and wet treatments, as well as a full service nail salon. In the warmer months the Southern California spa will offer treatments outside on the hotel's pool deck. Spa facilities include eucalyptus steamrooms, a heated

Melia Hotels International has launched a new luxury hotel - ME London - in Marconi House, the original London home of BBC radio. Located on the Strand on the southern tip of Covent Garden, the property offers a collection of 157 guestrooms including 16 suites and a two-floor penthouse. The hotel is designed by Foster + Partners' architects and is the group’s first UK hotel project. The interiors focus on

Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts is to launch a new hotel that will feature a Swahili-themed aqua park and spa in Egypt. Located at the southern end of Hurghada, Steigenberger Aqua Magic will house 688 guest rooms including family rooms, deluxe rooms and suites. The resort, which will open end of 2013 or early 2014, will feature a Splash-certified Aqua Park with a range of slides and attractions including a separate

K2 Crawley leisure centre in West Sussex is set for a £650,000 reconfiguration that will see the centre house a new music and comedy venue. Other plans for K2 include an expansion of the gymnastics hall with a second gymnastics floor space and a new three-tier soft play area. The council's proposed changes would also see the removal of its indoor bowls green. Crawley Borough Council, which held a public

Plans to create a new inland surfing facility on the Isle of Wight have been unveiled by the team behind The Wave: Bristol. Colliers International said that it is in discussions regarding building The Wave:IOW, which would bring together surfing, nature and education. At the centre of the plans is a lake in which water technology would generate waves of up to 1.6m high, at a rate of 120 waves

Lincoln Castle is to undergo a multi-million pound redevelopment to "bring the castle to life," which includes opening the Victorian male prison for the first time in years. Both prison buildings will be refurbished and the project will see the creation of a new vault to showcase Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest. The castle walls will also be repaired and a complete wall walk will be created,

Five design firms have been shortlisted to develop the proposed US$1bn stadium for the Atlanta Falcons American football team in Atlanta, US. Olympic stadium designers Populous are among the finalist to be chosen by the Georgia World Congress Centre Authority (GWCCA), which owns the site. The other architectural firms include Philadelphia-based EwingCole, Dallas-based HKS, Atlanta-based tvsdesign (in partnership with Heery International and Gensler), and Kansas City-based 360 Architecture. All of

Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island has opened its latest attraction, US$245m (180m euro, £155m) waterpark Yas Waterworld, to the public on 20 January – four days earlier than its planned official opening. Spread across 15 hectares (37 acres), the waterpark features 43 rides, slides and attractions and is expected to attract 700,000 visitors this year. UK-based Atkins was the lead designer for the project, with 30-40 engineers and were briefed to

Travelodge will invest £223m in its brand this year, including 14 new hotels at an investment of £141.5m, and the rollout of a new room designed partly by the hotel group’s customers. Twelve new hotels will open in the UK this year and two will open in Spain, in Barcelona and Madrid. All new hotels will incorporate a new room design, overseen by in-house designer Frances Whitley and based on

Work has began on a spa in Leukerbad, in the heart of the Swiss Alps, where the Valasis mountains thermal waters have bubbled at 51 degrees since Roman times. Situated 1,402m above sea level, the 51 degrees Spa will have more than 200 treatments on the menu. The 800sq m (8,611 sq ft) spa – slated for a 2015 opening - will incorporate two rituals rooted in the cultures of

Bristol mayor George Ferguson has announced his support for a proposed aerospace attraction at the Filton airfield that would showcase aircraft, helicopters, aero-engines and missiles, and also provide a home for Concorde 216. In a letter to Iain Gray, chair of the Bristol Aero Collection Trust, Ferguson said he saw the Bristol Aerospace Centre as a "key legacy project". "The Bristol Aeroplane Company was one of the first and most

BAM Construction has secured a £5.3m contract as part of a £7m project to redevelop Plymouth's landmark Theatre Royal. The Devon-based contractor will re-clad the building's curtain walling and refurbish the front-of-house area including the box office and restaurant. New catering facilities will be introduced and the capacity of the restaurant increased. The project will also involve work on the backstage and basement areas, as well as new mechanical and

Contemporary Los Angeles art gallery The Broad is to open January 2014, with a ceremony held to mark the completion of its steel frame this month. Philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad are financing the $130m (96.50m euro, £82.60m) project, which will exhibit works by Jean Michel Basquiat, Joseph Beuys, Keith Haring, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, Robert Rauschenberg, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol in its inaugural exhibition. At the 8 January

A US county authority has put its support behind proposed bed tax increases and rebates on goods and services taxes to partially fund $400m (296.93m euro, £254.17m) worth of improvements to Miami’s Sun Life Stadium. The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners heard an upgrade of the 25-year-old stadium would contribute $2bn (1.48bn euro, £1.27bn) in economic benefit over 15 years, and passed a resolution at their 23 January meeting urging

Song Saa, which translates as 'the sweethearts' in Khmer, is Cambodia's first private island resort. Located in the Koh Rong Archipelago, the resort spans the island of Koh Ouen and Koh Bong and is connected by a footbridge. Owned by entrepreneurs Rory and Melita Hunter, the resort features 27 villas, each with a private pool. A spa and wellness sanctuary, situated in the rainforest along the shore, features a large

A dance studio and theatre will replace part of Queen's Leisure Centre in Derby, which has been deemed not fit for purpose. Art Council funding, announced on 22 January, gave local dance academy Déda - which currently neighbours Queen's Leisure - the means to go ahead with the expansion, due to start April 2014. Derby City Council's leisure strategy, signed off in 2010, deemed the Springwood Leisure Centre the only

Local Scottish authority Dumfries and Galloway Council will take court action against contractor Kier Northern over a number of problems with the DG One leisure centre, which opened in 2008 at a cost of £17m. A detailed report by independent technical experts found the cost of addressing defects in the gym, games hall, bar, swimming pool and changing village would total £3.7m. At its policy and resources committee meeting on

The Natural Science Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, US, has announced it will open its SciQuarium in early summer this year, the first phase in a three stage investment programme to continue over the next three years. Natural Science Center employees, Moser-Mayer Phoenix & Associates and Cambridge Seven Associates have contributed to the design of the US$10m (7.5m euro, £6.3m) project, which is dominated by a 22,000sq ft aquarium. It

Construction firm Willmott Dixon are working with South Tyneside Council in the early development stages of a new £11m leisure centre in Hebburn. The new centre is being developed by the council and forms part of a masterplan to regenerate the town centre. The leisure hub will comprise a 25m, six-lane swimming pool as well as a learner pool, sports hall, dance studio, library and customer service facilities. Construction on

A new national museum will launch in Tartu, Estonia in late 2016. Located in the city's Raadi district, the Estonia National Museum (ENM) will be funded by the Estonian Government. Director of the museum, Estonian politician Tonis Lukas, said that he hoped to sign a building contract in the next few weeks with construction expected to begin in March 2013. Designed by architects Dan Dorell, Lina Ghotmeh and Tsuyoshi, the

The first phase of the National Afro-American Museum in Wilberforce, Ohio, US will be unveiled on 26 January, following an 18-month long revamp. To be opened in stages, the museum's first phase includes a renovated exhibition space, which will feature the new installation "How I Got Over." The mixed media exhibition will reflect the African American experience and focus on three themes of celebration, spirituality and protest. A second exhibition

US-based football club New York Cosmos has submitted a proposal to the State of New York to build a new stadium, with an estimated cost of US$400m (300.7m euro, £252m). The 25,000-seat Cosmos stadium would be located at Belmont Park, Nassau County, Long Island along with a youth soccer field and a 4.3-acre public park. The privately funded Elmont Town Crossings project will be led by Turner Construction, which provided

The Los Angeles Dodgers have this month announced plans to upgrade their 51-year-old stadium in time for the 2013 season. Improvements will include high definition video boards, Wi-Fi, increased disability access, new food service facilities, a new home clubhouse, new batting cages, and a new sound system that will minimise echoes and sound migration outside the stadium. Dodger president and chief executive Stan Kansten said the stadium would retain its

A new luxury hotel - The Richmond - is set to open in Liverpool in March, combining serviced apartments and hotel services. Located at Liverpool Convention Bureau, the new property features 51 apartments, suites, executive and classic rooms. Set within a Grade II-listed building, guests will have free access to the recently opened Olympus Leisure Spa, which houses saunas, steamrooms, sunken baths, bucket showers and a relaxation zone. The spa

Lancashire private fitness and leisure facility Crow Wood, Burnley, has opened its doors to around 1,200 people keen to get a preview of their new £4m spa development. The Woodland Spa is expected to open in the next couple of weeks but tours have been held to showcase the development. Treatments on offer include a hydrotherapy pool, serenity pool, sauna, hot tubs, Roman foot baths, ice fountain, experience showers, Rasul

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, has launched the next phase of its US$300m (225m euro, £187m) expansion. The US Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Centre, which cost US$35m (26m euro, £22m), tells the story of America's industrial capability during the war years and explores what it was like to participate in World War II on land, at sea or in the air. It showcases the macro artifacts

Work is now well underway on a luxury spa at Salcombe Harbour Hotel in Devon, set to open in summer this year, which will include a two-level spa excavated into the cliff. The multi-million pound refurbishment of the 50-bedroom property is being undertaken by Bristol-based construction group Galliford Try with interiors by DO Design. The first spa level will include the reception, five treatment rooms and a fitness suite, and