The US$300m (£185m, 215m euro) Kittitian Hill Resort in St Kitts expects to open its first phase in December. Situated in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean Sea, the first phase will include 90 one-bedroom cottages, 24 villas and a golf course. The par-72 golf course has been designed by European Golf Design (EGD) in association with US Masters winner and 2006 Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam. The phase will

Musée du Louvre in Paris, France and Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco, US are set to collaborate on a series of exhibitions over the next five years. The international accord includes plans to share significant works of art from both museums' collections with audiences in San Francisco and Paris. The partnership will see collaborations on publications, art conservation projects and public education programs. The two institutions will work together

The Japan Sport Council (JSC) has selected Zaha Hadid Architects to redesign its Kasumigaoka National Stadium. The 80,000-seat stadium will need to be complete in time for the country's staging of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and as part of Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. The London-based architecture firm, which was most recently responsible for the design of the 17,500-capacity London Aquatics Centre, was selected ahead of 11

Ruthin Castle in North Wales, UK has opened The Moat Spa - its all-weather spa concept incorporating indoor and outdoor experiences - after a £2m revamp. The new spa is located in the woodlands of the privately-owned Ruthin Castle Hotel near Chester, with facilities including one of the UK's first outdoor log-fired sauna tents. Owners Anthony and Amanda Saint Claire worked with Blue Spa and Leisure in designing the spa,

A luxury integrated resort - Desaru Coast - is set to open on the eastern coast of Jahor, Malaysia in 2015. Destination Resorts and Hotels (DRH) - established by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, an investment-holding arm of the government of Malaysia - is developing the 3,900-acre resort. Desaru Coast will launch in phases and will feature an array of luxury hotels and golf residences as well as theme and water parks,

Just over £3m (3.7m euro, US$4.8m) has been invested in a new 11,000sq ft (1,022sq m) full-service spa at Wyboston Lakes, an independently-owned leisure and conference destination in Bedfordshire, UK. Located within an onsite hotel, Y Spa is one of the most significant UK spa openings in 2012 and has been put together by some of the country's top talents. Ray Payne, previously a long-standing general manager at the famous

Hotel operators Fairmont and Raffles are set to open two new properties at a mixed-use tower at Makati in Metro Manila in December. The complex will feature a 30-floor tower housing the Raffles Makati with 32 suites; Raffles Residences with 237 residences for private ownership; and Fairmount Makati, a hotel with 280 deluxe rooms. The developers of the complex are KHOALI Manila, a joint venture between Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI)

W Hotels has launched W Singapore - Sentosa Cove, its first Hotel in Singapore. Located on Sentosa Island near downtown Singapore, the hotel features 240 guest rooms and suites. The property is owned and developed by an affiliate of City Developments Limited and it was designed by London-based architects WATG and designer Rockwell Group. W Singapore's Away Spa, the W brand's signature spa concept, features a 112sq m (1,205sq ft)

Hemingway Design has been appointed to design the new Dreamland theme park in Margate, Kent. Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, who made their name as fashion designers, have been tasked with creating the park’s overall scheme. Stage one of the project to transform the site into a £10m heritage park is expected to open next year. Nick Laister, chair of The Dreamland Trust, said: "Wayne and Gerardine have created some truly

A new hotel and spa has opened in a 1920s era Victorian mansion in Valparaiso, Chile. Palacio Astoreca is owned by Swiss-Chilean entrepreneurs Vincent Juillerat and Francisca Joannon. The boutique hotel, which opened following a US$5m (£3.1m 3.9m euro) renovation project, features 23 guest rooms furnished with antiques from the Santiago and Valparaiso regions. Designed by Alvano and Riquelme architects, the hotel features art by contemporary painters such as Ricardo

The Asian Civilisations Museum is set to invest S$5.5m (US$4.5m, £2.8m, 3.5m euro) in expanding its building in Empress Place, Singapore. A new wing, which is expected to open in 2015, has been funded by the Hong Leong Foundation (HLF) and is being designed by Singaporean architects GreenhilLi Consultants. Surrounded by a light-filled atrium, and connecting to galleries on three floors, the new wing is a departure from the 19th

£16.1m Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park has been officially launched on the former site of the St Thomas Becket School in Huyton, Merseyside. Part of the centre has been open for 12 months but now all facilities are open including the new outdoor velodrome and BMX track. The new facility includes two 25m lane pools, an eight-lane competition pool, six-court sports hall, fitness suite, squash court and dance studios. There

A new £7.8m swimming pool is set to launch in Montrose, Scotland this month. The new 25m, six-lane swimming pool will link to the existing Montrose Sports Centre and will also feature a viewing gallery and a studio pool which incorporates a moving floor to allow variation in pool depth. The pool will be used both for competitive and community swimming. The complex was designed by Angus Council architect Dave

A new £16m swimming pool and leisure complex is set to open in South Shields, Tyne and Wear in early 2013. The Pier Parade project is part of South Tyneside Council's regeneration plans. It was designed by LA architects and is being built by Graham construction. It will feature a 25m, eight-lane competition pool; an 18m teaching pool and leisure waters with flumes; sprays; bubble pools and water play. The

ASR Limited, the New Zealand-based company that built the Boscombe surf reef in Dorset, has ceased trading. The liquidation of ASR casts doubts over the future of the site as a surfing attraction - the only artificial surf reef in Europe. Plans for the beleaguered £3.2m reef first surfaced in 1999 when Bournemouth Borough Council gave the green light for a feasibility study to be conducted on the project. Detailed

A new US$550m leisure district - The Linq - on the Las Vegas Strip is gearing up for its launch in 2013. Owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation, The Linq will span more than 200,000sq ft (18,580sq m) and is comprised of retail, dining, beverage and entertainment experiences. The project was designed by Washington D.C-based firm David M. Schwarz Architects and the architect of record is Las Vegas-based Klai

German hotel group Kempinski has emerged as the potential operator of the gigantic 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea. Construction work on the property - which dominates the skyline in the heart of the secretive nation's capital city - initially began in 1987 but was halted due to an economic crisis following the fall of Soviet Union in 1992. The imposing building was left to rot and as a

The Japan Sport Council has shortlisted 11 architects to redesign Japan's new 80,000-seat Kasumigaoka National Stadium. The stadium will need to be complete in time for the country's staging of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and as part of Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. The finalists include Olympic stadium designers Zaha Hadid Architects and Populous. The competition, which received a total of 46 applicants, restricted entry to practices

A new environmentally friendly spa and leisure centre is set to open at Portavadie Marina in Loch Fyne, Scotland by the end of 2014. Architects Stewart Associates has been appointed to design the centre, which will be powered using local sustainable technology. The project, still in the planning stages, is expected to include spa facilities, outdoor and indoor swimming pools, a gym, an exercise studio and a soft play area.

Chinese hospitlity giant Mission Hills Group has signed an agreement with Marriott International to open two hotels - The Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance Hotels - at its Mission Hills Haikou resort in Hainan, China. Located in the volcanic region of Hainan Island, the RMB$1.3bn (US$208m, £129m, 161m euro) investment will see the two hotels open in the second quarter of 2015. The Ritz-Carlton will have 180 rooms with 20 villas and

The Parrish Art Museum in Long Island, New York, US is set to unveil its new building on 10 November 2012. Spanning a 14-acre (5.7 hectare) site in the town of Water Mill, the new 34,400sq ft (3,195sq m), Herzog & de Meuron-designed museum will be twice the size of the existing facility in Southampton and about three miles away from it. It will be the first art museum built

RIBA Competitions has launched a two-stage Design Ideas Competition for the Great Fen Visitor Centre in Cambridgeshire. The competition is being promoted by the Great Fen - a partnership which comprises the Environment Agency, Huntingdonshire District Council, Middle Level Commissioners, Natural England and The Wildlife Trust. Great Fen plans to establish a £2m visitor centre at New Decoy Farm in Cambridgeshire and the competition is open to design teams based

The View from The Shard (VTS), a new visitor experience located at the top of Europe's tallest building in London, will open to the public on 1 February. Details of the attraction's design were revealed for the first time today (25 October) by Anders Nyberg, VTS chief executive. The tall attraction will take people on a journey to 244m (800ft) above London, almost twice as high as any other viewing

Wellcome Collection in central London has unveiled a major £17.5m development project which will increase the attraction's available gallery space. Stirling Prize-winning architects Wilkinson Eyre will transform the venue, bringing new areas into public use and adding a dramatic new spiral staircase and interconnected galleries. The works were commissioned by the collection's owner, Wellcome Trust, as it strives to meet the demands posed by an increase in visitor numbers at

French hotel giant Accor has opened a 'high tech' hotel in Blackfriars, London. Novotel London Blackfriars incorporates the latest technologies including tables fitted with televisions so guests dining alone will be entertained. Multimedia tables housing iPads for each guest also offer a selection of apps with the latest news items, information on events and what's happening in London. A further set of iPads with a range of games to keep

Hotel operator Pan Pacific Hotels Group is set to open Parkroyal on Pickering, a hotel and spa in Singapore, based on a hotel-in-a-garden concept, at the end of 2012. The hotel is located at the gateway to Singapore's Central Business District and landmarks such as Chinatown and China Square Central. Designed by Singapore-based architectural firm WOHA, Parkroyal was built with a strong focus on integrating environmental elements throughout the property.

Bouncing and jumping across the Seine on a giant trampoline could be a possibility if plans unveiled by Atelier Zundel Cristea are taken on board. The proposal was put forward for an ideas competition for a new bridge in Paris, which called for a new icon or landmark to add to the 37 bridges across the Seine. “It appears to us that Paris already has the bridges and passages necessary