Marriott Hotels and Resorts' flagship property on Broadway in New York, US, has relaunched after undergoing a major multi-million dollar renovation programme. Working with owner Host Hotels and Resorts, the New York Marriott Marquis has received around US$39m (£25.2m, EUR29m) worth of improvements throughout the property. Washington DC-based interior architecture and design group ForrestPerkins worked on the scheme, which included an overhaul of nearly 2,000 guest rooms. New additions to

The construction of a new £8.75m leisure centre in Witham, Essex, has moved a step closer after Braintree District Council (BDC) approved planning permission for the scheme. Five companies have been shortlisted as part of a search to secure a contractor to deliver the Scott Brownrigg Architects-designed facility, with work due to start later this year. Located adjacent to the Maltings Academy, the new centre will include a six-lane, 25m

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (RCBC) has confirmed that demolition work at the site of a planned £31m leisure, business support and community hub has been completed. Detailed proposals for the S&P Architects and Plus3 Architects-designed project have been submitted for consideration already, with councillors set to reach a decision by late 2011. The area between Kirkleatham Street and Coatham Road will house a complex including a 25m, six-lane swimming

Six shortlisted designs for the new Kensington Aldridge Academy and Kensington Leisure Centre, West London, have been put on display by the local authority. Earlier this year, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) published a brief to guide the development of the Kensington Academy and Leisure Centre (KALC) project. Aedas; AStudio; de Rijke Marsh Morgan (DRMM); Hawkins Brown; Seymour Harris; and Studio E are the six firms to

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (THFC) has moved closer to transforming its White Hart Lane ground after securing a Section 106 agreement and planning consent for the scheme. The Premier League club had insisted that the Northumberland Development Project (NDP) was no longer viable and sought to take over the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. However, efforts to revive the NDP appear to be on course and THFC has revealed

Cheshire-based Mather and Co has announced that it has been awarded the design contract for the new National Football Museum, which is relocating from Preston to Manchester. The group has been appointed to work on all aspects of museum content following a tender process, which will include external signage, lighting, graphics and 3D structures. In addition to the National Football Museum's permanent gallery and audio-visual theatre, Mather and Co has

Ledcor Design-Build (Alberta) has been appointed by the Government of Alberta to deliver the new Royal Alberta Museum in the centre of downtown Edmonton, Canada. The team, which features Ledcor Construction, DIALOG Design and Lundholm Associates Architects, was selected following an evaluation of four shortlisted applicants. It is anticipated that the new attraction will provide double the space currently offered by the existing museum and will be able to exhibit

Guildford Borough Council (GBC) has raised the curtain on a new entertainment venue for the Surrey town, which has been designed by UK-based architects Austin-Smith: Lord. G Live was built by Willmott Dixon Construction and will be run by HQ Theatres, with the building comprising an auditorium with a capacity of 1,000 seated or 1,700 standing. Hampshire-based consultancy Scott Wilson also worked on the delivery of the venue, which also

A number of leisure projects have made it on the shortlist for The British Design Awards 2011. The UK Pavilion at last year's Shanghai Expo, designed by Heatherwick Studio; St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London by RHWL and Richard Griffiths Architects ; and the Hepworth Wakefield gallery in Yorkshire all feature on the five strong list. The list also features the Plasma Studio-designed Creativity Pavilion at the Xi'an International Horticultural

Northampton Saints rugby club has confirmed the plans and timeline for the development of its Franklin's Gardens stadium in the town. The new North Stand will transform Franklin's Gardens into a wraparound arena and will complete 10-year redevelopment project of the venue. Designed by Peter Haddon Partnership, the new North Stand will see the capacity of Franklin's Gardens increasing to around 15,500 and also includes 10 corporate hospitality boxes, a

Work has begun on a new chocolate-themed visitor attraction in York. The attraction – which has the working title The Sweet History of York - is being developed by Continuum and will celebrate the city's chocolate and confectionery heritage. Work has started on transforming a three-storey building at the end of the city's famous Shambles street and an opening date is planned for spring 2012. The 6,400sq ft of available

The new US$2.9m Sturt Haaga gallery, which will showcase exhibitions of art, science and history, has opened at the Descanso Gardens botanical gardens in California, US. The new space has been five years in planning with funding being provided entirely from private sources, led by a US$2.1m gift local residents Heather Sturt Haaga and Paul G. Haaga Jr. The new gallery was created by restoring an existing structure adjacent to

The London Borough of Sutton has given the green light for the redevelopment of Westcroft Leisure Centre to go ahead. The £11.3m plans will see the existing centre in Carshalton closed from 23 October this year ready for it to be demolished to make way for the new-look facility. When it reopens late next year the new Hoca Practice-designed Westcroft Leisure Centre will boast a 25m competition pool, a large

ITC Hotels has announced that a new 600-room flagship property in Chennai, India, which features a design inspired by the Chola dynasty, will be added to its portfolio in early 2012. Among the facilities to be offered at the ITC Grand Chola will be a 23,000sq ft (2,137sq m) Kaya Kalp Spa, which will comprise a total of 12 suites for treatments. One suite is being earmarked for couples and

Work is poised to begin "imminently" on a major refurbishment of the Jubilee Gardens on London's South Bank after Frosts Landscape Construction was appointed contractor. West 8 are behind the design of the £3.2m scheme, which will deliver a new green landscape incorporating 70 new trees and flowerbeds in order to replace the current area of gardens. The project is being managed by the Jubilee Gardens Project Board, which includes

International hotel and resort architects ReardonSmith have joined forces with South Africa-based design firm Savile Row to work on a major new resort planned for Mozambique. A standalone spa is set to form part of the 800-hectare (1,977-acre) development, which is to be located on a peninsula overlooking the Indian Ocean and borders an elephant reserve. Further details are yet to be confirmed, although it is believed that the new

Leeds City Council (LCC) is to increase its financial contribution towards a flagship health, community and sport complex after private finance initiative (PFI) funding was reduced. More than £30.5m worth of PFI 'credits' were allocated to the Holt Park Wellbeing Centre project in April, but has now been revealed that the figure is set to be revised to £28.9m. LCC's contribution to the scheme under the PFI system will now

Croatian hotel group Maistra has opened its latest property - the 248-bedroom Lone Hotel in the city of Rovinj. Designed by architects 3LHD and Silvijo Novak, the HRK335m (US$61m, 44m euro, £39m) hotel's facilities include a 1,700sq m spa and wellness centre, restaurants and conferencing space. It is the first Croatian hotel to join the Design Hotels scheme - a membership scheme for design-led hotels. The spa, designed by The

The first phase of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum has opened to the public on the site of the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in New York, US. The opening of the memorial coincided with the 10th anniversary of the attacks and the site includes the names of the nearly 3,000 victims inscribed on bronze panels lining two large pools. Designed as a "walkround park", the site will feature waterfalls

A new Battle of Bannockburn visitor centre is to open ahead of the 700th anniversary of the historic event in 2014 after receiving planning permission from Stirling Council. Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) are behind the scheme, which has been designed by a team fronted by Edinburgh-based architects Reiach and Hall. Sinclair Knight Merz; Turner and Townsend; and KJ Tait feature as part of the design

West Nottinghamshire College (WNC) has unveiled a new £5m creative arts centre - Create - as part of a wider programme of development to transform its Derby Road campus. The new arts facility will provide media, music and performance students with facilities such as workshop and rehearsal space; a 150-seat performance theatre; and arts/dance studios. In addition to accommodating more than 200 students, WNC is also hoping that Create is

Japan-based architect Arata Isozaki and UK-born artist Anish Kapoor are to collaborate on a new mobile concert hall, which is to tour earthquake-affected regions in Japan next year. Under the direction of Isozaki, the creation of the Ark Nova venue has been initiated by the Lucerne Festival and will see works hosted in a variety of locations from spring 2012. Japanese concert and artist management group Kajimoto is also involved

Galliford Try has announced that it has been selected as Genting UK's preferred contractor for the planned £80m Resorts World at The NEC leisure and entertainment development. The 55,000sq m (592,015sq ft) complex is expected to feature a Genting-operated casino; a hotel; a spa; a banqueting/conference centre; food/drink outlets and a multi-screen cinema. It is hoped that work will commence during the first quarter of 2012, with Resorts World at

Switzerland-based hospitality group Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts has made its first move into India with the launch of a new 182-room property in the heart of Bangalore. Facilities at the Mövenpick Hotel and Spa Bangalore includes the Sohum Spa, which boasts eight treatment rooms offering a range of Ayurveda-inspired therapies. Oriental and European healing techniques will also be on offer at the spa, which comprises a design inspired by the

Manchester-based Building Design Partnership (BDP) has revealed that it has secured two new projects in Suzhou, China - including a major new sport-themed park at Yinshan Lake. Suzhou Yinshan Lake Sports Centre will provide a 4,600sq m (49,514sq ft) leisure complex based around an indoor sports hall on a site that has already undergone landscaping work. Meanwhile, Suzhou Dushu Lake Masterplan will lead to a mixed-use development on a key

Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) is to unveil Singapore's first maritime-themed attraction - Maritime Experiential Museum and Aquarium (MEMA) - on 15 October. Designed by Ralph Appelbaum of Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the attraction is to be housed in a building featuring a steel and glass ship hull design at the RWS waterfront. Maritime talks, children's workshops and exploration on life-size replica historical ships will be on offer at MEMA, exploring the

Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, New Zealand - constructed at a cost of nearly NZ$200m (£103.9m, EUR118.3m, US$166.3m) - has been unveiled by Prime Minister John Key. The new 30,500-seat stadium has been designed by Populous and is one of the world's first venues to be permanently covered with an EFTE roof while offering natural playing turf. Dunedin Venues Management (DVML) will run the stadium, which has replaced the former