The CA$370m (US$281m, £181m, €248m) Vidéotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada, has opened to the public after a three-year construction project. The 18,259-capacity indoor arena will become the primary venue for indoor events in the region and plans are also advancing for the centre to host a National Hockey League (NHL) franchise by the start of the 2017-18 hockey season. Designed by architects Populous and ABCP Architecture, the arena will

Hamburg (Germany), Rome (Italy), Budapest (Hungary), Los Angeles (US) and Paris (France) have submitted official bids to host the 2024 summer Olympic Games. Los Angeles is a late addition to the list, following the withdrawal of Boston from the process in July. Boston’s decision left the US Olympic Committee (USOC) – which had committed to submitting a bid for the 2024 Games – with just weeks to plan and come

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) is working with Japanese architecture and engineering firm Nikken Sekkei to submit a fresh bid for the Tokyo Olympic stadium project after their first design was dropped in July. A new design-and-build competition for the stadium, which is set to host events during the 2020 Olympic games, was launched on 1 September 2015, with a much shorter design and construction schedule. Revised guidelines will cap the

Barcelona FC officials have announced that 14 design teams are in the running to play a part in the €600m (US$670m, £436m) redevelopment of the club’s iconic Nou Camp stadium. The competition is for two separate overhauls of facilities at the Nou Camp. These would comprise alterations to the main stadium and the redevelopment of the nearby Palau Blaugrana – an arena owned by the La Liga club. For the

Architects Populous have won a major design competition to create the NC Dinos Baseball Park in Changwon City, South Korea. The collective of architects, designers and technical experts will now lead design of the 22,000-seat NC Dinos Baseball Park, near Busan in the south of the country, with a construction value of US$100m (€90m, £65m). Working with local partner Haeahn Consortium, a key feature of the Populous design is the

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have unveiled new designs for the £500m (US$770m, €688.5m) redevelopment of Chelsea Football Club’s Stamford Bridge, which will see the old stadium demolished and a new 60,000-capacity home for the Premier League champions built in its place. The images, not yet officially released to the press, were presented at a public consultation held by the Premier League club, with Herzog & de Meuron working

Singapore-based real estate and investment company Rowsley – controlled by billionaire Peter Lim – has acquired a 75 per cent stake in Hotel Football in Manchester, the hotel project driven by a quintet of Manchester United legends. In a statement, Rowsley said it will pay £29.1m (US$64.1m, €39.7m) to acquire a 75 per cent shareholding in each of the Hotel Football-related businesses – the 133-bedroom hotel; Cafe Football, a 120-seat

Zaha Hadid Architects have responded to Japan’s decision to drop their Tokyo Olympic stadium design by releasing a film detailing the design process for the proposal. Only last month, London-based Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) appeared to have final government approval for their Tokyo Olympic Stadium design, only to be dropped days later by Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. The 20-minute video is a response to that decision and forms a

Canada-based Calgary Sports and Entertainment (CSE) has revealed plans for a CA$890m (US$676m, €585m, £428m) multi-purpose sports complex which would house all of the group’s professional sports franchises. The planned CalgaryNEXT venue, located on the banks of the Bow River in Calgary, Alberta, is set to feature a 19,000-capacity indoor arena and a 30,000-50,000-seat stadium – serving as the new home for the Calgary Flames and Calgary Hitmen ice hockey

Complex, “multi-track” talks are taking place following the approval of a deal which could result in a new US$500m (€443m, £319m) arena being built in Milwaukee for NBA basketball franchise Bucks. Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, recently approved and signed legislation paving way for US$250m (€221m, £159m) of public money being invested in the project, which would secure the long-term future of Bucks in the city of Milwaukee. The Bucks

Renderings for NFL team San Diego Chargers’ proposed new home have been made available for the first time. Designed by architects Populous, the futuristic stadium – to be located on a 166-acre plot in San Diego’s Mission Valley – is set to celebrate the city of San Diego, incorporating ocean and harbour influences with a forward-looking green design. The concept designs show that the venue would offer plenty of public

Qatar will decide the exact number of stadiums it will use during the FIFA World Cup 2022 by the end of the year. A spokesperson for the organizing committee said the final number hadn’t been finalised yet – and could be less than the 12 included in the original bid that controversially won Qatar the right to host the tournament. So far, Qatar has announced details for five stadiums but is

Los Angeles is finalising a deal with the US Olympic Committee (USOC) to become the country’s new candidate city for the 2024 Olympics. The city – which has held the Olympic Games twice, in 1932 and 1984 – has prepared a US$4bn bid, which mayor Eric Garcetti said will include a guarantee to cover any “financial overruns”. The move follows last month’s collapse of Boston’s Olympic ambitions, as the city

The US$200m (€184m, £128m) Estadio BBVA Bancomer, touted as the most hospitality-driven soccer stadium in Latin America, has opened in Monterrey, Mexico. Designed by sports architects Populous, the 51,000-capacity stadium will be the new home of Club de Fútbol Monterrey (CF Monterrey). What makes the stadium unique in the region is the emphasis on creating a premium fan experience. The stadium boasts 324 luxury suites – more than any other

Beijing will become the first city to organise both Summer and Winter Olympics, after the Chinese capital was selected as host of the 2022 Winter Games. Beijing organisers have announced that they will rely heavily on existing venues, including those built for the Summer Games in 2008, such as the iconic Bird’s Nest stadium and the Water Cube aquatics centre. The city’s proposed budget for investment in Olympic villages, sports

One of Wales’ largest visitor attractions is set to welcome its first guests as Surf Snowdonia – an artificial surf lagoon built on the site of an old aluminium works – starts to break waves on the edge of Snowdonia National Park. The £15m (US$23.3m, €21.3m) development – designed by architectural firm seven with Planit operating as consultants, NJL consulting as masterplanners and Wardell Armstrong as engineers – uses brand

Forest Green Rovers Football Club (FGR) has revealed ambitious plans to build a £100m, eco-friendly sports and green technology complex which would include a new 5,000-capacity stadium. The club currently plays in the National League – the fifth tier of English football – and the Eco Park project is part of a strategy to establish FGR as a Football League club. FGR is working together with Stroud-based green energy company

Miami Beckham United, the group behind proposals to launch an Major League Soccer (MLS) club in Miami, has secured a site for a 25,000-capacity stadium following an 18-month search. Led by former England captain David Beckham, the group has selected a site in the Little Havana district, next to Marlins Park – the home of Major League Baseball club Miami Marlins. While exact details of the stadium and its designers

Just days after appearing to receive final government approval, Zaha Hadid’s plans for Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium have been dropped – but the architect says the project’s spiralling costs are not down to its design. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said the project would now “start over from zero” with the decision taken after “listening to the voices of the people and the athletes”. The estimated cost for the stadium had

The Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) have unveiled an alternate proposal to the territory of Gibraltar’s Europa Stadium plan, revealing designs that would allow the team’s existing stadium to be upgraded. The alternate plan by John Linares Architects would feature Victoria Stadium at the heart of a wider sports village, with four UEFA/FIFA compliant football pitches, as well as a multi-purpose sports facility. The GSD’s plan would also create an educational

Bristol Rovers’ £40m (US$62.2m, €56.4m) plan to move into a new stadium across the city has collapsed after supermarket chain Sainsbury’s won its High Court battle over the purchase of its current home. The initial plan had been for Sainsbury’s to buy the team’s 12,000-seat Memorial Stadium in 2011 and lease it back to the club while a new 21,700-seat stadium was developed in the north of Bristol. The supermarket

Tottenham Hotspur FC (THFC) will install an innovative multi-use pitch at its 61,000-capacity stadium in North London – allowing it to host a minimum of two National Football League (NFL) games each season. The club will use a retractable grass field at its new £400m venue – designed by sports architects Populous – with an artificial surface underneath that will be used for NFL games. The design will allow greater flexibility

Construction work on Zaha Hadid Architects’ Olympic stadium in Tokyo, Japan, is to begin in October, after the Japanese government confirmed the final details of the project. It will now cost US$2bn (€1.8bn, £1.3bn) to build – almost double the original estimate. Work is scheduled to be completed a few months later than planned, in May 2019, but still in time for the Rugby World Cup due to be held

Italian club AC Milan has been given the green light to build a new €330m (US$363m, £236m) stadium in the north of the city. The seven-time European football champions’ plans for a new 48,000-capacity stadium in the Portello region of Milan were approved by city administrators after a six-month long consultation period. Designed by sports architects Arup, the club has described the stadium as “the most innovative in the world”.

Chelsea Football Club (CFC) plans to replace its current stadium in south London with a 60,000-capacity landmark venue celebrating the heritage of sport in and around Stamford Bridge. The club has launched a three-day public consultation on the stadium plans, during which local residents will be able to view and offer their views on the proposals. The conceptual designs, which have been put on display at Stamford Bridge, pay homage

Seven-time Wimbledon tennis champion Roger Federer pitched up in South London, UK over the weekend to help launch sports goods giant Nike’s legacy project for this year’s Wimbledon tennis tournament. Nike has taken over four community tennis courts in Tanner Street Park, Bermondsey, investing £17,500 in resurfacing the ageing courts with a designer touch in pink and blue and setting up a branded tennis and activity hub. The NikeCourt Club

Leisure architecture projects from the likes of Foster + Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, BIG and Populous have made the 2015 shortlist for the World Building of the Year. Organised by the World Architecture Festival, 338 projects in total have made the shortlist in a variety of categories, with both major international firms and smaller companies taking their place. There are entries included from 46 countries. Aside from the overall World