Toronto Zoo is about to open its CA$18m (US$13.6m, €12.1m, £10.7m) Wildlife Health Centre – a brand new high-tech zoo hospital and laboratory with visitor facilities for the public. The zoo held an official opening ceremony for the 50,000sq ft (4,645sq m) centre on 26 June, with the facility opening to the public on Saturday (1 July). Once open, visitors will be able to access a public viewing area, which

The largest building project undertaken by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in over 100 years opens to the public on Friday (30 June). Architect Amanda Levete and her firm AL_A have designed the new V&A Exhibition Road Quarter – comprising of a courtyard, a vast underground exhibition gallery and a new entrance to the museum. The project has redeveloped 2,200sq m of underused space, providing the V&A with 6,400sq

The renowned paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey is developing a museum dedicated to the history of human evolution on the banks of Lake Turkana in the Kenyan desert. Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind is developing the project design for Leakey, and told CLADglobal the museum will “present our entire history through a spatial experience and the exhibits inside.” Leakey is best known for discovering Turkana Boy, the most complete skeleton of an early

Architecture competition organiser Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) has launched the one-stage race to find a designer for a new concert centre in Kaunas. Practices from across the world have been invited to produce concept designs for “an emblematic new building of national and international significance”; the first of its kind in the Lithuanian city. The Kaunas M.K. Ciurlionis Concert Centre – named in honour of an influential 20th century Lithuanian

A historic fine art museum in Nantes, France, will re-open to the public tomorrow (23 June) following a major transformation by British architecture practice Stanton Williams. The firm have designed several extensions to the Musée d'arts de Nantes’ original 19th Century ‘Palais’ building and 17th Century Oratory Chapel – creating an additional 4,000sq m (430,000sq ft) of space for artworks to be exhibited. The €48.8m (US$545m, £430m) project was conceived

Houston’s Holocaust Museum has announced plans to nearly triple in size following a US$15m (€13.5m, £11.8m) gift from longtime patrons Lester and Sue Smith. The Smith’s donation goes towards the museum’s ongoing US$49.4m (€43.9m, £39.6m) capital fundraising campaign, which includes in addition to costs for the redevelopment, US$11.7m (€10.5m, £9.2m) in endowment funds. Expanding in size to 57,000sq ft (5,300sq m), the US$33.8m (€30.3m, £26.6m) expansion will see two thirds

Danish architects EFFEKT have released new images showcasing the spiralling 45m tall (147.6ft) observation tower they are designing in a preserved Danish forest. The studio won planning permission in January to design “a new and unique destination” for the Camp Adventure park in Gisselfeld Klosters Skove, an hour south of Copenhagen. Called the Treetop Experience, it will consist of a 600m long (2,00ft) two-tier elevated walkway that leads visitors around

This year's Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Diébédo Francis Kéré, has been unveiled today (20 June) in London’s Hyde Park. At a press launch, the architect told CLADglobal that the high-profile commission had given him an “exciting opportunity to explore new ideas, new ways of shaping space, new materials and new way of using materials.” His pavilion, designed “to bring a sense of light and life” to the park, was inspired

China has removed restrictions on foreign investment in large-scale theme park projects, opening up the possibility for new developments in what is already a hotbed for theme parks under development. China’s leaders have previously pledged to open the country’s economy – the second largest in the world – to wider foreign investment. At the end of March, China’s State Council approved the establishment of seven new free trade zones to

Seven diverse proposals from the design teams vying to create a new ampitheatre and pavilion in the heart of Edinburgh have been revealed to the public. The new landmark Ross Pavilion is intended to revitalise Edinburgh’s West Princes Street Gardens, one of the city’s most emblematic places, and the shortlisted groups were tasked with submitting visions of “exemplary design quality inspired by, and appropriate to, the significance of its setting.”

Seattle’s iconic Space Needle is about to undergo a major renovation, with a refitted observation deck, glass-floored restaurant and new elevators to be installed in a modernisation of the structure. Opened in 1962 for that year’s World’s Fair, the John Graham-designed structure has become a staple of the Seattle skyline. US firm Olson Kundig Architects are behind the US$100m (€89.4m, £78.3m) renovation of the observation tower, which will completely revamp

The organisers behind Melbourne’s annual MPavilion have officially revealed the design of the structure it is building for 2017: an adaptable amphitheatre created by OMA’s Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten. MPavilion 2017 “brings to life a flexible space that can function as a stage, tribune or even playground.” The design blurs the lines between inside and outside spaces by covering the amphitheatre with a semi-transparent floating roof. A circular wooden

Ground has broken on a new contemporary art museum in San Antonio, Texas, with a design by British architect Sir David Adjaye that was inspired by an artist’s dream. The modern crimson-hued building, called Ruby City, will house the Linda Pace Foundation’s growing collection of more than 800 paintings, sculptures, installations and video works by contemporary artists from around the world. Pace, who died in 2007, was an artist and

Greek architect Theoni Xanthi has won an international design competition for a new archaeology museum in Cyprus, which will house the nation’s treasures. The New Cyprus Museum will replace the country’s current archaeological institution in Nicosia. That building was established in the late 1800s and now lacks enough space to house the museum’s growing collection of antiquities. Its €49m (US$54.6m, £43m) replacement will occupy the site of the old Nicosia

Australia’s minister for the arts Don Harwin has awarded AU$244m (US$186.2m, €164.8m, £145.4m) to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, with the funding going towards the museum’s grand AU$344m (US$262.5m, €232.4m, £205.2m) expansion. In addition to the government funding, the Sydney gallery is planning to launch a capital campaign later this year, seeking a further AU$100m (US$76.3m, €67.5m, £59.6m) in philanthropic support for the project, of which AU$70m (US$53.4m,

Dutch landscape architects West 8 are to develop a 17th century Dutch country estate and royal residence in Soestdijk, it has been announced today (9 June). The Netherlands’ minister of the interior, Roland Plasterk, has revealed that business consortium Made in Holland have succeeded in the bidding war to purchase and redevelop the palace and gardens of Soestdijk Palace. The group wants to transform the historic site into “a platform

A host of the world’s most high-profile architecture practices have entered the race to design a new branch of the Pompidou Centre art museum in Brussels, Belgium. The studio of Richard Rogers – who designed the landmark Pompidou in Paris in 1977 alongside Renzo Piano – are in contention for the €125m (US$136m, £104m) project, along with 91 other design teams. Among those to make the star-studded longlist are Bjarke

New drone footage has today (8 June) been released showing huge cast stone panels being hung on the curving walls of Kengo Kuma’s V&A Dundee; Scotland's first design museum. In total 2,466 pieces – each weighing between 1.5 and 2.5 tonnes – are being individually fixed into place, secured by two specially designed brackets secured to the building’s reinforced concrete walls. The video shows an engineer inspecting panels fixed to

The countdown has begun in earnest for the 2017 international architecture exposition in Astana, Kazakhstan. On 10 June, visitors will be able to explore the city’s futuristic new Expo City, which includes 28 buildings themed around the concept of ‘Future Energy’. Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) masterplanned the site and have designed several of the buildings. The 174 ha site features exhibition and cultural pavilions (118,620sq m); service

The masterplan for the AU$28.5m (US$21.4m, €19m, £16.5m) redevelopment of the home of Australian artist Arthur Boyd has been unveiled by Bundanon Trust – the charity managing the property – with the plans expected to more than double visitation to the attraction. Created by Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA), who won a competition in November from a shortlist of six Australian firms, the masterplan details a new gallery, visitors centre and

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has broken ground on a new building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, designed by Steven Holl Architects. The 165,000sq ft (15,300sq m) Nancy and Rich Kinder Building is the centrepiece of the museum’s wider US$450m (€400m, £348m) expansion, and will house 54,000sq ft (5,000sq m) of gallery space for exhibitions showcasing its collection. The building will be clad in a translucent-glass exterior, which

Danish landscape architects SLA have won a design competition to develop a national park near the city of Roskilde into a 1,500 ha cultural landscape called The New Hedeland. The design concept is centred around the idea of bringing leisure and culture into the outdoors – creating an experience destination that will be a hotbed of voluntary work and human creativity. Flat fields will be transformed into mountains, new trails

Footballer Lionel Messi has inspired a new theme park in China, which will have over 20 multimedia attractions dedicated to the FC Barcelona star. A consortium of developers, including China’s Phoenix Group and Spanish conglomerate Mediapro, are backing the Messi Experience Park in Nanjing – described as “a unique global experience” that will allow visitors “to immerse themselves in all things Messi”. The park will utilise virtual and augmented reality

International architecture firm Snøhetta have unveiled new details of the riverwalk they are creating for North America’s second largest waterfall. For over a century, the 42ft high Willamette Falls has been cut off from public access by industrial infrastructure built along the water’s edge. Now, new public spaces are planned to offer observation points that do justice to the height and drama of the site. The design, which has taken

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York has completed the first phase of its major renovation programme, and unveiled its final plans for a multi-year expansion designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, alongside Gensler. The renovation of the museum’s east section, which began in February 2016, is now finished. Galleries and public spaces have been enhanced on three floors with the reconfiguration of 15,000sq ft of space

Work is underway on a vast new riverside sports park in Cork, Ireland, which will surround the city’s regenerated Páirc Uí Chaoimh Gaelic games stadium. Demolition has begun to clear space for phase one of Marina Park – a €20m development created around the stadium and the adjoining agricultural Munster Showgrounds. The phase one masterplan published by the city council is focused on the area to the west of the

Port Lympne Wild Animal and Safari Reserve debuted its new Tiger Lodge on 27 May – a first of its kind accommodation in the UK, built inside the zoo’s tiger enclosure. Featuring large picture windows, guests will be able to get face-to-face with Port Lympne’s tigers from the comfort of their own accommodation. On the other side of the lodges, a balcony offers views across the reserve and further, with