Emaar Hospitality Group (EHG) has opened a restaurant on the 122nd floor of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. Marketed as the "highest restaurant in the world", the At.mosphere has been designed by South African Adam Tihany and diners access the restaurant using a private lift. Although EHG has not revealed the exact height of the location of the 122nd floor, marketing material states that it is

Great Hotels of the World (GHOTW) has confirmed the opening of the EUR20m (£17.2m, US$27.5m) Dom Pedro Laguna Beach Villas, Golf and Spa Resort in Brazil. Located on the Aquiraz Riviera, the 102-bedroom resort includes the Spa Aquae - offering a whirlpool; an indoor swimming pool; cv fitness facilities; and five treatment rooms. Chromo-therapy - the use of different colours as an alternative cure for diseases - features as part

Steiner Leisure is to be the exclusive operator of a new spa facility that is set to open at the refurbished Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Nevada, US. The operator has secured a 10-year agreement from the opening date of the facility, with an option to renew the deal for two five-year periods. Located on the Las Vegas Strip, the Tropicana is currently undergoing a major US180m (£112.8m)

Work has now started on a new £18.5m visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway World Heritage Site in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Dublin-based architects heneghan.peng are behind the design of the facility, which has received £3m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £4m from the National Trust (NT). Gilbert-Ash has been chosen to lead the project, which also involves McConnell Stone; Metaltech; Mastercraft; Vaughan's; and Hynd's Architectural Systems. Event Communications

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has revealed plans for encasing a large waste treatment plant with an artificial ski slope and creating a leisure destination in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ingels' practice, Bjarke Ingles Group (BIG), has been appointed to replace a 40-year-old waste treatment plant with a new one, and the 36-year-old architect has announced his desire to use the opportunity to rejuvenate the industrial quarter and to turn it into a

The independently-owned Mere Golf and Country Club near Knutsford in Cheshire has launched a £4m day spa as part of a £15m rebrand. The club will be rebranded as simply The Mere and will be marketed as Cheshire's first five-star golf and spa resort. The Spa at The Mere will boast seven treatment rooms, a large indoor pool, hammam, rasul, a hydrotherapy area, an aroma steamroom, a caldarium and a

The opening of the new £72m, 3xN-designed Museum of Liverpool - scheduled for the spring of this year - has been delayed until July. The museum - which has received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Merseyside Objective One and the Garfield Weston Foundation - will examine the history of Liverpool and its people under four core themes: Port City, Global City, People's City and

Westminster City Council (WCC) has approved plans for a temporary 15,000-seat arena on Horse Guards Parade, which will host London 2012 beach volleyball events. Two warm-up courts and six practice courts will be created as part of the 21m (68.9ft)-high venue, which will also feature four 30m (98.4ft)-high floodlights. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games has also been given the green light to start road

A planning application for a new £8.5m competition-standard swimming pool in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, have been submitted to the local authority. Facilities at the FaulknerBrowns Architects-designed venue will include an eight-lane, 25m pool with moveable floor; a teaching pool; and 'fun water' with jets and sprays. Oxford City Council is aiming to create a venue able to provide casual swimming facilities, while fulfilling the city's needs for a competition-standard pool.

The 200-year old Lune Aqueduct on the Lancaster Canal is set for a £2m refurbishment. The structure has been awarded a £1m Heritage Lottery Fund grant, with £1.25m of match funding coming from British Waterways. Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancaster Canal Trust are also contributing. The project will include repairing the canal and aqueduct channel, removing vegetation and graffiti, undertaking re-pointing and masonry repairs and improving access

Crystal Palace Football Club (CPFC) has announced plans to transform the National Sports Centre (NSC) as part of a new stadium development at Crystal Palace Park, London. The npower Championship club - in partnership with CB Richard Ellis and AFL Architects - is proposing to move back to its original home with a new 40,000-seat venue. A new indoor aquatic centre; a reconfigured indoor complex for the NSC; and a

URBN Hotels & Resorts has announced plans to open a boutique hotel which will marketed as 'China greenest'. The 20,000sq m boutique hotel is scheduled to open in 2012 and will be part of a larger 200,000sq m mixed-use development in the Sanlin district of Pudong in Shanghai, China. The RMB312m (£30m, US$47m, EUR35m) hotel will include 55 hotel rooms, 50 serviced residences and 4,500sq m of leisure space -

De Montfort University (DMU) has been given the green light to proceed with plans for a multi-million pound leisure centre development in Leicester. Leicester City Council granted planning permission for the scheme on 18 January, having already agreed to sell land off Duns Lane to the institution in August 2009. The S&P Architects-designed complex will feature a 25m, six-lane swimming pool; a gym and studio; an eight-court sports hall; and

Museum@WRI - a new permanent exhibition exploring the history of medicine - is to be created in one of the Worcester Royal Infirmary's former wards. An extensive collection of medical equipment, documents and uniform are to go on display as part of the exhibition, which is being developed by the University of Worcester (UW). UW is working with the city's George Marshall Medicine Museum on the scheme, which has been

Work has been completed on a new £12m purpose-built venue in Leeds, which will provide a new home for Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre. Wates Construction built the new six-storey building, which has been designed by Strategic Design Alliance - a partnership between Leeds City Council and Jacobs Architecture. Housing one of the largest dance rehearsal spaces outside London, the venue features seven dance studios - including a 230-seat

US-based exhibition design company Thinkwell has been appointed to design the Harry Potter visitor attraction at Leavesden Studios, UK. Although exact details of the attraction are to be revealed, Thinkwell said the site will give the general public the ability to tour several of the original Harry Potter film sets. The studios, near Watford, Hertforshire, were acquired by Warner Bros in November last year (2010). Shortly after, the US-based film

Transport operator First Group is to provide £100,000 towards the cost of Aberdeen's new aquatic centre. A 50m swimming pool will be at the centre of the FaulknerBrowns Architects-designed development, which will form the second phase of Aberdeen Sports Village. Aberdeen City Council approved the development in October, which will see the former Linksfield Academy demolished to make way for the new aquatic centre. Facilities will also include a 25m

Scottish Enterprise has announced that a £30m floating leisure village is to be developed in Glasgow in a bid to transform the former Canting Basin. Manchester-based Floating Concepts's plans - designed by ZM Architecture and water-based architects Baca - were selected following a tender process. It is hoped that work will commence in the second quarter of 2012 and would take up to three years to complete, with the complex

Plans have been unveiled for the proposed new Broad Art Foundation Museum in Los Angeles. The three-storey structure, scheduled to open in winter 2012/2013 with construction beginning later this year, will be home to two important collections of postwar and contemporary art assembled by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad. It will also house The Broad Art Foundation's lending library, where works from the 2,000-piece Broad Collections are made available to

The 341-room Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre has officially opened. The hotel, also offering 124 executive residences, is the second Ritz-Carlton in Dubai and the company's sixth property in the region. The hotel is the only one directly linked to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), with its focal point being No. 5, the hotel bar - which features a 30m (100ft), 3,000-bottle wine wall - situated at the end

Waverley Borough Council (WBC) has revealed that it has received a planning application for the construction of a new leisure centre in Godalming, Surrey. The proposed development is to be located on a site next to Godalming Lawn Tennis Club and will feature a 25m swimming pool and a learner pool. A 60-station fitness suite, a dance studio and a café are also incorporated into the design of the leisure

Hong Kong-based spa operator Sense of Touch will open its first franchise site in Sai Kung, HK in April. The 1,400sq ft (130sq m) day spa, designed by Artichaut, will be managed by the franchise owners with support from Sense of Touch. The site will be split onto two levels and will have a private garden area for pedicures and spa parties. Treatments will be supplied by Elemis and Dermalogica

Newcastle-based Surgo Construction has been appointed to deliver a £4.75m restoration of the city's Theatre Royal ahead of its 175th anniversary in 2012. Work is to be undertaken between March and September in order to restore the auditorium to Frank Matcham's original 1901 design. The scheme will also include selective demolition of post-Matcham interior features; repairs to the roof; and the restoration of screens, partitions and barriers. Surgo Construction will

Maidstone United Football Club (MUFC) has launched a campaign to raise funds towards a new £1.6m stadium development at James Whatman Way. The Ryman League Premier Division club is planning to fund the project using capital from its new owners (£250,000) and the Football Foundation (£150,000). MUFC anticipates that it will source the remaining £1.2m from new investors buying shares in the club, with the closing date for the campaign

The Chatwal New York – located on West 44th Street, Manhattan, US – has unveiled a new 2,400sq ft (223sq m) spa. Three treatment rooms; three private changing suites with steam shower; a relaxation area; and two saltwater plunge pools are included as part of The Chatwal Spa by Kashwére. A saltwater lap-pool and a manicure and pedicure room have also been created at the new spa, along with a

Work on the 5,000-seat Water Polo Arena at London's Olympic Park has now started after the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) named the contractors for the scheme. Silvertown-based ES Group will construct the main structure of the venue, while A&T/Barr and Wray of Glasgow will install the temporary swimming pools. Jackson Civil Engineering Group; Byrne Group; Alto Seating Systems; and Balfour Beatty Engineering Services are also working on the scheme. A

A new 10,000sq ft (929sq m) spa - managed by WTS International - has been launched at the Woodstock Inn and Resort in Vermont, US. Unveiled in late 2010, the facility features 10 treatment rooms; tranquil men's and women's lounges; the Great Room; an outdoor courtyard; and a retail area. The Great Room is designed to provide a space in which to relax before and after treatments, with the adjacent