A ceremony has marked the topping out of a new entertainment venue being developed in Guildford, Surrey, which is set to replace the town's former Civic Hall building. The Austin-Smith:Lord-designed venue is being built by Hertfordshire-based contractor Willmott Dixon Construction, with the project currently "on time and on budget". When complete, the venue will include a 1,000-seat or 1,700-standing auditorium; multi-purpose studio space; two conference rooms and five seminar rooms;

Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) has revealed that it made a return of less than £7m from the Bath Spa scheme, following the settlement of a legal dispute. In November 2009, the local authority said that it had settled its long-running legal battle with contractor Carillion and architect Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners over the rising cost of the project. BANES' statement of accounts show that the council received

The British Postal Museum and Archive (BPMA) has been handed a boost from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards a scheme to establish a new £19m home in Swindon. BPMA has moved closer to securing a grant worth more than £2.6m to help in its bid to provide public access to the former National Postage Museum's collection, which has been in storage since 1998. The HLF has awarded development funding

Luxury hotel operator Dorchester Collection is set to open a new country house hotel and eco-luxury spa, Coworth Park near Ascot, in September 2010. Set in 240 acres of Berkshire parkland, the 70-bedroom Coworth Park hotel is a restored Georgian Manor House and will be marketed as one of the UK's most environmentally-friendly hotels. Facilities include two restaurants, a fine-dining restaurant in the main house and a more informal restaurant

The £6.4m Djanogly Community Leisure Centre in Nottingham has opened to the public. Facilities at the centre, designed by Archial Architects and being built by ISG Regions, include a six-lane, 25m swimming pool with full moveable floor, a changing village, a 50-station fitness suite supplied by Technogym, sauna and steam rooms and a dance/activity studio. The new building has been designed to fit on the site without imposing on the

Detailed plans have been revealed for the George W. Presidential Center, to be built in Dallas, Texas, US. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, The attraction will include a real-size replica of the famous Oval Office, a museum and a presidential library. The centre will also be the home of a public policy research institute. The museum will tell the story of the Bush presidency and thematic design will feature

The development of a new multi-million pound sports complex in Basildon, Essex, has reached the next stage after work to construct the venue's steel structure was completed. Basildon District Council (BDC) has announced that water testing has now started on Basildon Sporting Village's 50m pool, with the concrete lining to be filled with water to test its integrity before tiling and rendering can begin. The water testing phase will take

A ceremony has been held to mark the topping out of Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, Kent, which is currently undergoing a major multi-million pound redevelopment. Canterbury City Council (CCC) has confirmed that a special community day will also take place on 26 June to enable local residents to see how the £25.6m scheme is progressing. The redeveloped Marlowe Theatre will include a 1,200-seat auditorium with enhanced acoustics and sightlines, a

Plans for the £39m transformation of Mumbles Pier near Swansea into a "21st century visitor destination" have been put on display by the historic attraction's owners. Ameco staged a two-day public exhibition on 18 and 19 June in the Pier Hotel ballroom near the pier entrance in order to allow residents to view the proposals, which are now ready for submission. The project will include the restoration of the Victorian

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has confirmed that all permanent venues at the Olympic Park are now under construction with the start of work at Eton Manor. Mansells Construction Services has been appointed to deliver the new Eton Manor venue, which will provide aquatics training facilities during the 2012 Olympic Games with three full-size, temporary pools. A temporary synchronised swimming pool and water polo pool will also be created, before

London-based Wilkinson Eyre Architects has submitted plans for a new £17m swimming pool complex in Worthing, West Sussex, to replace the town's Aquarena venue. The proposals, which are likely to be considered by planning officials at Worthing Borough Council (WBC) in September, incorporate a six-lane, 25m competition-standard swimming pool and an indoor leisure pool. A combined learner/diving pool with 1m (3.3ft) and 3m (9.8ft) boards; a health and fitness centre;

A former nuclear bomb shelter near the town of Konjic, Bosnia, is to be host to the Biennale of Contemporary Art, D-O ARK Underground. The underground bunker, built between 1953-1979 for the then leader of Yugoslavia, Josip Tito, was intended to house around 350 people who could live there for up to six months without returning to the surface. With its entrance hidden by several houses, the well preserved shelter

Plans for a £5m arts venue in Hornsea are now in doubt due to a lack of funding. East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC), which approved the plans in May, has agreed to put up £3m of the fundin but is still awaiting a funding decision from Yorkshire Forward on the remaining £2m. Stephen Parnaby, leader of the council, said: “The council will of course continue to do all it

Elea Golf Club near Paphos, Cyprus, will be launched later this year in what is billed as one of the most important new course openings in Europe in recent years. Designed by six-time major winner, Sir Nick Faldo, the par 71 course is located 8km from the international airport and will be the centrepiece of Elea Estate, a luxury resort development. The Elea estate will boast luxurious villas and apartments,

Hafod Eryri, a new visitor centre on the summit of Snowdon, North Wales, is among more than 22 projects shortlisted for this year's Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award. In addition to the Ray Hole Architects-designed attraction, the refurbished Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and Hull Truck Theatre's new Humberside home have been shortlisted for the prize. Nottingham Contemporary - a new 3,400sq m (36,600sq ft) arts complex, London's Victoria and

London's National Theatre (NT) has submitted plans for a major £70m overhaul of the South Bank venue in a bid to transform its facilities and "open up" to more people. The theatre has been working alongside architects Haworth Tompkins over the last two years to draw up development proposals as part of its NT Future scheme, which could get underway in late 2011. Lambeth Council will now decide the fate

Construction company ISG has begun work on the £4.3m rowing centre at The Graham Sports Centre in Maiden Castle, which is owned by Durham University. The centre is the main site for the university's sports teams and and ISG is set to develop existing rowing amenities, as well as refurbishing and extending the building to accommodate additional sporting facilities. ISG will build two steel frame extensions onto the sports centre,

Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the president of Egypt, has inaugurated the first two phases of the new US$550m (£372m, €444m) Grand Museum of Egypt. The new 100,000sq m (1.1m sq ft) museum, which occupies a 120-acre (48.5 hectares) site about 2km (1.2 miles) from the Pyramids of Giza, now has a power plant, a fire station and a conservation centre. One of the milestones in the museum's construction has been

John Penrose, Minister for Tourism and Heritage, has attended the unveiling of the restored Chiswick House Gardens in London as his first ministerial visit to a heritage site. He said: "This is an oasis of tranquility right in the heart of bustling London. This partnership project has secured the future of this beautiful landscape, which will bring hours of pleasure to tourists and local residents alike." English Heritage (EH), as

One year on from its official opening, the Ray Hole-designed Hafod Eryri visitor centre on the summit of Snowdon has won a prestigious architectural award. At a ceremony hosted by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Wales (RICS Wales), the structure was awarded the 'Project of the Year' prize. In addition, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), said that it should be one of seven buildings in Wales to

Assael Architecture's plans for the regeneration of a former 1.85-hectare (4.6-acre) industrial site in Brentford, west London, have been given the green light by local councillors. Hounslow Council has approved proposals for a £100m redevelopment of the Alfa Laval site, which has been derelict for more than two decades and will see the existing Alfa tower retained. The plans - submitted by the London-based architects on behalf of Carlton Properties

Swansea-based contractor John Weaver has been appointed by the Vale of Glamorgan Council (VGC) to revitalise a historic Pumphouse in Barry, South Wales. The Grade II-listed No.1 Dock Hydraulic Pumping House is set to benefit from a £1m external restoration designed by Pembroke-based Acanthus Holden Architects as part of a wider Innovation Quarter for the town. Funded by the council and the Welsh Assembly Government, the plans have been designed

Liverpool-based BCA Landscapes has been appointed from a shortlist of five design teams to deliver Wyre Borough Council's (WBC) £1.6m Sea Change scheme. A stretch of coastline between Fleetwood and Cleveleys, Lancashire, is set to be transformed as part of the scheme, which will include a coastal trail and improvements to Fleetwood's Marine Gardens. WBC, which is also proposing an architectural structure at Rossall Point to act as a beacon

New facilities have opened at a leisure centre in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, after work on the first £1.3m phase of a wider refurbishment of the venue was completed. Lakeland Forum now boasts a new entrance, an enhanced reception area, a viewing gallery overlooking the 25m, six-lane swimming pool and additional facilities for disabled users as part of stage one. Improvements have also included the refurbishment of the Erne room and

Work is to begin in early 2011 on a sustainable 'floating spa and wellness centre' concept, to be created around 10 minutes away from Amsterdam's city centre in the Netherlands. The floating spa concept was originally developed by Studio Noach founders Kizito Musampa and Michel Kreuger, together with Dutch architect Anne Holtrop for a Designs of the Future competition at the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam. Created to be positioned

Plans for a major £30m transformation of Redcar seafront - including a new 80ft (24.4m) vertical pier - have been put on show by the local authority. Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (RCBC) is inviting residents, businesses and visitors to comment on the project, which is designed to regenerate the area and attract inward investment. Proposals also include the creation of upgraded flood defences and the development of The Hub,

Bangor University (BU) has unveiled the design for a new £35m arts and innovation venue, which is to be developed in the North Wales city. The Pontio Project - a name derived from the Welsh word for "to bridge" - will boast a theatre with a capacity of between 450-550 seats; a cinema space and a studio theatre. An outdoor amphitheatre, bars, dining and park areas also form part of