The Saint Louis Art Museum in Missouri, US is to undergo its first major expansion in more than 20 years. Designed by London-based architect David Chipperfield, the expansion - in excess of 200,000sq ft - will provide new galleries, public space and a 300-space underground car park, as well as a new, fully accessible entrance on Fine Arts Drive. The project will result in a 30 percent increase in the

Construction has begun on a new £2.6m sports science centre at the University of Glamorgan in Pontypridd. The centre, which has been designed by London-based Holder Mathias Architects, is being built on the existing playing fields at the university and includes a new multi-purpose sports hall with six courts and an ancillary support block. The centre will also act as a high-tech teaching facility with a monitoring room enabling teaching

The US$1.6bn (£1bn, €1.3bn) Burj Dubai will officially open its doors today (4 January) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Owned by real estate company Emaar Properties, the structure is the tallest building ever to be built at more than half a mile tall (2,690ft, 823m). Burj Dubai was designed by Chicago-based architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) and built by South Korean Samsung C&T. Samsung’s previous projects include the Taipei

Cherwell District Council (CDC) has announced the opening of the new £15m Spiceball Leisure Centre in Banbury, Oxfordshire, which has been completed on budget ahead of schedule. Initially due to open in January 2010, the new centre replaces the former Spiceball Park Leisure Centre and forms part of a wider sports centre modernisation programme in the local area, which is being led by Cherwell Community Leisure (CLL) - a wholly

Plans for the next stage of a scheme to regenerate the City Waterside area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, have moved forward after a funding package worth nearly £6m was secured. On 9 December, Stoke-on-Trent City Council's (STCC) cabinet agreed to match funding worth £2.9m from housing market renewal pathfinder, RENEW North Staffordshire. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has also contributed £2.9m towards the scheme. The £6m funding package will be

A new masterplan for the regeneration of Chard, Somerset, which has been drawn up by LDA Design, has received the backing of South Somerset District Council (SSDC) and Chard Town Council (CTC). London-based LDA Design, CTC and SSDC have worked on the plans alongside the South West Regional Development Agency and Somerset County Council, as well as consulting with local residents and stakeholders. The proposals include the creation of a

Camden Council has awarded planning permission to the £135m expansion of the British Museum. The plans received the green light at the second time of trying, after the council turned down an initial application in June 2009. The previous, rejected plans had angered a local conservation group, Bloomsbury Conservation Area Advisory Committee (BCAAC), which claimed the development would block daylight from the existing buildings and "diminish the museum's existing architectural

Developer Qatari Diar has appointed a new team to draw up a masterplan for the mixed-use redevelopment of the 12.8-acre (5.2-hectare) Chelsea Barracks site in Westminster, London. Dixon Jones, the London-based architects behind the refurbishment of the Royal Opera House, have been selected along with Squire and Partners and Kim Wilkie Associates to create a design framework for the scheme. The firms were chosen from a shortlist of 10 teams

An outline planning application for the transformation of East Float, which forms the main section of the £4.5bn Wirral Waters regeneration project at Birkenhead Docks, have been submitted to Wirral Council. Manchester-based developer Peel is leading the mixed-use scheme, which covers a 1.4 million sq m (15 million sq ft) area and will boast a range of restaurants, cafés and bars, a hotel and conference centre and cultural attractions. More

An énergie-branded health club has opened in a property which formerly housed a McDonald's fast food restaurant. The club in Forest Hill, south London, is owned and operated on a franchise by David Waugh and Andrew Grossett. The pair have invested £260,000 in the venture and facilities at the club include a range of cv stations and 11 pieces of resistance kit supplied by Precor as well as a large

Demolition work has started on the Mary Rose Ship Hall in Portsmouth, Hampshire, which is making way for the development of a new £35m museum dedicated to the historic Tudor warship. The ship itself at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard was withdrawn from public view on 20 September to allow work to start, which will see a boat-shaped museum building built over the dry dock containing the Mary Rose. A team including

A new museum in Abu Dhabi, being built under advisement from the British Museum, is to open 2013. The Zayed National Museum, which is being developed by the Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC), is to be the cornerstone of the Saadiyat Island Cultural District. Designed by London's Foster + Partners, the 12,000sq m (130,000sq ft) museum is named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late founder and

The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, US, is to open its new 127,000sq ft expansion in April next year. Work began on the building, which was designed by New York-based Thomas Phifer and Partners, in December 2006. The new building will be home to the museum's permanent collection of 5,000 objects. The existing building will have its lobby renovated and will become a centre for temporary exhibitions, collections

Work has begun on a £7m redevelopment project on the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Manchester. The project is being led by architects Buttress Fuller Alsop Williams and funded jointly by the European Regional Development Fund, North West Development Agency (NWDA), DCMS, Garfield Weston and a number of other trusts and foundations. The improvement works will include the removal of the metal ramps at the heart of the

Northern Ireland tourism minister Arlene Foster has welcomed the "good progress" being made on the new £97m visitor attraction, which will be located in the centre of Belfast's Titanic Quarter. The Titanic Signature Building, which was designed by a team of international firms, including Eric Kuhn Associates, RFR and Event Communications, will tell the story of the city's association with the ill-fated luxury liner. Located at the head of the

The Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany has officially opened its doors for the first time in 70 years after a 212m euro (£192m) redevelopment project. The museum, which originally opened in 1855, was closed at the outbreak of World War II in 1939 and was subsequently damaged by bombing raids. British architect David Chipperfield’s refurbishment involved the reworking of the exhibition spaces, with modern design replacing the parts of the

Work has begun on the US$12m (£7.36m) Louisiana State Sports Hall of Fame and Regional History Museum in Natchitoches, US. The Sports Hall of Fame will feature a collection of memorabilia donated by 250 Louisiana sports figures, while the history museum will operate as part of the Louisiana State Museum system and will focus on the contributions of the diverse cultures that have shaped the state. The 28,000sq ft building

Plans for the transformation of the disused London Street Cathedral School in Derry, Northern Ireland, into a new social enterprise centre have been handed a £832,000 boost by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The B1-listed Victorian schoolhouse, which was built in 1891 as the primary school attached to the St Columb's Church of Ireland Cathedral, is to be restored to provide a new venue for cultural and heritage tourism. London-based

Work has started on a new £1.4m facility alongside the National Stone Centre in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, which is designed to promote sustainable development and maintain traditional construction skills. Due to open in September 2010, the Eco Centre will enable Derbyshire County Council (DCC) to increase the number of training courses it offers in a bid to help sustain the area's rural built heritage. Facilities at the venue will include a

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts has opened the Grand Hyatt Shenzhen, China. Part of the city's City Crossing complex, it sits alongside MixC - Shenzhen's largest shopping mall - plus an Olympic-sized skating rink and Park Lane Manor, said to be the most exclusive residential property in Shenzhen. The hotel occupies a 38-storey crested building, whose top seven glass-encased floors create an illuminated 'lantern' at nightfall, offering panoramic views of Shenzhen,

A problem with the installation of fire dampers at the new £25m Leisurezone leisure complex in Harlow, Essex, has forced the opening of the facility to be put on hold. Forming part of the wider Harlow Gateway regeneration scheme, it had been hoped that Abingdon-based contractor Leadbitter would handover the venue to the Gateway partners by Christmas 2009. However, the latest estimate for the "practical completion" of the Leisurezone centre

The winners of the annual European Hotel Design Awards have been announced at a ceremony in London. Malmaison Aberdeen received the Architecture of the Year award for a restoration project, while the Andel's Hotel in Lodz, Poland, was given the award for the best conversion of an existing building to a hotel use. The 278-room Andel's is part of the Summit Hotels & Resorts group and is located in a

Streatham Leisure Centre, operated by Greenwich Leisure Limited, has closed until further notice due to health and safety concerns. The centre's swimming pool was closed last week after an engineer's report raised concerns about the condition of the centre's roof, but further checks since then have revealed more widespread structural problems. Lambeth Council is now assessing the work needed to repair the building and in the meantime is directing users

London-based David Morley Architects (DMA) has been appointed by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to draw up designs for a new water polo arena, which will be used at the 2012 Games. The temporary venue, which will provide seating capacity for 5,000 spectators and a warm-up pool, will be located alongside the permanent Aquatics Centre and will act as a gateway to the Olympic Park site. Construction work is scheduled

Everton Football Club (EFC) and Tesco have been left "bitterly disappointed" at a decision to reject plans for the transformation of Kirkby, Liverpool, which would have included a new 50,000-seat stadium. Communities secretary John Denham has blocked the scheme, following a public inquiry held between November 2008 and February 2009 in the wake of Knowsley Council's decision to approve planning permission. In addition to the new stadium, proposals for the

Construction work has started on a £850,000 redevelopment of the Swan Centre for Leisure in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, which is to be delivered in three stages. The first phase of the scheme, which is being managed by operator Tees Active, will see Createability convert an existing 500sq m (5,382sq ft) soft play area into a new 65-station gym equipped with Technogym cv and resistance equipment. Scheduled for completion by January 2010,

A new 122-bedroom Best Western hotel in Basel, Switzerland - Best Western Hotel Stücki - has opened its doors to the public, which has been specifically designed to accommodate taller guests. The hotel, which was unveiled by Best Western Swiss Hotels in September, is fitted with beds at least 7ft (2.1m) long and 43 inches (109cm) wide to cater for tall people, while the average height of the rooms is