Northern Ireland finance minister Sammy Wilson has announced that seven companies have been shortlisted to lead the £3m restoration of the Grade B-listed Cultra Manor in County Down. The Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) - acting on behalf of National Museums Northern Ireland - has now invited the shortlisted firms to tender for the contract to refurbish the manor, located at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. It is hoped that

Sports venue design company Populous has been appointed to the design team tasked with creating the main stadium for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Populous will join Russian contractor Engeocom, and Botta Management as part of the design consortium responsible for the delivery of the 40,000-capacity venue. The announcement follows Populous' work in producing the master plan for competition and non-competition venues and facilities in Sochi, John

Westminster City Council (WCC) has confirmed that the Marshall Street baths in central London will reopen to the public in 2010. Redevelopment work on the site, which has been closed since 1997 due to safety fears, began in August 2008. The £25m revamp is being carried out by Marshall Street Regeneration company. SG Interior Exterior is acting as the construction manager for the project and it will continue to oversee

Construction work has got underway at the site of the new £38m Basildon Sporting Village in Essex, which will boast the county's first Olympic-sized swimming pool when complete. Community Solutions for Leisure (CSL) has been appointed to deliver the complex, which is included in the Pre-Games Training Camp guide for the London 2012 Olympics and is scheduled to open in 2011. The new sporting village, which will be built by

Plans to create a new business quarter as part of the proposed redevelopment of a 37-acre (15-hectare) site in the centre of Coventry have been submitted to the local authority. Friargate Coventry, the development vehicle for the Dublin-based property firm, Cannon Cannon Kirk, is behind the office-led scheme, which includes two new hotels, restaurants, bars and retail units. The plans, which have been drawn up by architects Allies and Morrison,

English Heritage has unveiled designs for the proposed new £25m visitor centre at Stonehenge after submitting a planning application for the scheme to Wiltshire Council. The facility, which is to be built 1.5 miles (2.4km) to the west of the historic site at Airman's Corner, has been designed by London-based architects Denton Corker Marshall to be environmentally sensitive to its surroundings. A pair of single-storey structures - one glass and

A new 192-bedroom hotel is to be included as part of a major mixed-use development in London's Docklands after plans for the complex were given the green light by mayor Boris Johnson. Tower Hamlets council had originally refused planning permission for the 63-storey Columbus Tower proposals, but the plans were called in after the mayor exercised special powers to decide the fate of the scheme. In addition to the hotel,

A major £40m development scheme is set to transform an area of central Bradford, West Yorkshire, after proposals received the go ahead from the local authority. An Odeon cinema situated on the corner of Prince's Way and Thornton Road is now set to be demolished in order to make way for the New Victoria Place project, which will include a 98-bedroom hotel, bars and cafés. Developer Langtree Artisan and regional

The University of Ulster is planning to build a £7.6m sports centre on its Coleraine campus. Architects GM design have been commissioned to design the project, which is to be built near to existing student residences. Professor Robert Hutchinson, provost of the campus, said: “The exciting project represents the largest single investment ever on the Coleraine campus for student support. “As well as enhancing our campus sports facilities, the new

Plans for a major £400m mixed-use development scheme designed to transform the centre of Reading has received outline planning consent from the local authority. Reading Borough Council (RBC) has backed Sackville Developments' proposals for Station Hill, which aims to regenerate a 5-acre (2-hectare) area situated adjacent to the town's railway station. Designed by architects Scott Brownrigg and Chapman Taylor, the plans include a new arts complex, a 5,400sq ft (500sq

An 18th century mansion house in Worcestershire where Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was handed his first major landscape gardening commission has been opened to the public. Croome Court in Severn Stoke, located between Worcester and Pershore, has been opened by National Trust (NT), which owns the site, for the first time in its history, having formerly been a school and a centre for the Hare Krishna movement. A 1751 scheme to

Gareth Hoskins Architects has unveiled the designs for Donald Trump's £1bn golf resort in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The Trump International - Scotland golf complex on Menie Estate near Balmedie will include two 18-hole golf courses designed by golf architect Martin Hawtree, which will be separated by a clubhouse open to guests and visitors, a caddyshack, a short-game practice area and a driving range. Additional recreational activities will include an equestrian centre,

Swansea's city centre and waterfront areas are poised to undergo a major £38m transformation after the Welsh Assembly Government approved funding for the scheme. A £28m funding package, which includes £20m from the European Union's (EU) Convergence European Regional Development Fund, will go towards Swansea Council's Waterfront City initiative. Plans include the creation of a landmark European-style boulevard along the Oystermouth Road, Victoria Road and Quay Parade corridor to improve

A new Thomas The Tank Engine-themed park has opened in Shinmisato, Japan. Thomas Town Shinmisato – a joint venture between HIT Entertainment and Pleasurecast, the attractions division of Bandai Namco – is a 772sq m site located within the Lala Port Shinmisato shopping mall. The park boasts five-themed zones, with a Thomas dark ride, Cranky the Crane play structure, a museum, an education area and a café. Frank Foley, general

The Miami Science Museum has received planning permission for its new US$275m (£172m, 188m euro) home. Museum Park Miami will be a 40-acre park designed for both “active and passive recreation”, with two museums – The Miami Museum of Science and the Miami Art Museum – as well as lawns, public gardens, fountains and pools. The new museum has been designed by British firm Grimshaw Architects, with an aquarium designed

Duggan Morris Architects have been selected to design a new £250,000 pavilion, which is set to be built alongside the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in South Sefton, Liverpool. The London-based practice's design for the building, which was chosen following an international contest, has been inspired by the profile of a canoeist in motion, and features a number of jetties stretching out into the canal. Arts Council England, North West, NewHeartlands

Work has started on the construction of a new £22.5m arts training and performance complex for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) in Cardiff. Willmott Dixon has been appointed to lead the development of the new facility, which has been designed by Hamiltons architects and is set to feature a 450-seat concert hall and a 160-seat courtyard theatre. An exhibition gallery and drama rehearsal studios will also

A groundbreaking ceremony has been held to mark the start of construction work on a new book storage facility for the Bodleian Library on the outskirts of Swindon, Wiltshire. Oxford University has acquired a 15-acre (6.1-hectare) site at South Marston for the high-density facility, which is expected to house eight million volumes of the library's low-demand items. The work forms part of a wider modernisation scheme at the New Bodleian

Work has started on a new multi-million pound training centre in Enfield, North London, which will house Tottenham Hotspur Football Club's (THFC) first team, development and academy squads. The 67-acre (2.4-hectare) Bulls Cross facility will feature a two-storey building with a basement, which has been designed by KSS architects to incorporate a 70m x 50m (230ft x 164ft) indoor artificial pitch. A learning centre for THFC's academy and educational space,

British Museum officials are to submit revised plans to Camden Council for a £135m extension that was initially turned down by the council in June. The rejigged plans, drawn up by architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, include sinking part of the extension below ground in an attempt to solve criticism that the extension will block views of the Grade I-listed Reading Room. The new plans will go on public

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has approved plans for construction schemes at 12 further education institutions across the UK as part of a drive to improve college facilities. Developments at Hartlepool College of Further Education (HCFE); Tresham College of Further and Higher Education in Corby and Bournville College in Birmingham have all received the green light from the LSC. A new £51.6m complex designed by architects Bond Bryan will

Plans for the construction of a new £100m retail and leisure development at Llanfairpwll on Anglesey, North Wales, have been withdrawn by the company behind the scheme, Ynys Mon Estates. The Isle of Anglesey County Council has confirmed that it has received written confirmation from the developer that it had pulled out of the Ty Mawr project seven months after it was given the green light by planners. A Cineworld

Plans put forward by landscape architects craft:pegg for a £500,000 cultural scheme in Worthing, West Sussex, have been selected by the local authority, following a design competition. Worthing Borough Council (WBC) chose the London-based practice for the Splash Point scheme, which will funded through the government's Sea Change programme that aims to revitalise coastal towns and communities. Subject to approval from the council's cabinet on 14 September, construction work is

A historic 18th century mill in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, is set to be redeveloped after a design team led by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios was appointed to draw up plans for the site's future. The team, which will also comprise structural engineers Adams Kara Taylor and landscape architects Grant Associates, has been appointed to examine sustainable solutions for the 212-year-old Ditherington Flax Mills. A partnership between English Heritage - which

A Pyongyang, North Korea, hotel with the nickname 'the hotel of doom' has seen building work recommence after a hiatus of 16 years. Designed by Baikdoosan Architects & Engineers, construction of the 300m (984ft)-tall Ryugyong Hotel began in 1987 and it should have been opened in 1989. At that time it could have been the tallest hotel in the world and its seventh largest skyscraper, with 3,000 rooms, seven revolving

The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is to open its new location in New York on 22 September. The new 14,000sq ft space, located in a former machine shop, was designed by Maya Lin and will boast multiple exhibition galleries, interactive display kiosks, a multipurpose auditorium/classroom, a research centre and a space for multidisciplinary public programmes. MOCA’s core exhibition is called “With a single step: Stories in the making

The Four Seasons Hotel in Park Lane, London, has closed for a major refurbishment. ReardonSmith is leading the design team responsible for the revamp, which will see a two-storey extension of the north west elevation in order to provide a new executive suite. On the ground floor, a new porte cochere will also built and a new staircase introduced. The building’s double height atrium will be restored and include a