Architecture studio Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (RSHP) have been commissioned to design a major extension to the British Library in London. The design team will build 100,000sq ft (9,300sq m) of new spaces on a 2.8 acre site to the north of the library’s Grade 1 Listed building at St Pancras. Their design will include facilities for learning, exhibitions and public use, in addition to a new northern entrance

The Scottish Seabird Centre has unveiled its plans for a new visitor centre at its site in North Berwick, near Edinburgh. The £5.5m proposal would continue the work of the Seabird Centre, an educational destination that enables guests to engage with and learn about wildlife. However, the charitable conservation centre, which opened in 2000, is currently struggling to keep up with visitor demand. The project, dubbed the National Marine Centre,

Swiss architect Peter Zumthor has revised his much-discussed design for the new US$600m (€565.5m, £483.2m) home of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). His initial vision for a black organically-shaped structure, inspired by the nearby La Brea tar pits, has changed to something harder-edged and a different colour – with light earthy tones now set to be used for the monolithic facade. According to LA Times, Zumthor presented

Construction has commenced on a new £3.8m (US$4.7m, €4.4m) visitor centre for the famous Yorkshire Sculpture Park; one of northern England’s most popular tourist attractions. The project, located in the city of Wakefield, has been billed by architects Feilden Fowles as “the practice’s most prestigious cultural commission to date.” The park, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, welcomes around 500,000 visitors every year. It hosts permanent and temporary sculptures, including

UPDATE: A dramatic new museum celebrating some of the world’s most famous prehistoric cave art has opened at the Lascaux Cave complex in France. The €66m (US$70.3m, £56.2m) International Centre for Cave Art is located in the town of Montignac-sur-Vézère, at the foot of the hill where the Lascaux caves – adorned with the highest concentration of Paleolithic cave art in Europe – were discovered in 1940. Within the new

An opening date of 23 June 2017 has been announced for Renzo Piano’s first completed building in Spain: the Botín Center art museum in Santander. Designed in collaboration with Luis Vidal Architects, the building was described by Botín Foundation director general Inigo Sáenz de Miera on 30 March as “a unique place for art, and an engine that generates economic, social and cultural wealth for northern Spain.” The building is

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has officially kickstarted “a new phase of transformation and renewal”, with construction underway on an important phase of architect Frank Gehry’s wide-reaching masterplan for the institution’s main building. Around 67,000sq ft (6,225sq m) of public space – including 11,500sq ft (1,070sq m) for new American Art galleries and 11,500sq ft for contemporary art exhibitions – is being added to the museum as part of Gehry’s

British architect Asif Khan has revealed the first visualisations of ‘We Are Energy’ – the UK pavilion he is designing for the 2017 International Exposition in Astana, Kazakhstan. The images reveal a domed tent-like space, surrounded on the outside by a 360 degree display screen. The 2,200sq m (23,600sq ft) pavilion, which is scheduled to be pre-built to shell and core by the Expo organisers, will be illuminated by electric

Tulips, timber and triangles are at the heart of an elegant timber gateway created by architecture studio Mecanoo for Keukenhof – one of the world's largest flower gardens. The 79 acre park, located in the Dutch town Lisse, is popular among domestic and international tourists who travel to see Keukenhof’s impressive selection of flora and fauna. Approximately seven million flower bulbs are planted there annually and it is nicknamed ‘the

Australia’s first “Active Lifestyle” project is coming closer to reality, with the Sunshine Coast Council granting development approval for the first phase of the $400m (US$305m, €280.7m, £243m) Queensland venture. SANAD Capital – the Australian offshoot of Dubai-based investment firm Najibi Group – is developing the project, called ACTIVE, across a 25 hectare plot on Steve Irwin Way, which it purchased in January 2016. The council has now approved 14

Seven architecture studios have made it on to the final shortlist to design a new theatre in the heart of Edinburgh – the £25m Ross Pavilion and Gardens project. The studios in contention are: • Adjaye Associates (UK) • BIG Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark) • Flanagan Lawrence (UK) • Page Park Architects (UK) • Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter (Norway) • wHY (USA) • William Matthews Associates (UK) and Sou Fujimoto Architects

Copenhagen Zoo has revealed it is working with BIG architects on a brand new panda enclosure that will be shaped like an enormous yin-yang symbol. The new exhibit will house two giant pandas that China has offered to loan to Denmark, and will be built on the footprint of the zoo’s former elephant enclosure, which is now empty and will be demolished. The pandas will be delivered from Chengdu at

Denmark's first newly built theatre in over a century has opened outside the capital Copenhagen as “a cultural dynamo for the entire region.” Designed by architecture studio Schmidt Hammer Lasson, the 4,200sq m (45,200sq ft) Vendsyssel Theatre in Hjørring includes a music hall, a black box auditorium, a rehearsal hall and a 430-seat ‘in-the-round’ theatre. The striking €23m (US25$m, £19.8m) complex is formed of a series of cubic blocks. They

Plans have been announced to open an anime and manga theme park on an island in Japan’s Hyogo Prefecture, with the attraction to be based on popular titles Hi no Tori (Phoenix) and Crayon Shin-chan. Dubbed Nijigen No Mori – which translates to ‘Anime Forest’ – Pasona Group will operate the attraction in Awajishima Koen park on Awajishima island. Utilising the area’s natural beauty, along with the latest visual technologies,

Latvian practice Mailitis Architects have designed an amphitheatre with a unique wind tunnel for a band of levitating monks. The Shaolin Flying Monks Theatre has been built on Songshan Mountain in central China – a Unesco World Heritage that is home to the Shaolin Monastery, traditionally considered to be the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and Kung-Fu martial arts. The monks who live on the mountain develop skills in many scenic

Architect Margot Krasojevic has designed an ice rink facility on a Russian lake that will use the power of the sun and geothermal energy to keep the surface frozen all year round. The ‘Liquid Skating Photovoltaic Ice Skating Rink’ will be located high in the mountains of the Kamchatka peninsula – a popular tourist hotspot due to its volcanic terrain, nature reserves and hot springs. Krasojevic’s client, China Film House,

London practice Serie Architects have revealed new images of their design for the Jameel Arts Centre (JAC) in Dubai and confirmed the facility will open next year. Located at the tip of Dubai’s Cultural Village, overlooking Dubai Creek, the 10,000sq m (107,000sq ft) non-profit centre will house art galleries, studios, an artist residence, a creative enterprise incubator, a sculpture garden, a roof terrace and a restaurant. It will present curated

A museum complex designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) partly on the site of a former German WWII bunker is nearing completion in Blåvand, western Denmark. The Museum Center Blåvand – which CLAD understands could open as early as June – integrates four independent institutions that are embedded in the dunes around the Tirpitz bunker, which was constructed by Nazi Germany during the war and survived the Allies’ bombing campaigns.

A new scientific and cultural complex exploring the world of polar bears, penguins, icebergs and expeditions has opened in Prémanon, eastern France. Described as “a new spot for knowledge and recreation” in the Jura mountains, Polar World is dedicated to telling stories of the Arctic and Antarctica. The attraction is composed of a museum, a skating rink, an auditorium, a pedagogical garden, a multipurpose exhibition room and a restaurant. Everything

Landscape architecture studio James Corner Field Operations have been appointed to “restore, reimagine and revitalise” a one-mile stretch of Washington D.C’s historic Chesapeake and Ohio National Historical Park. The practice will work with local group Georgetown Heritage and the National Park Service to masterplan a section of the park focused around a canal network. The park’s locks, towpath, plazas, stones, landscaped areas and street crossings will be improved to “maximise

Plans are underway to create a vintage-themed recreational complex as an ode to the golden days of automobile travel, at a disused gas station on one of France’s most iconic routes. The Bel Air service station on the former N6 route (now renamed the D973) was once a popular – and necessary – stop on the journey from Paris to the French Riviera. However, when the A6 connecting Paris and

Concrete – a multi-functional cultural space designed by OMA for Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue – officially opened to the public yesterday (15 March). Located in the Al Qouz industrial area, Alserkal Avenue was founded in 2007, with the aim of promoting cultural initiatives in the region. In the intervening years it has become the emirate’s most important arts hub, with twenty-five galleries and art spaces. OMA were commissioned to address the

The drive to make Abu Dhabi's Yas Island one of the world’s top leisure and entertainment destination continues with the under-construction CLYMB, a futuristic building that will hold a supersized flight chamber and climbing wall. Miral, the developers and management company behind Yas Island, has said the 9.75m (32ft) flight chamber will be the widest in the world and the 43m (141ft) indoor climbing wall will be the tallest. “CLYMB

A crack team of robots have comprehensively renovated a community art gallery in Shanghai, predominantly using recycled bricks. The innovative project is the work of Chinese design studio Archi-Union Architects, who programmed the robots to build a new exterior facade for the West Bund Art Exhibition Area in the city’s Xuhui district. Grey-green bricks were taken from the existing gallery building, which had been deemed unfit for purpose, and carefully

Construction on a number of major new attractions in Shanghai will begin before the year is out, according to city officials. Dozens of museums and art galleries are to be built across a 67,000sq m (721,000sq ft) area in Jiading District – forming the Haishang Cultural Museum Complex. According to the Shanghai Daily newspaper, the local government is concerned that too many of Shanghai’s museums and theatres are located an

After 30 years, Gordon Dorrett is stepping down as CEO and president of Forrec, with Cale Heit taking over from October 2017. Heit, who serves as executive vice president of operations at the experience design and architecture firm, started with Forrec as a landscape architect 25 years ago. He worked his way up through the ranks to lead the theme parks business before taking his current role. Dorrett, who joined

Danish toymaker the LEGO Group has revealed new photographs, renderings and an aerial drone video of its forthcoming Bjarke Ingels-designed brand museum in the city of Billund, where the company was founded 85 years ago. The visitor attraction – built to resemble a giant stack of Lego bricks – is rapidly taking shape, and an opening date of 28 September has been announced. Consisting of 21 huge multi-coloured blocks built