The new £15m Middleton Arena in Rochdale, which was officially opened by Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave last month, has won the Places for People award at the recent Regional Northwest Construction Awards. One of 15 awards made, the Places for People category targets projects that 'tackle issues such as crime, health, sport or education, it also recognises the contribution to physical and/or social regeneration and the re-use of existing land'.

The long-term future of the Lyric Theatre and Cinema in Carmarthen, south west Wales, has been safeguarded after it was awarded a £300,000 grant from the Arts Council of Wales (ACW). The funding will go towards a £1.5m revamp of the venue, which will result in it beoming a specialist theatre. The decision to remove the Lyric’s cinema aspect was made following an announcement that a six-screen Apollo cinema multiplex

The US$106m (£64m, 74.4m euro) expansion of the 170,000sq ft (15,793sq m) Anchorage Museum at the Rasmuson Center in Alaska has opened its doors to the public. The revamp, designed by London-based David Chipperfield Architects, incorporated a new glass-fronted façade and entrance facing downtown Anchorage. Among the features of the new building are a café, shop and two extra floors (80,000sq ft, 7,432sq m) of exhibition space. A venue at

Plans for a major new mixed-use development on a 230-acre (93.1-hectare) former pipeworks site in Clay Cross, Derbyshire, have been given the green light by North East Derbyshire District Council (NEDDC). Worcester-based developer Maximus is behind the multi-million pound project, which will see the transformation of the former Biwater Works site - now renamed Silkston - over the next 10 years. The scheme includes a new 60-bedroom hotel, a children's

A new supermarket development on the site of the Ashton Gate stadium in Bristol could help to fund Bristol City Football Club's (BCFC) new 30,000-seat venue planned for the outskirts of the city. The club has confirmed that it is in talks with supermarket giant Tesco over the proposals, which are meant to ensure the Football League Championship outfit receives the maximum value for the site in order to finance

Ewhurst Recreation Ground in Surrey is to benefit from improved community sports facilities, thanks to a £315,880 grant from the Football Foundation. A two-storey changing pavilion will replace the existing wooden pavilion and the grass pitches will be upgraded to include a full size grass football pitch, a junior size grass football pitch and a mini-soccer pitch. Work commenced on 28 March and completion is expected by the start of

Southampton City Council (SCC) has approved planning permission for the construction of a new 25-storey hotel and apartment building, which is to become one of the tallest buildings in the city. Orchard Homes is the developer behind the £30m project, which will see a three or four-star hotel and restaurant will occupy six storeys of the new building, with a mixture of one, two and three-bedroom properties contained on the

New York-based architect Daniel Libeskind has won a competition to redesign an entire district of Seoul in South Korea. Working with ARUP and Martha Schwartz Inc., Libeskind will create a masterplan to transform the Yongsan International Business District. The US$20bn (£12.5bn, 14.3m euro) project involves a series of skyscrapers alongside the Han River, designed to be "islands" in a sea of green space. Libeskind said: "The idea is create a

British Waterways, in partnership with H20 Urban, has announced the winners of a competition to remodel five historic Spits Barges to create a new mixed-used development in London's Docklands. The winners are BACA - a research-led practice noted for its work around climate change and flooding - and PCKO, which has won praise for designing attractive buildings that respect the environment and utilise new technology. The judges, chaired by British

Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) has unveiled designs for a proposed £1.3m dual-use sports complex, which is to be established on the site of St Davids Swimming Pool in west Wales. The pool is to close on 7 June in order to make way for the new complex, which will include a four-court sports hall, a health and fitness suite with changing facilities and two further changing rooms for external use.

A new £2m pavilion, which has been developed as part of the wider restoration of Avenham Park in Preston, Lancashire, is to be officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester on 23 June. The Avenham Park Pavilion, which was designed by London-based architect Ian McChesney following a national competition organised by the Royal Institute of British Architects, includes a café, a function room, a meeting room and offices. Keith Sedgewick,

Southend United Football Club (SUFC) has announced that it is planning to include a casino as part of a new 22,000-seat stadium development at Fossetts Farm in Essex. The £46m scheme, which was given the go-ahead by the government last September after being called in for a public inquiry, has now been altered to incorporate the proposed casino, as well as a new football academy and a retail development. According

Plans for a new 15-hectare (37.1-acre) mixed-use development, which will result in the creation of a new business quarter for the centre of Coventry, are to be put to the city council's Development Forum. Friargate Coventry, which is the development vehicle for Cannon Cannon Kirk, is behind the office-led scheme, and also includes two new hotels, restaurants, bars and retail units. The project also includes new public spaces, as well

Local residents in Lowestoft, Suffolk, are being invited to put forward their views on plans to redevelop Waterlane Leisure Centre. A survey being carried out by Waveney District Council from 21 May to 30 June aims to determine what facilities and activities should be included in the two-storey extension to best meet the demands and needs of the local community. Council representatives will also attend community forum events in Lowestoft

The Oceanarium at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, US, reopened to the public on 23 May, following the completion of an extensive US$50m (£31.4m, 35.8m euro) refurbishment scheme. More than three million gallons of saltwater were drained from the attraction as part of the nine-month project, which included the recoating of all five pools, routine maintenance to animal habitats and the installation of new heating, cooling and animal life-support systems. A

Local school children in Lincoln have selected their preferred designs for the refurbishment of two of the city's play areas as part of the government's Playbuilder Programme. The majority of the funding for the £140,000 scheme, which incorporates the revamp of the Nene Road and Newark Road sites, has been provided through a government grant and will be carried out in partnership between the City of Lincoln Council (CLC) and

Architect Peter Zumthor, whose designs include spas, chapels, museums and houses for the elderly, has become the 2009 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Although most of Zumthor's work is in Switzerland, he has designed projects in Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, UK, Spain, Norway, Finland and the US. His most famous work is the Thermal Baths in Vals, Switzerland. Most recently, critics praised his Field Chapel to Saint Nikolaus von

A new community stadium, which will be home to Aberdeen Football Club (AFC), is to be situated at Loirston Loch after the local authority backed the site as its preferred location for the venue. Plans are now set to be developed for the new facility, following Aberdeen City Council's (ACC) decision to approve the findings of a feasibility study that identified Loirston Loch as the most deliverable option for the

A design competition to transform the 1.33-mile, fire-damaged Southend Pier in Southend-on-Sea has been launched by the borough council. In collaboration with the Landscape Institute and the Royal Institute of British Architects, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has created a design brief with the intentions of re-establishing the pier as a "must-see destination for all visitors". The council wants to transform the Grade II-listed pier, built in 1830, into a cultural destination

Work has begun on the US$112m (£70.5m, 80.2m euro) 40-storey Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur hotel and mixed-used development in Malaysia. One of the more notable features of the five-star hotel, which was designed by the Seattle office of Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo (WATG) architects, is that the lobby will be on the top floor as opposed to the ground floor. Guests will have to ride express lifts to the

The new Dallas Cowboys Stadium is due to open in Arlington, Texas, on 6 June. The 3 million sq ft (278,700sq m) stadium, which is estimated to have cost around US$1.3bn (£819m, 931.5m euro), will become the largest NFL stadium in the US, stretching a quarter-mile in length. Designed by HKS Sport, the 80,000-capacity (which can be expanded to 100,000) stadium boasts the largest retractable roof in the world at

The designs for Accor's new hotel in Lavasa, India, have been unveiled. The Accor Pullman Hotel and Convention Centre has been designed by Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo (WATG) architects and is expected to open in 2010. The 256-bedroom building will boast a 16m-high lobby, which will form the focal point for the hotel. Sculpted screens based on local patterns are intended to provide shading and cooling, while the interior

A £1.5bn scheme to transform Elephant and Castle has been named as one of two London-based projects that will form part of a new global regeneration initiative set up by former US president, Bill Clinton. The Climate Positive Development Programme, which will also include the regeneration of Albert Basin in east London and 14 other worldwide schemes, aims to support large urban projects that contribute to the growth of cities

Housesteads Roman Fort, which is part of Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site near Bardon Mill, Northumberland, is set to be transformed over the next five years in a bid to improve the visitor experience. The National Trust and English Heritage will work with Hadrian's Wall Heritage and Gareth Hoskins Architects - designers of the award-winning Culloden Battlefield visitor centre in Scotland - to create enhanced displays showcasing some of the

Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club (BHAFC) has announced that it has secured full funding for a new £93m stadium project at Falmer, East Sussex, after Tony Bloom took over as club chair. Bloom will fund the majority of the £93m development after replacing previous chair Dick Knight, who has stepped down after 12 years in the position to become the club's new life president. The scheme includes a 22,500-seat

Swansea Council has announced that plans for the restoration of Mumbles Pier in South Wales are to move forward, after it was recommended that a development framework for the area be adopted. An extensive public consultation has been held to gather the opinions of local residents on the proposed £39m mixed-use scheme, which is designed to transform the historic site into a visitor and tourist attraction. Proposals for the pier

Lancaster City Council (LCC) has launched a major public consultation into plans for the Lancaster Square Routes scheme, which would result in an extensive refurbishment of the city centre. Designs for the project, which have been drawn up by Gillespies LLP in partnership with artists Amenity Space, aim to build on the city's history and heritage while also creating a modern centre. The council wants to gather feedback from local