Telford and Wrekin Council (TWC) has announced that it is to bring forward its revised proposals for the development of a new £8m civic quarter in Wellington, Shropshire, following public consultation. During February, local residents were given a chance to have their say on the scheme, which includes improvements to the town's existing leisure centre and the creation of a new library and registry office. Eric Carter, TWC's cabinet member

The Ulster Hall, a historic 150-year old cultural venue in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has reopened following an extensive multi-million pound refurbishment scheme lasting two years. It is the first scheme to be completed as part of a series of major renovation projects taking place at buildings across the city, with St Malachy's Church, the City Hall and the Ulster Museum set to reopen later this year. Work on the £8.5m

Archial — formerly SMC Charter Architects — has unveiled its designs for the £46.5m Life Centre in Plymouth. A full planning application has been submitted to the city council for the massive leisure scheme, which will be located in the city’s main parkland. Paul Weston, director of Archial, said: “This building is a major architectural statement in Central Park and will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the

Proposals for a major mixed-use development in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, have been put forward by Dovey Estates in a bid to revitalise the seaside town's eastern gateway. At the heart of the scheme is the redevelopment of the Royal Gatehouse Hotel, which was severely damaged by fire last year, as well as adjacent properties including the Royal Playhouse Cinema and the Royal Lion Hotel. Under plans for the project, the exterior

Southampton City Council (SCC) has launched a search for a development partner to take on the transformation of the city's former Tyrrell and Green department store as part of plans for a new cultural quarter. At the heart of plans for the mixed-use development, which has been designed by Assael and could cost up to £50m, is the creation of a new arts complex. A hotel, restaurants, cafés and education

The team behind a new £55m golf resort is hoping the project could establish Angus as one of Scotland's foremost tourist destinations. Plans for the development in the village of Wellbank include an 18-hole Darren Clarke signature golf course, Scotland's first golf youth academy and a five-star hotel and spa, as well as a housing development along the course edge. The course will be designed by renowned architect, Graeme Webster,

London mayor Boris Johnson has revealed the 10 London parks that have been selected by a public vote to receive a £400,000 transformation as part of a £6m funding scheme. Johnson has also announced that Burgess Park in Southwark will receive a larger grant of £2m in order to fund a more extensive upgrade, following advice from a panel of experts. More than 110,000 Londoners voted as part of the

Scotland's oldest purpose-built cinema, The Hippodrome in Bo'ness, is set to reopen on 6 April for a special community screening, following a £2.15m restoration scheme. First opened in 1912, the A-listed building is owned by the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust, which carried out the first phase of the project, and is leased to Falkirk Council. Extensive work has been carried out on both the interior and exterior of the venue,

Plans for a major mixed-use development on the site of the former Ram Brewery in Wandsworth, south west London, have been called in by communities secretary Hazel Blears. The £1bn scheme, which is led by investment and development company Minerva, received planning consent from Wandsworth Council in December 2008, as well as being given the backing of London mayor Boris Johnson. A riverside walk, two public squares and a viewing

Plans for the restoration and refurbishment of Penarth Pier Pavilion have been revived by Penarth Arts and Crafts Ltd (PACL) after the Vale of Glamorgan Council (VGC) agreed to contribute £800,000 towards the scheme. Last year, the project failed at the final hurdle in a bid to secure £2m funding support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), but now preparations are being made to submit a new bid later this

Architects have been appointed to transform the Café Royal on London's Regent Street into a five-star hotel as part of a £750m facelift of the area. Israeli investment firm Alrov Group, leaseholder of the site, has secured David Chipperfield Architects to restore and convert the building into a 25,000sq m, 160-room hotel. When complete the property will form part of a wider 93,000sq m (1 million sq ft) mixed-use development,

Ampersand, the developer behind £250m plans for The Beach resort at Carlyon Bay, Cornwall, has withdrawn an appeal against a decision ordering the company to remove temporary sea defences. Restormel Borough Council (RBC) issued an enforcement notice in September 2007, which came into effect in December 2008, ordering the developer to remove a temporary sea wall that had been constructed to protect workers from sea flooding. However, Ampersand has now

The £4bn eco-dome designs for the Battersea Power Station in London are being re-considered after various consultations found the scheme to impede on world heritage views of the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Real Estate Opportunities – which has a 67 per cent stake in the site's owner Treasury Holdings – appointed New York-based architect Rafael Viñoly to design the masterplan in April 2008. The design was based on

A historic London hotel, which was used by the secret service during the First World War, has been relaunched by Guoman Hotels following the completion of a £16.3m refurbishment. The Grade I-listed Royal Horseguards hotel, located on the Embankment, has undergone a full revamp of its 280 bedrooms to bring the property up to five-star standard. Work has included the addition of a new Guoman Club Lounge and a new

Plans to create a new seafront contemporary art venue in Hastings, East Sussex, have been formally submitted to the local authority by the Jerwood Foundation. If Hastings Borough Council (HBC) approves the scheme, the Jerwood Gallery will house the foundation's collection of 20th and 21st century British art, as well as acting as a regional venue for the Jerwood Visual Arts programme. The proposed building, designed by HAT Projects, will

Cardiff Airport has unveiled plans for the extensive refurbishment of its terminal building as part of a comprehensive review into the facility's status as Wales' national airport. In addition to the terminal revamp, the airport has also undergone a brand review that has resulted in the renaming of the airport as Cardiff Airport/Maes Awyr Caerdydd and the creation of a new logo. Work on the terminal building will include new

Peebles High School is to get new dual-use sports facilities following Scottish Borders Council's (SBC) decision to commit £4.8m towards the scheme. The school is currently the only high school in the Borders region that does not have its own sports facilities, and the new centre will form part of the council's £40m investment in local education over the next five years. Plans for the new sports centre include a

A new play area, which has been designed in accordance with Play England's Design for Play strategy, has been unveiled for Egford Lane Playing Fields in Frome, Somerset. Mendip District Council (MDC) has invested more than £55,000 in the facility, which incorporates fun landscaping alongside play equipment. Nigel Hewitt-Cooper, MDC's deputy portfolio holder for street and landscape services, said: "Working with the people in Frome to provide more play facilities

The City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) has approved an outline planning application for the £850m transformation of a 13-acre (5.3-hectare) site in the heart of the city. Under plans for the new St James Quarter, the existing 1970s St James Shopping Centre and adjacent New St Andrew's House will be demolished to make way for a new retail and leisure development. A new 150-bedroom luxury hotel, an apart-hotel, restaurants and

Coventry City Council (CCC) has unveiled the finished masterplan that will lead a comprehensive transformation of the city centre over the next two decades. Designs have been drawn up by international architects, The Jerde Partnership, following extensive public consultation for the scheme, which has been valued at more than £1bn. The vision for the centre of Coventry, which will undergo its most radical overhaul since the postwar years, includes the

The athletics track at the Queens Park Athletics Stadium, Inverness, is set to be fully refurbished after the venue's operator, Inverness Leisure, secured £125,000 of funding for the scheme. First opened in 1984, the 400m synthetic, all-weather track will undergo its first major work since it was upgraded from a six-lane to an eight-lane facility in 1996. Both the Inverness Common Good Fund and Inverness Council's Education, Culture and Sport

Farnborough Football Club (FFC) has announced that it has appointed a contractor to lead the development of the new South Stand at the Prospect Road End of the club's Cherrywood Road stadium. Stadium Solutions will be responsible for delivering the project, which is expected to cost around £500,000 once additional professional and consultancy fees are taken into account. Planning permission was granted by Rushmoor Borough Council in 2004 for the

A planning application has been submitted for the redevelopment of Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum in Gloucester. The 100-year-old museum, which attracts more than 60,000 visitors each year, will undergo a £5m revamp which will add more than 300sq m of new temporary exhibition space and a new dedicated gallery to house the museum's collection of Dutch, Italian and British masterpieces. Fundraising for the project has begun, with Gloucestershire-based Summerfield

A new museum, designed to act as a symbolic reminder of the Asian tsunami in which more than 200,000 people were killed, has been opened by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Banda Aceh. Situated on the northern tip of Sumatra, the province of Aceh was devastated by the 2004 disaster, and is considered to be the nearest land point to the epicentre of the earthquake that triggered the destructive

Victoria's new AUD$74.5m (£33.64m, 37.6m euro, US$47.75m) purpose-built music facility, the Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC), has opened in Australia – 30 years after being planned. The facility, designed by Ashton Raggatt McDougall (ARM) architects in collaboration with UK-based Acoustic Engineer Raf Orlowski of Arup Acoustics, offers a 1,000-seat concert hall called Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Hall. It is accompanied by a second 150-seat performance space, with a 100-seat dining area and

A Cumbrian town is set to undergo a £3m transformation after South Lakeland District Council (SLDC) approved a bid for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). Plans for Grange-over-Sands, which include improvements to the town's promenade, the ornamental gardens and the Park Road gardens, have been drawn up using council funding and a project planning grant from the HLF. The first application for funding will now be submitted to

Aberdeen City Council (ACC) has given the green light in principle to plans to enter a lease agreement with a private developer that will enable the redevelopment of Hazlehead Golf Course to take a step forward. In October, the council announced that The MacKenzie Club had been selected as its preferred developer for the multi-million pound scheme, which aims to transform the 245-acre (99-hectare) into a major international golf destination.