Global architecture firm Grimshaw and Australian firm Andrew Burges have won an international competition to design and build a AUS$51m (US$44m, €35m, £28m) park and leisure centre in Sydney. Over 140 teams submitted entries for the competition, run by the City of Sydney. Chosen from a shortlist of five finalists, Grimshaw and Andrew Burges winning design will be a leisure and fitness complex with ‘something for everyone’.

AFC Wimbledon has submitted a planning application to Merton Council for a new stadium at Plough Lane in South London. The League Two football club is planning to build a 11,000-capacity stadium on the site of Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium – a location the club calls its “spiritual home”. The application has been submitted in partnership with residential builder Galliard Homes and seeks permission to build 600 residential units along with

Real Madrid FC is pressing ahead with plans for a full redevelopment of the iconic Santiago Bernabeu stadium, complete with a skin of LEDs around the stadium, museum and nearby theme park development. Expected to take six years to complete, Real Madrid’s home stadium, redesigned by architectural firm GMP-Architekten, will be wrapped in LEDs – which will effectively operate as a huge TV screen to air the club’s greatest moments

The ‘Rom’ in Hornchurch, East London, has been given Grade II listed status by English Heritage and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Opened in 1978, the Rom, named after a nearby river, is one of the finest surviving examples of early skatepark designs in the UK. The decision to protect the park follows the publication of a new book by sports historian Simon Inglis called Played in London

The cost of converting the London Olympic Stadium into a 54,000-capacity multi-use stadium is set to rise from £154m to £190m due to complications in installing the new roof. Providing the support structures for the new roof have required significantly more strengthening work to the main roof truss than initially expected. The truss was originally designed to be taken down after the Games. As a result, the London Legacy Development

Boris Johnson, mayor of London, has begun a consultation process with GT Architects over the proposed plans for a sports centre at Crystal Palace, south London. Launched on 6 October, the mayor, CSM Strategic, with FMG Consulting and GT Architects have proposed several development concepts for the sports centre. These are being pitched to the public through a series of talks and exhibitions, as well as a survey, running throughout

Consultancy and engineering firm Arup has won the contract to advise on venues and infrastructure for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The London-based firm says it has been appointed lead adviser to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with its duties covering venue and infrastructure development. Arup will masterplan the Games, as well as advising on transport, security, sustainability

When it comes to how best to cater for cyclists in the UK’s capital, more ideas are being "floated" than ever before. The latest is the Thames Deckway, a 7-mile (11km) stretch of cycle path that would float alongside the banks of London’s famed river. Thames Deckway is a concept proposed by River Cycleway Consortium, which is led by architect David Nixon and environmental entrepreneur Anna Hill, in conjunction with

Oakland, California-based National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise Golden State Warriors has revealed the first conceptual plans of its new home in San Francisco, California. Plans to build a 18,000-capacity, multi-use arena in the Mission Bay area will see the Warriors travel across the San Francisco Bay and return to the city of San Francisco for the first time since 1971, when the team moved to its current Oracle Arena home

Queen’s Park Rangers Football Club’s proposed move to Old Oak Common looks increasingly uncertain after the landowner blocking the club’s move to the site, revealed a £5bn alternative plan for the west London site. PLP has been revealed as the lead architect behind the alternate proposal and has produced a masterplan featuring a cultural hub, canal-side dock and 9,500 homes and two schools. The plans – drawn up in collaboration

Liverpool FC’s plans to increase capacity of the club’s Anfield Stadium by around 13,000 seats have been given the green light by Liverpool City Council (LCC). LCC’s planning committee met earlier today (23 September and resolved to grant planning permission for the expansion of the Main Stand by 8,300 seats and the Anfield Road Stand by 4,800. Construction will begin next year for completion by the 2016-17 season and will

Skateboarders in London’s South Bank Undercroft have won their 17-month battle to keep the space under Queen Elizabeth Hall designated for skateboarding, BMX riding, graffiti and urban activities. On 18 September, details of a binding agreement between the Long Live Southbank campaign, the Southbank Centre and Lambeth Council were released; meaning that both parties will withdraw from further legal action and the site will remain open, free of charge, for

The 2014 Asian Games began today (19 September) at South Korea’s Incheon Asiad Main Stadium with a colourful opening ceremony being staged at the 70,000-seat arena. From now until 4 October, almost 10,000 athletes from 45 countries will compete in 439 events across 36 sports and disciplines. Both the opening and closing ceremony, plus all of the athletics events, will be staged in the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, which has

It’s no secret that athletes are said to have a ‘home-game advantage’, but how do teams combat the sometimes negative effects of ‘playing away’? Nike and design consultancy Teague have come up with a solution. In order to minimise the effect of air travel and changing time zones on sportsmen and women, Teague and Nike have conceptualised a new form of transport for athletes, ensuring their performance is top notch,

A development group led by tennis coach Judy Murray, mother of star Andy Murray, has been dealt a blow after a prominent member of Stirling Council’s planning office said that it could not support plans for the creation of the Park of Keir sporting hub in Scotland. Led by Murray and the King Group, the project is also backed by her son Andy and former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie,

A hotel dedicated to cyclists has opened in Onomichi – a coastal city in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan – allowing guests to check in while still on their bikes. Masterminded by Suppose Design Office, this new hotel is the first of its kind in Japan. Constructed in a renovated warehouse along the Onomichi waterfront, ‘Hotel Cycle’ offers guests a five-star experience for their bikes, and a chance to relax and unwind

Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) is to launch a consultation on its plans to build a new 40,000-seat stadium on land at Old Oak in West London. As well as a new stadium, the plans include the regeneration hundreds of acres of brownfield land, opening the way for thousands of new homes and jobs to be delivered with easy access to the planned Crossrail/HS2 interchange. The English Premier League

Prominent architectural design firm 360 Architecture is to be acquired by fellow practice HOK, with the US-based group looking to expand its footprint in the sports sector. Founded in Kansas City, US, 360 Architecture is known for its award-winning designs of stadiums, ballparks, arenas, recreation and wellness centres, plus mixed-use entertainment districts. The firm has also won competitions to design corporate facilities, commercial office spaces and government-led projects. “As a

The Indian government has awarded Afghanistan's cricket board a US$1m grant toward the creation of a new cricket stadium in Aino Mena, Kandahar – a southern province of the country. Exact facility details or the final cost of the stadium are yet to be decided and the project is still in its “fund-raising phase”. It is understood that the venue – to be named Kandahar Cricket Stadium will act as

Designed by Tim Greatrex, the new House of Vans Park entertainment hub has opened to the public after over a year of work. Located in the tunnels under London's Waterloo Station, the 30,000sq ft (9,144sq m) venue will showcase an art gallery, a VansLab artist incubator space, cinema, live music venue, café and bars, gifting suite, plus a skater built and designed concrete bowl, mini ramp and street course. Two

Plans have been announced to convert a section of canal in the heart of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, into a wave simulator to be home to surfing, kayaking, scuba diving and a host of other aquatic sports and activities. The artificial river RiF010 – being built by Waveloch at a cost of €3.3m (US$4.4m, £2.6m) will be able to generate a 1.5m (4.9ft) wave while creating naturally-purified water inside the canal

Nike has unveiled the world's first LED basketball court in Shanghai, China, a facility that has been created for basketball star Kobe Bryant to help train young players in Shanghai as part of Nike’s RISE campaign. The court – dubbed the ‘House of Mamba’ – features all over LED flooring; bringing graphics, video and real-time player tracking to training. Using motion sensors to enable tracking and interactive visualisations, players will

Long-held plans for the creation of the £315m (US$525m, €392m) Circuit of Wales racetrack have been boosted after its backers signed a five-year deal to host motorcycling’s British MotoGP event at the venue. The track, which is yet to be constructed, will become a purpose-built hub for the British motorsport industry, catering for major events, while also developing into a centre for motorsport-related industries. The deal with commercial rights owner

A final approval is expected later this year for proposals to build a new 14,000-capacity multi-use arena in Tampere, Finland. The planned Tampere Central Arena will be the new home for the city’s two professional ice hockey teams – Ilves and Tappara – and the flexible design will also allow the venue to host other sporting events as well as concerts and exhibitions. It is expected that the €124m (US$166m,

A shortlist of architects has now been established for the Green Square Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia. The centre will form part of the commercial, retail and cultural heart of the AU$8bn (US$7.5bn, €5.6bn, £4.4bn) greater Green Square redevelopment – one of the largest ever urban renewal project in Australian history. The five finalists are all from Sydney – Andrew Burns; Cullinan Ivanov Partnership; CHROFI & McGregor Coxall; Andrew Burges

Mocked up for his project called ‘The Art of Diving,' Bulgarian-based designer Kristian Terziev has designed a new diving centre-cum-public space to showcase diving to the world. The centre, which would be located in the Bulgarian coastal city of Tsarevo, is space to reflect on the themes of water sports whilst being in close proximity to the ocean. As a working diving centre, the project allows divers to benefit from

Final designs have been revealed for the planned new 60,000-capacity sports stadium in Perth, Australia. The bid to design the venue was won by a team featuring architects Cox Architecture, Hassell and HKS Sports and Entertainment Group. Cox Architecture director Alastair Richardson and Hassell director Peter Lee will act as joint principal architects. The multi-purpose stadium will be the new home to Aussie rules clubs Fremantle and West Coast Eagles