The Titanic Hotel, in Liverpool, UK, opened to the public on 5 July, in a Grade II listed warehouse. Situated in the heart of Liverpool’s docklands, the North Warehouse at Stanley Dock has been completed transformed into a 153-bedroom luxury hotel, featuring a restaurant, bar, spa and a large events space. The spa, which will open later this summer, will feature five treatment rooms encased in exposed brickwork arches, a

Frank Gehry and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) have unveiled a new masterplan for the 90-year-old museum site in America. Known for his famous cultural projects such as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, Gehry’s latest designs for PMoA have been revealed in a new exhibition – Making a Classic Modern: Frank Gehry’s Master Plan for the Philadelphia Museum of Art – which is now open to the public.

Hotel developer Union Hanover has revealed plans to create a 220-room hotel in Stratford City London's International Quarter, based around the design principles of New York’s meatpacking district. Union had originally intended to create a hotel development at the east London site in partnership with Starboard Hotels, but has now bought its partner out to hasten progress of the new development. The developer plans to operate the new £70m (US$120m,

Facilities management and construction services provider Carillion has been named preferred bidder for the expansion works at Liverpool Football Club’s (LFC) Anfield stadium. The work will include increasing capacity at Anfield’s Main Stand by 8,000, taking overall capacity to more than 54,000. Carillion will also be responsible for the associated public realm improvements. Work on the project is expected to start later in 2014, subject to planning consent. It is

Viceroy Hotel Group and investment firm KIT Capital will redevelop the UNESCO World Heritage site of Obra Pía, a site which dates back to 1640 as the original capital of the Spanish Empire in the New World, Cartagena de Indias in Colombia. This site originally functioned as a Franciscan convent and was later home to a hospital, army barracks, orphanage and most recently – a school. Scheduled for completion in

The Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan, has been crowned Design of the Year 2014 by London’s Design Museum, making architect Zaha Hadid the first woman ever to win the prestigious award. The 57,519sq m (188,710sq ft) centre is based in the heart of Baku and was designed to become Azerbaijan's primary building for cultural programmes. The centre operates its own museum and acts as a hub, hosting exhibitions, events,

A progressive 20,000-capacity stadium has opened as the centrepiece of an environmentally focused regeneration project in the Hungarian city of Debrecen. Created by Bord Architectural Studio, the redesigned Nagyerdo Stadium has seen the introduction of a leading sporting venue into an area usually characterised by green space and forests. The project has been designed to bring the green-space area in-line with the city, giving people access to a multi-purpose events

New York City based architectural firm The Living has completed its winning design for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Young Architects Program, Hi-Fi – a tubular tower made of mushroom and corn bricks. Constructed to provide shelter and seating for PS1’s Warm Up concert series at the MoMA, the structure is almost 100 per cent biodegradable and is intended to be composted down after its use. The circular tower

Employment within the UK creative industries sector – which includes museums, galleries and architecture – has increased five times faster than the national average since 2011, according to the latest figures published by the Department for Culture Media and Sport. The Creative Industries: Focus on Employment report builds on the findings of the Creative Industries Economic Estimates published in January this year which revealed the creative industries contribute more than

A number of famous names are among the 13 firms in the running to design new galleries at London’s Science Museum as the site looks to evolve. Zaha Hadid, Amanda Levete and Haworth Tompkins are all vying for a shot at shaping the two new galleries – a maths area due to open in 2016 and a medicine offering to follow two years later. Hadid has been shortlisted for the

Redevelopment plans for London’s Crystal Palace have hit a wall as negotiations with the site's investors – Chinese ZhongRong Group and Bromley Council – have taken significantly longer than expected. Speaking to the Architects’ Journal, Green Party spokesman in Crystal Palace Tom Chance said: ‘We understand that the negotiations are stuck in a catch 22 situation – that the council wants more detail on the plans before they sign off

Chelsea Football Club has named Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands (LDS) as lead architects to explore how the club can increase stadium capacity at Stamford Bridge. The London-based architectural firm will carry out a feasibility study to review different improvement options for the home of Chelsea, such as installing decking over the railway line to the east and north of the stadium. Chelsea previously looked at moving away from the area, with

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia has ordered the construction of 11 new 'world-class' sports stadia in the country. According to local reports, the stadiums will be built in the provinces of Madinah, Al-Qassim, Asir, Tabuk, Hail, Jazan, Najran, Baha and Al-Jouf while there will also be venues for the Northern Border Region and Eastern Province. The regions have been chosen as they currently have limited facilities to host

Russian football club FC Dynamo Moscow will be given a new home once the VTB Arena is completed in 2016, with the stadium being created as part of a progressive VTB Arena Park project in the Russian capital. Designed by Manica Architecture, the 33,000-capacity stadium is part of an overall US$1.5bn (€1.1bn, £884m) development to create a leading sporting venue alongside an expansive leisure area five miles from the city’s

Quebec City’s new hockey arena is starting to take shape as hockey fans prepare for a September 2015 opening – but only if arena officials can find an NHL franchise to call it home. The CA$400m (US$372.3, €273.3m, £219.3m) multi-use indoor arena, which will be mainly used for hockey, will have a capacity of 18,482 and is being built with the view of a relocated or expansion NHL franchise to

An upcoming arena development in Copenhagen has finally been given a name after the Royal Arena in Denmark was christened following a long-term sponsorship agreement with beer makers Royal Unibrew. Work on the arena – which is being built at a cost of €134m (US$182m, £107m) and will seat up to 15,000 people – is progressing on schedule with an expected completion date of Q3 2016. The agreement between Royal

The Golden State Warriors are set for a return to San Francisco, US from nearby Oakland after the basketball team’s new 18,000-seat arena is completed in 2018. Originally planned to be located on Pier 30-32 along the San Francisco Bay waterfront, locals criticised the site over traffic and environmental concern. On 19 April 2014, the Warriors abandoned plans for the pier site and purchased a site in the Mission Bay

Denmark could become home to what is being billed as the world’s largest ski dome facility, with plans being generated for a Skidome Denmark project to be based in the city of Randers. Architectural firm CEBRA has designed the structure for ski travel agency Danski, with the facility potentially housing three kilometres of slopes arching over a river. Designed in the shape of a six-arched snowflake, the Skidome would house

Work remains on schedule and on budget for Edmonton, Alberta, Canada’s new downtown multi-use arena – Rogers Place, with the team behind the project saying that the new arena will be “the best in the NHL”. Dan Vaillant, with project manager Icon Venue Group, said the arena would be “the best facility in the league (NHL)”, with a number of unique features including the HD video screen for the building

Brazil is to become home to one of South America’s leading cycling venues and training bases once work on the Rio Olympic Velodrome is completed in 2015. The Velodrome, which is to be based at the Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, will host track cycling events at the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016. The concept is to feature 5,000 permanent seats and 800 temporary

Initial designs have been revealed for the 60,000-capacity Al Bayt stadium in Al Khor district, Qatar. The stadium is set to host one of the two semi-finals during the FIFA World Cup in 2022 - if the gulf state keeps its right to host the tournament following investigations into corruption. Clearing work has already begun on the site of the stadium and construction is set to be completed by 2018.

MET Studio has been appointed to design three out of the six total galleries at the new-build 14,000sq m (150,700sq ft) Museum of Environmental Sciences (Museo de Ciencias Ambientales – MCA) in Western Mexico which expects to attract up to half a million visitors a year. The project, set to break ground in 2015, is to form part of a cultural quarter, situated close to the University of Guadalajara and

The fast-progressing Crossrail development at London's Canary Wharf is to bring a new leisure and retail centre, with 100,000sq ft (9,290sq m) of consumer-enticing space, a rooftop park and a community facility on offer. The project is nearing completion with the final piece of a timber lattice roof having been lowered into place, which is to partially cover the complex’s green space roof-top offering. Once complete, the development will be

Wuhan, the capital city of central China, could be the home of the world’s tallest pair of buildings by 2018, as part of an ambitious mixed-use scheme. Chetwoods Architects, a UK based firm, have submitted proposals for the world’s tallest towers and are awaiting final approval from Wuhan’s mayor. The new Phoenix Towers, standing at 3,280ft (1 km) tall, would take up seven hectares of a yet-to-be developed 47 hectare

Park Hyatt’s upcoming flagship hotel in New York will feature an artisanal spa called Nalai, which means ‘serenity’ in the language of the Lenape people – the original tribe of Manhattan. Scheduled to open in Q3 of this year, the 13,000sq ft (1,208sq m) spa will be located on the 210-guestroom hotel’s 25th floor, providing sweeping views of the New York City skyline and partial views of Central Park. A

Grimshaw Architects has been selected to design new recreational sports facilities in Doha, following an international competition backed by the Qatar Olympic Committee. Despite recent allegations of corruption linked to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Grimshaw's design aims to move away from this and focus on the health and wellness needs in Doha, by providing a haven for Qataris whose current sports participation is somewhat limited. Grimshaw’s mission was twofold

Newly promoted League One side Fleetwood Town FC has been granted planning permission to start work on a new £6m training complex. Designed by architects Croft Goode, the facility will become home to Fleetwood Town’s first team, Thornton-Cleveleys FC and members of the local community. The site, based on Poolfoot Farm in Thornton, Lancashire will house a full-size 3G pitch, as well as a number of grass pitches, associated changing