The new £22m Aquatics Centre at the Aberdeen Sports Village (ASV) in Scotland has opened to the public. Facilities at the centre include an Olympic-standard 50m, 10-lane swimming pool and a separate, competition-standard 25m pool with diving facilities and seating for 500 spectators. The centre has become one of only ten facilities in the UK with full diving facilities and platforms up to 10 metres. The Aquatics Centre, designed by

Phase three of a masterplan for the Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Kansas, US, has been unveiled with a proposed new football complex designed by sport architects Populous. The latest phase of the project is estimated to cost US$65m (£38.3m, €46.6m) and will feature a new 250,000sq ft (23,000sq m) Vanier Football Complex structure with the aim of maintaining and securing K-State’s competitive future and enhancing the overall experience of

British actor and former Loose Women star Lynda Bellingham opened the Imagine Spa at Hazlewood Castle Hotel near Leeds on 30 April. Hotel owners, Ashdale Hotels, have partnered with the new owners of the Imagine Spa – Mosaic Spa & Health Clubs to create this £200,000 3,500sq ft (325sq m) facility – set within 77 acres of parkland. “We are delighted to have had a national treasure like Lynda launch

Batchwood Sports Centre in St Albans, Hertfordshire is to reopen on 26 May following a £6.6m redevelopment. The centre, which was devastated in an arson attack in 2011, includes six indoor tennis courts - an increase on the four in the previous facility - and a new home for the St Albans Judo Club. Other facilities include a 48-station health club with a strength and conditioning suite and refurbished squash

Bangkok's Mandarin Oriental has launched a results-orientated beauty treatment programme called “Beauty by Mandarin Oriental” to take place in its new THB6m (US$0.2m, €0.1m, £0.1m) in-house boutique spa facility. Four freshly-developed beauty suites – 50sq m (538sq ft) each in size – have been unveiled in the hotel’s exclusive Garden and Authors Wing. These sit separately from the property's Mandarin Oriental Spa, which is accessed by exiting the main hotel

The National Galleries of Scotland has announced that Gareth Hoskins Architects (GHA) has been appointed to oversee a major redevelopment project at the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh. Over the next four years, the Scottish National Gallery (SNG) will undergo a major transformation, led by newly-appointed GHA. The Glasgow-based practice beat several other finalists to seal the overhaul, including LDN Architects, Malcolm Fraser Architects, John McAslan + Partners, MUMA and Page/Park.

Gurney’s Resort & Spa in New York, US has received its first set of upgrades for US$5m (€3.6m £3m) as part of a multi-phase redevelopment of the property by real estate moguls George Filopoulos and Lloyd Goldman. Filopoulos from Metrovest Equities and Goldman of BLDG Management bought the resort – situated in the Hamptons on Long Island – in June 2013 with a plan to make the resort a year-round

The Joseph, a US$68m (€49m, £40m) mixed-use development, which includes Le Meridien Columbus hotel is set to open in January 2015 in the Short North neighbourhood of Columbus, Ohio, US. Owned and developed by the Columbus-based Pizzuti Companies, the 11-storey high-rise broke ground in August 2013. Le Meridien Columbus will feature 135 bedrooms, an in-house restaurant and a spa. The hotel's spa will include 11 treatment rooms, steam showers and

UK-based international construction services company, ISG, has secured a US$37m (€25m, £21m) contract to refurbish all 393 rooms at Majid Al Futtaim Properties’ Kempinski Mall of the Emirates Hotel in Dubai. The work will involve upgrades to all rooms and suites, ski chalets – next to Ski Dubai – meeting rooms and gym facilities. The property’s external façade will also undergo refurbishment. The existing Softouch Spa is not scheduled to

Fulham Football Club has been granted a river works licence to enable it to progress on development of its Riverside Stand. Fulham received planning consent for the development in July 2013, subject to the licence being obtained. The club is now in a position to commence with a projected timetable for the development. One of the key considerations of the Port of London Authority in granting the licence is the

The Cascade Spa, set within the Mill Falls at the Lake Resort in Meredith, New Hampshire has reopened following renovations. Situated on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, the Cascade Spa originally opened its doors in July 2004, but within a couple of years the space was not large enough to meet demand. “The idea for an expanded spa has been on the radar for about four years,” said Michelle Brown,

The newest addition to Marriott’s Autograph Collection and first new hotel build in Key Largo, Florida for 20 years – Playa Largo Resort & Spa – is set to open in Q3 2015. Development and construction experts Prime Hospitality, plus Shaner Hotels – owner-operators with experience in franchising – will co-manage this resort. The duo currently manage a total of seven hotels across the state of Florida but this will

Major League Soccer (MLS) side Orlando City SC has announced that sports architecture specialists Populous will work as lead architects on its proposed 18,000-seat stadium, while Barton Malow will oversee development on the downtown project. The US$84m (€60.5m, £49.9m) stadium scheme – a 50/50 public-private partnership – has seen US$40m (€28.8m, £23.7m) pledged by the club, with the remainder coming from various public contributions. The stadium will be operated by

Preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are the "worst ever seen", according to International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president John Coates. Coates, who has been involved with the Olympic movement for 40 years, said the IOC was taking the issue seriously and has already taken action by placing experts in the Brazilian organising committee to make sure the Games can go ahead. Speaking at an Olympic forum in Sydney,

Four Seasons Moscow – the hotel operator’s second Russian site after its Four Seasons Hotel Lions Palace St Petersburg – will open in August in a prime location adjacent to Red Square and the Kremlin. On the fifth floor of the 15-storey building, there is a 3,000sq m (33,000sq ft) spa featuring 14 treatment rooms, including three couples' suites, plus a hair salon and nail bar. The hotel also has

Business magnate Donald Trump has announced the closure of The Old Post Office building in Washington DC as the property undergoes a US$200m (€144.4m, £119m) redevelopment – from office space into a luxury hotel and spa. The estimated date for completion of the 270ft tall (85m) post office’s transformation is late 2015. The Trump International Hotel, The Old Post Office will be a 270-bedroom hotel. The hotel will feature a

The Sheraton New Caledonia Deva Resort & Spa is expected to open in July 2014 in the south west Pacific Ocean, facing the UNESCO World Heritage Great Barrier Reef. Built on stilts, the resort’s eco-friendly 700sq m (7,534sq ft) spa features five open-air treatment rooms which look out onto the beach. There are three single rooms and a double room – each surrounded by trees – plus an affusion room

The Octave Living Destination Retreat – one of China's first wellness communities – is now under construction just outside Shanghai on the shores of Yangcheng Lake in Suzhou. A project by IMC Octave – the hospitality arm of Singapore-based IMC Group – the retreat has been designed by New York City-based Tsao and McKown Architects. GOCO Hospitality is the master consultant for the project, doing the feasibility and business planning.

Developers behind the £8bn Battersea Power Station mixed-use renovation project will demolish the the Grade II listed building’s iconic chimneys, with work due to start this summer, but say all four towers will be fully restored by 2016. The crumbling chimneys would likely pose a danger to the under development leisure and retail project – which includes designs from architects Norman Foster and Frank Gehry – with a combination of

The Natural History Museum (NHM) has announced Niall McLaughlin Architects, in collaboration with Kim Wilkie, as the winners of their Civic Realm competition to redesign the grounds of the London attraction. Niall McLaughlin was chosen from a shortlist of five architectural practices also including Stanton Williams Architects, Grant Associates, Land Use Consultants and BIG. The Civic Realm competition was launched to help address visitor engagement, care of the collection and

Liverpool FC has revealed plans for a new look Anfield stadium, set to boost capacity by 13,300 seats at a cost of £150m (US$252m, €182m). Redevelopment of the historic Anfield’s Main Stand – designed by architectural firm KSS – will add an additional 8,500 seats while the Anfield Road Stand will have an additional 4,800 seats installed, bringing total stadium capacity up to 58,800. The football club is now in

Plans have been unveiled to build a 125,000sq m (410,105sq ft) desert oasis in the shape of the Al Fayah Park in the city of Abu Dhabi. Scheduled to open to the public in 2017 – with work starting as soon as the design stage is finished by architects Heatherwick Studios in late 2014 – the park will offer a variety of open spaces with exercise paths and picnic areas.

The Shangri-La Hotel, Lhasa has opened in the administrative centre of Tibet, located on a plateau which is 3,650m (11,975ft) above sea level in the Himalayas. Encircled by mountains, glaciers and desert-like landscape, the 262-bedroom and 17-suite hotel features a 1,213sq m (13,056sq ft) CHI spa with 10 treatment rooms – three of which are double. The spa’s skincare products come from German company Biodroga, Pranarom of France and locally-sourced

The Four Seasons Hotel Westcliff Johannesburg, the global operator's first in South Africa, is set to open in the second quarter of 2014. The original luxury Westcliff Hotel was built in 1997, but closed in June last year to undergo renovations and new constructions after the owners signed a long-term management agreement with Four Seasons. The brand new Spa at Four Seasons will feature nine treatment rooms – one of

The redevelopment of the Aspen Club and Spa in Colorado, including the addition of 20 timeshare condos, will break ground in Q3 this year. First proposed in 2005, the US$65m (€47m, £38.6m) project to drill geothermal wells in the area of the existing tennis courts – where the new condos will be – received approval in 2010. The Club’s owner and managing director, Michael Fox, told local media that the

Beneath the renowned Gemstock peak of the Useren valley, the Chedi Andermatt resort – owned by Andermatt Swiss Alps AG – is now open for business. The Swiss resort's 25,833sq ft (2,399sq m) spa is being operated by GHM and its 10 treatment rooms are used for a range of offerings using products by Alpienne, ila, Ren and SpaRitual. The spa can accommodate 35-40 guests daily. Thermal facilities include a

Dubai developer Damac has begun work on a 33-storey tower in Jumeirah Village, complete with 388 serviced living units, expected to open mid 2017. Conceptualised and designed by its in-house team of architects, the tower’s Chrysalis Spa at Vantage offers separate male and female steamrooms and saunas – as is the local custom – a whirlpool, floatation room, beauty salon and fitness centre. The Chrysalis Spa will feature a fusion