A £40m hotel development is being planned in Edinburgh on a site ravaged by fire in 2002. Located in South Bridge/Cowgate, the site was previously host to the J&R Allan department store – home to the Gilded Balloon comedy venue, Bridge Jazz Bar and La Belle Angele nightclub – which was destroyed by a major blaze that attracted worldwide attention. The new scheme – called SoCo – is the brainchild

A £67m public service hub, featuring leisure and learning facilities, is being planned for Wigan. The complex – to be called the Joint Service Centre – will boast a 25m swimming pool, a fitness centre and a new library, with the aim of being a one-stop shop for public services. The centre is being funded by private finance initiative (PFI) credits, for which Wigan Council had to compete against 100

Heritage watchdog Historic Scotland has warned that the planned regeneration of Leith Docks could threaten Edinburgh’s historic skyline. In a letter to the city council, Historic Scotland voices its concerns over plans to include tall buildings within the mixed-use scheme. The plans – the biggest planning application ever to come before the local authority – were handed in last year and a decision is expected by the end of this

Aura Letterkenny Leisure Centre, which opened last summer in Ireland, was recently named Best Sporting Facility at the Local Authority Members Association (LAMA) Awards. The Letterkenny Leisure Centre, managed by Aura on behalf of Letterkenny Town Council, was designed by Holohan Architects who, like Aura, are part of the Holohan Group. The centre includes a 25-metre swimming pool, kiddies’ and learner pool, a water slide, gym, health suite, multi-purpose sports

London-based David Chipperfield Architects (DCA) has been appointed to create the masterplan for a new arts and technology quarter in Segovia, Spain. According to the brief, the new 120,000sq m area of town will comprise an art museum, a technology centre, a hotel and a congress centre. According to DCA, the early designs of the new quarter have been inspired by the historic city’s walls and narrow irregular streets. A

Urban regeneration company Hull Citybuild has announced plans to open a restaurant on a linking bridge it is constructing as part of The Boom development on the Hull waterfront. Citybuild says that the eatery, which has been given the working name ‘Bistro on the Bridge’, will offer diners a unique experience as they will be able to remain on the bridge as it opens and closes for boats passing on

The Olympic Delivery Authority has appointed LDA Design and US-based landscape architects Hargreaves Associates to design the Olympic Park for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The designers will be tasked with developing detailed proposals for the open spaces in the Olympic Park for the Games. A significant aspect of the design brief will be to incorporate usage for the legacy of the park. The 2.5sq km Olympic Park

The Australian Museum in Sydney has unveiled a new 650sq m permanent exhibition exploring the pre-historic world of predator and prey. The Dinosaurs exhibition is split into four areas: Dinosaur World, Dinosaur Life, Discovering Dinosaurs and Surviving Dinosaurs. The creatures are brought to life through a range of hands-on fossil specimens, models, skeletons, touch screen computers, interactives, dramatic lighting effects and projected scenes. Visitors can make sounds like a crested

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council has announced plans for a £300m Civic and Cultural Quarter (CCQ) in the city’s Waterdale district. The council aims to regenerate 10 hectares – around 25 per cent – of the city centre, providing leisure amenities, housing, Doncaster’s first public square and a new performance venue. The scheme will be delivered in four stages over six to eight years, with the final phase expected to be

The Yuan Spa – the largest spa in Asia, according to Hyatt – has opened at the new Hyatt on the Bund hotel in Shanghai. The 3,000sq m spa features 12 treatment rooms, a 25m pool, a fitness centre, a salon and a juice bar, plus a range of whirlpools, plunge pools, steam, sauna and relaxation rooms. Designed by US-based design company Remedios Siembieda, the interior of Yuan Spa mixes

The team behind eco friendly restaurant Acorn House have taken their ideas one step further with the Water House Restaurant, recently opened in Shoreditch, London. Owned by charitable regeneration agency the Shoreditch Trust, Water House serves seasonal, locally-sourced organic produce. Roof-mounted solar panels provide hot water for the restaurant and photovoltaic cells produce renewable electricity. Other environmentally-friendly measures include paperless menus and a cooling and heating system which uses the