London-based architecture practice Foster + Partners have revealed plans to create a community-centred boathouse and rowing facility in Washington Heights, New York. Commissioned by competitive rowing charity Row New York, the proposed timber-roofed building will comprise an array of classrooms, event spaces, and outdoor leisure areas – all of which be used for rowing-focused educational programmes. Using the sport as a facilitator for self-empowerment, the centre will also help its

A new world-class museum project documenting the Roman history of the city of York, UK, will be part of a proposed £150m (US$190.5m, €167.5m) city centre redevelopment called the Roman Quarter. The York Archeological Trust is partnering with York-based property developers North Star, DC Architecture and hotel operator Native to deliver the project in Rougier Street. Three buildings will be demolished to make way for the development, enabling the 33,000sq

Architecture firm Elias Estudio and interior designer Francois Frossard have completed the Royale Residence, a 1,712 sq m short-stay villa located at the Le Blanc Spa Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico. Overlooking the Sea of Cortez, the two-storey guesthouse features four bedrooms, a fitness centre, a movie theatre, a sun deck, a 130 sq m infinity pool, and a spa treatment room. Provided with an assortment of bath amenities, including

Hyatt Hotels will bring the Alila brand to Europe for the first time by putting its name to the Golf Resort La Gruyère to create the Alila La Gruyère resort, which is set to open in Switzerland in 2023. Overlooking a picturesque lake, Alila La Gruyère will offer an 85-bed hotel and wellness retreat as well as a golf course by Robert Trent Jones Jr and a range of residences.

Piscina & Wellness Barcelona (PWB) has launched an international contest for architecture students to conceptualise a new aquatic centre. According to the company, the future leisure facility will be designed for public bathing and will occupy a tract of land on Barcelona’s waterfront, between “Drassanes Quay and the Rambla del Mar of the Port Vell”. “The space includes a large area of water, thus providing the possibility of even imagining

Plans to redevelop the home stadium of soccer team Nottingham Forest in the UK have moved a step closer, after the Football League club was granted a new 250-year lease for the stadium site. The redevelopment forms part of the wider Nottingham Southside regeneration with £2bn of developments happening across a 0.5 square mile area. The changes represent are expected to bring thousands of jobs, millions of visitors and economic

International wellness consultancy, development and management firm GOCO Hospitality is working on a wellness resort in a heritage property in Kazakhstan that was once one of the most advanced sanatoriums during the Soviet era. Now, the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan has entrusted GOCO Hospitality to develop the property into a next-generation wellness resort. Due to have its soft opening in July 2020, GOCO Life

The first stage in the preparation of a planning application for the proposed Eden Project North in the UK has been completed, with the submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report to Lancaster City Council. Designed by Grimshaw Architects, the £85m (US$108m, €95.6m) development will see a series of mussel-shaped pavilions capable of housing a variety of environments built on the seafront at Morecambe, Lancashire. In the latest information

International hospitality brand Cipriani is spearheading a US$450m (€395.3m, £353.9m) effort to convert the 1950s-era Hotel San Rafael in Punta del Este, Uruguay, into an expansive resort complex. Set to be designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly, the new Cipriani Ocean Resort and Club Residences will tower over Brava Beach and will feature 164 rooms suites, plus 800,000 sq ft (74,322 sq m) of residential space. The resort will also

Architecture office Henning Larsen have been chosen to revitalise a 30,000 sq m seafront park in Esbjerg, Denmark. The architects' plans will see the centuries-old public space transformed into a “city mountain” with new footpaths, artificial ponds, and an expansive amphitheatre. “We are reconnecting the city back with its environment,” said Salka Kudsk, Head of Landscape at Henning Larsen. She continued: “It was initially practical, holding the sand in place

The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust has announced plans to build a visitor centre at the architect’s former home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois. Set to expand the property’s indoor and outdoor capacity by more than 20,000 sq ft (1,858 sq m), the future annexe will comprise a reception hall, ticketing area, shop, education centre, and conference room. The landmark will also feature an entry plaza, which will double as

Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM) and TLS Landscape Architecture (TLS) have teamed up to masterplan a wellness-focused city in a recently incorporated district of Hebei, China, 100km south-west of Beijing. Called Xiong’an, the 3,800-hectare development will be constructed in phases and serve as an exemplar of nature-centred urbanism, with forests and wetlands, as well as Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater lake in Northern China. The site will also be home to

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has announced plans to create an 18-storey pagoda at Tivoli Gardens theme park in Copenhagen, Denmark. The new structure, which will be built as an extension to the park’s 126-year-old Tivoli Castle, will house the H. C. Andersen Hotel (named after Danish fairytale writer, Hans Christian Andersen). Calling the project a “hybrid”, Ingels also said it would bridge Copenhagen’s “past and present”, serving as an “archive

The new headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), also known as “Olympic House”, will open to the public on 23 June – International Olympic Day. Situated in Bourget Park in Lausanne, Switzerland, the 25,000 sq m building was conceived as a metaphor for the IOC’s commitment to “transparency and openness”, and features a layered and sinuous façade. The centre's premises, which contain offices for 500 IOC employees, also comprise

A new project in Mexico will be focused on a transformational travel experience designed to increase guests’ level of consciousness and help them live a happier, healthier and more abundant life. With a slogan of ‘Sleep once and wake up forever,’ Awakening Sanctuary will include a hotel designed by ARQMOV that follows the flow of nature’s elements. The first phase of the opening in 2020 will offer guests a series

Germany's Circus Roncalli has replaced its live animals with holograms to raise awareness of animal cruelty in the industry. The Circus, which has been touring since 1976, previously featured animals such as elephants and horses performing tricks and stunts for the viewing audience. Now the circus has done away with these animal performances, instead using 3D holograms projected into the ringmaster's circle.

Japanese architect Junya Ishigami has created a shingle-covered Serpentine Pavilion that draws on the ancient building cultures of Cumbria, UK. Situated on the grounds of The Serpentine Gallery in London's Kensington Gardens, the artwork features a 61-tonne slate canopy and is supported by a series of white poles. “This is an attempt to supplement traditional architecture with modern methodologies and concepts, to create in this place an expanse of scenery

The opening of the new Humboldt Forum museum in Berlin has been delayed until 2020 due to construction delays. Housed inside a reconstructed Prussian palace in the east of the city, the museum – which is named after the explorer and polymath Alexander von Humboldt – was due to open in September 2019. However, in a status update, it was admitted "it would be unrealistic to expect the building to

Watercraft designer Max Zhivov has unveiled concept images of the ‘Tiny Eco-Hotel’ – an electric-powered houseboat geared for short-term travel on lakes and bays. The miniature retreat, able to accommodate four people, will have two parts: a mooring building, which will be permanently anchored to the lakebed, and the boat itself. The boat will comprise sleeping quarters, a bathroom, a kitchenette, and a sunbathing deck coated with sand, grass, and

Spanish firm Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos have revealed the first concept images of their latest project – a 260,000 sq m football complex in Dalian, China. The expansive campus will comprise 23 regulation-size pitches, a hotel, gardens, and a select number of short-stay residential units. The US$297m (€264.7m, £235.8m) facility will also function as a training ground and academy for professional teams and youth clubs, including Dalian Yifang FC. Cruz

The Andermatt Concert Hall (ACH) – a 650-capacity arts venue said to be the ‘first major purpose-built concert hall in any Alpine ski village’ has officially opened its doors. Designed by Studio Seilern Architects and constructed by BESIX Group, the new facility is situated in Andermatt, Switzerland, and can accomodate orchestras of up to 75 people. Kahle Acoustics were responsible for sound engineering, while dUCKS scéno served as the theatre

Sereno Hotels has unveiled a new spa at Le Sereno St Barts following damage from Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Parisian designer Christian Liaigre, lighting designer Arnold Chan and landscape architect Fernando Tabora – the team which created the original spa – has reformed to work on the new-build reincarnation. The new Spa Le Sereno features three treatments rooms including the waterfront pavilion, a space for relaxation and the island’s

Mexican architecture practice Esrawe Studio have designed a minimalist warehouse and showroom for natural materials distributor Grupo Arca in Guadalajara, Mexico. Grupo Arca supplies architects, designers and construction companies with natural and raw materials from all over the world. The company has four collections of natural stone, tiles and other building materials – Mármoles Arca, Prato 33, The Woodshop and Brix – which are displayed at the new showroom. Called the

Morris Adjmi Architects have unveiled the first set of renderings of the Front & York Residences, a resort-style residential development currently taking shape in Brooklyn’s DUMBO district. The new complex will offer 150,000 sq ft (13,935 sq m) of leisure facilities, including a rooftop pool, co-working lounge, chef’s kitchen, private dining rooms and a wine room. Front & York will also feature 408 one- to four-bedroom apartments, plus a private

The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)-designed Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Nouvelle-Aquitaine (MÉCA) in the French city Bordeaux opened to the public on 28 June. Located on the city's historic riverfront, the 12,000sq m cultural centre will become the new home for three cultural institutions – visual arts organisation FRAC, performing arts centre OARA and literature organisation ECLA. BIG's design for the institution divides the center in

The design for the new Kohler Waters Spa in Chicago at Lincoln Common will feature natural elements and celebrate the therapeutic and rejuvenating power of water. Set to open in August 2019, Kohler's 20,000sq ft (1,858sq m) urban spa will encourage guests to reconnect with the environment and their surroundings through design that is inspired by water and elements of the Windy City. "When designing Kohler Waters Spa Lincoln Park,

Austrian practice Pumar Architekten have won an international competition to create a new aquarium at Vienna’s Tiergarten Schönbrunn – the world’s oldest zoo. According to the architects, the new facility will feature a below-ground visitor’s centre with a path leading through a mangrove garden to a large shark tank. The aquarium’s exterior facilities – set to be created by local studio dieLandschaftsplaner – will be shaped to simulate Alpine scenery,