Architecture and design news

(L-R) Brad Shelton, VP of story and creative; Bob Rogers, founder; Carmel Lewis, president; Christian Lachel, chief creative officer; and Matthew Solari, VP of story and creative / BRC Imagination Arts

Bob Rogers hands BRC to long-serving leadership team

by Liz Terry | 04 Jun 2026

Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while remaining actively involved with the company. Ownership has transferred to president Carmel Lewis, chief creative officer Christian Lachel and vice presidents of story and creative, Brad Shelton and Matthew Solari. The move formalises a leadership structure that the company says has been operating in practice for some time. Rogers, who founded BRC 45 years

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Architecture and design news

TR Equipment Sweden has supplied specialist therapeutic bathing systems / Addere Care Vilnius

Wellness care hospital opens in Vilnius with innovative spa and hospitality concept

by Helen Andrews | 03 Jun 2026

Lithuanian care operator Addere Care has launched a “wellness care hospital” in Vilnius. It's the company’s second Lithuanian site, following a hospital in Trakai, but the first to offer professional medical care in a spa resort environment. The new 4,400sq m facility has been developed within a reconstructed former hotel. It features 160 rooms and a day care centre that can accommodate up to 12 patients at a time. The site has treatment areas, communal spaces that resemble spa resort

Architecture and design news

Madrid's Olympic Aquatic Centre is the focus of a major regeneration project / Atlético de Madrid

Work gets underway on Madrid's €800 million leisure complex

by Kath Hudson | 01 Jun 2026

Work is underway in Madrid on one of Europe’s most significant multi-functional complexes, combining sport, entertainment, culture and education.

The €800 million initiative to regenerate the former Olympic Aquatic Centre in the north-east of the city, next to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium, is being led by Barsento – a joint venture between Live Nation Entertainment, Oak View Group and Atlético de Madrid. The project will be developed on a 115-hectare municipal site granted on a

Architecture and design news

The property will have a forest shower / Auko

All-inclusive eco-wellness development Auko to open near Vietnam’s Son Doong caves

by Helen Andrews | 28 May 2026

Auko, an all-inclusive development, is opening in Phong Nha in Vietnam in Q3 2026, with a series of 30 tented eco-lodges and wellness hospitality operations by Lumina Wellbeing. Van Phu Real Estate Development JSC owns the property, which is set along the Son River in the UNESCO-listed landscape of Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park. The site borders the world’s largest cave system by volume (38.5 million cubic metres), the Son Doong caves. Guests will be invited to switch off their

Architecture and design news

The entire Therme Manchester site measures 28-acres / Therme Group

Therme Manchester reveals 90:90 strategy – 90 per cent of the UK population within a 90-minute drive of a Therme

by Helen Andrews | 28 May 2026

Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK. The site will also have 60,000sq m of surrounding external space that will be developed as community gardens. Even compared to future sites in the Therme Group pipeline all over the world, the Manchester complex will remain the largest. In addition to its UK

Architecture and design news

The 2,800sq m spa has a vitality pool and a 23-metre pool can also be found on the rooftop / Joe Thomas

Four Seasons’ Naples Beach Club opens 2,800sq m Sanctuary spa inspired by indigenous Calusa people

by Helen Andrews | 28 May 2026

Naples Beach Club, a Four Seasons Resort, has opened a 2,800sq m spa called The Sanctuary, with the design and concept inspired by the Native American people that populated Florida’s Southwest coast – the Calusa. The spa, which is set across three levels, was created by Champalimaud Design and uses a layered palette of natural materials, soft textures and luminous light to echo Naples’ shoreline. The reception features a hand-painted tile mural created in collaboration with an artisan workshop in

Architecture and design news

Puy du Fou has ambitions to build an attraction in the UK / Shutterstock/photofort 77

Universal and Puy du Fou projects point to rise of Oxford–Cambridge corridor

by Liz Terry | 27 May 2026

A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’ planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism investment.

For years, the corridor has been associated primarily with science, technology, housing and university-led economic growth. However, the clustering of large-scale visitor attraction projects along the route of East West Rail suggests the region is evolving

Architecture and design news

The new theatre features Penguins, Sharks and Octopi / © Shedd Aquarium/Brenna Hernandez, © John Downer Productions Ltd, 2024 Photography Frederique Olivier/JDP © 2012

Shedd Aquarium upgrades its visitor experience with new Immersion Theater

by Liz Terry | 22 May 2026

Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional revenue opportunities.

The attraction has transformed the aquarium’s Phelps Auditorium into a multi-sensory venue combining panoramic projection, environmental effects and interactive technology.

A new pre-show area allows visitors to engage with augmented reality marine animals before entering the theatre, while the auditorium features a screen that extends along

Architecture and design news

The Guerlain Spa has four treatment rooms / Guerlain/ Accor

Orient Express Corinthian to host Ocean Rebirth wellness retreat in collaboration with Guerlain

by Helen Andrews | 22 May 2026

Orient Express Sailing Yachts and beauty house Guerlain have announced that the newly launched luxury yacht, Orient Express Corinthian, will host a fourteen-day wellness retreat called Ocean Rebirth. Orient Express is part of Accor Group’s collection of luxury brands. In 2024, luxury goods conglomerate LVMH entered into a strategic partnership to grow the Orient Express brand. Accor and cruise liner developer Chantiers de l’Atlantique have since created sailing yachts Orient Express Corinthian and the upcoming Orient Express Olympian (due to

Architecture and design news

Ilori is known for creating joyful and thought-provoking large scale urban interventions / Matt Alexander

Joy as a radical act: Yinka Ilori launches solo exhibition celebrating the rebellious power of spreading happiness

by Magali Robathan | 21 May 2026

As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work). Running at London’s Cristea Roberts Gallery from 5 June to 11 July 2026, Yinka Ilori: Joy Through Resistance, He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Best, spans new paintings, prints, sculpture, and an immersive sound installation. Inspired by

Architecture and design news

The Grade II-listed BT Tower is 620ft tall / Shutterstock/ Aerial-motion

MCR is planning a luxury hotel for London's BT Tower

by Helen Andrews | 21 May 2026

Hotel owner-operator MCR Hotels is inviting the public to provide feedback on development plans for London’s iconic BT Tower as a luxury hotel and mixed use project. Public access to the tower – for the first time in 50 years – will also be part of the scheme. In February 2024, British telecommunications company BT Group sold the BT Tower for £275 million (US$347 million, €321.3 million) to MCR Hotels. MCR is a US-based hotel owner-operator with a US$50 billion

Architecture and design news

The museum has been designed with school visits in mind / MAD Architects

Hainan Science Museum by Ma Yansong, opens in China

by Liz Terry | 13 May 2026

A new science museum has opened to the public in Haikou after attracting more than 350,000 visitors during a four-month soft opening period.

Designed by Ma Yansong and his practice MAD Architects, the Hainan Science Museum is located on the edge of Wuyuan River National Wetland Park and has already recorded peak attendance of more than 5,800 visitors in a single day.