The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has today (26 June) unveiled the largest ever shortlist for its Building of the Year competition.

WAF – one of the only global design festivals to combine conferences, networking and awards – is holding its eleventh edition from 29-30 November at the RAI Amsterdam, The Netherlands, alongside the INSIDE World Festival of Interiors.

Architects from 81 countries will present 536 projects across 39 award categories: including mixed-use, housing and religion.

In a statement, WAF said: “Making the shortlist is a real achievement which will help propel their practice to the forefront of global architecture and design.”

Major world architects shortlisted include Zaha Hadid Architects, OMA, Foster & Partners, BIG, Neri & Hu, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Turenscape, Nikken Sekkei, Rafael Vinoly Architects, Grimshaw, Tabanlioglu Architects, Heatherwick Studio and FJMT. Many smaller practices will also take part to pitch against the big names.

Leisure architecture will once be put under the spotlight at this year’s festival, and this year’s leisure shortlists are packed with innovative projects.

All finalists will be invited to present their projects live to judging panels at the festival before the category winners are chosen. Victors from each category will then be considered by a 'super-jury', who will select the World Building of the Year, the Future Project of the Year and the Landscape of the Year.

The main panel will be headed by Nathalie de Vries, director & co-founder of Dutch practice MVRDV; and panellists include Sir David Adjaye, Manuelle Gautrand and Li Xiadong.

Last year, a post-earthquake reconstruction and demonstration project in the city of Zhaotong, China, was declared the 2017 World Building of the Year. Designed by a team of researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the rammed-earth structure is a prototype home for an elderly couple living in Guangming Village.

WAF programme director Paul Finch commented: “This has been a terrific year for the WAF Awards, reaching our largest entry total to date. This has not resulted in any decrease in quality, if anything the opposite. It has been extremely gratifying to review entries from more than 81 different countries and note the way in which architects are absorbing lessons from contemporaries across the world.”

The full WAF 2018 shortlist can be viewed here. The nominated leisure projects can be viewed below.

THE WORLD ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL BUILDING OF THE YEAR AWARDS

The full leisure category shortlists

Future Projects:

Culture

• 3XN Architects with BVN, Aspects Studio & WallnerWeiss - Sydney Fish Market, Sydney, Australia

• AECOM - Zhayeba Village Renovation and Overall Masterplan, Tibet, China

• Amkna Design Studio - Sedhiou Cultural Center, Sedhiou, Senegal

• CHROFI - The Ian Potter National Conservatory, Canberra, Australia

• Gerber Architekten - The Nobel Quran Oasis, Madinah, Saudi-Arabia

• Helen & Hard Architects - Navet - new museum building for Vest Agder Museum, Kristiansand, Norway

• Laboratory for Diverse Status - Atman and Art, Beijing, China

• Lund Hagem Architects and Atelier Oslo - Deichman Library, Oslo, Norway

• Mashabane Rose & Associates - Dinosaur Interpretive Centre, Golden Gate Highlands National Park, Clarens, South Africa

• Pilbrow & Partners - Walthamstow EMD Cinema, London, United Kingdom

• SANJAY PURI ARCHITECTS - Shiva Museum, Jaipur, India

• Steven Chilton Architects - Wuxi Taihu Show Theatre, Wuxi, China

• Studio 44 Architects - Museum of the siege of Leningrad, St. Petersburg, Russia

• TABANLIOGLU ARCHITECTS - Ataturak Cultue Center, Istanbul, Turkey

• TABANLIOGLU ARCHITECTS - M. K. ?iurlionis Concert Centre, Kaunas, Lithuania

• wHY with GRAS - The Butterfly Pavilion, Edinburgh - International Design Competition, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Leisure-led development

• BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group - Audemars Piguet Hôtel des Horlogers, Le Brassus, Switzerland

• CLOU architects - Wuyi Yuansu Hot Spring Resort, Yuansu, China

• Coldefy & Associates Architects Urban Planners - Tropicalia, Rang-du-Fliers, France

• GOA - Alila Wuzhen, Jiaxing, China

• HDR Inc. - FOMO, Fremantle, Australia

• MVSA Architects with Arcadis - Holland Casino Venlo, Venlo, Netherlands

• Neo Dimensions Architects - PEMBI Nature Conservation Area, Tete Province, Mozambique

• Omar González Pérez - Plaza Avandaro, Valle de Bravo, Mexico

• RUFproject - Lusail Stadium & Sportpark, Lusail, Qatar

• Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos - Tree House, Acapulco, Mexico

• SPLYCE INTERIOR DESIGN - Shibui Spa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

• Studio Seilern Architects - Restaurant Gütsch, Andermatt, Switzerland

• Vo Trong Nghia Architects - Chicland Hotel, Da Nang, Vietnam

• Vo Trong Nghia Architects - Sheraton Phu Quoc, Phu Quoc, Vietnam

• Wei Sun Architects - Wenling Resort, Taizhou, China

• ZUO STUDIO - Bamboo Pavilion, World Flora Exposition, Taipei City, Taiwan

Completed Projects:

Culture

• Beijing Institute of Architectural Design - Zhuhai Opera House, Zhuhai, China

• Bennetts Associates - Storyhouse, Chester, United Kingdom

• BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group - TIRPITZ, Blåvand, Denmark

• China Architecture Design Group - The Society of Kunqu Opera in West Creek Village, Kunshan, China

• Conrad Gargett - The Piano Mill, Stanthorpe, Australia

• dePaor - Pálás cinema, Galway, Ireland

• Dorte Mandrup - Wadden Sea Centre, Ribe, Denmark

• EAA-Emre Arolat Architecture - Pilevneli Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey

• GOA - Fengying Stone Art Museum, Chongwu, China

• Office for Metropolitan Architecture - MPavilion, Melbourne, Australia

• Office for Metropolitan Architecture - Qatar National Library , Doha, Qatar

• Rojkind Arquitectos - Foro Boca Concert Hall, Boca Del Río, Mexico

• Shan Jun Atelier - Museum of Traditional Mongolian Medicine, Tongliao, China

• [Shift] Process Practice - White Gallery, Tehran, Iran

• STAPATI - BIENNALE PAVILION, Kochi, India

• Vermilion Zhou Design Group - Song Art Museum, Beijing, China

Hotel and Leisure

• 70F architecture - Hof van Duivenvoorde, Voorschoten, Netherlands

• AchterboschZantman Architecten - Eco Resort Meijie Garden Valley, Liyang, China

• AVCI ARCHITECTS - Kintele Congress Hotel, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

• Batlle i Roig Arquitectura - SBGlow Hotel, Barcelona, Spain

• Camilo Moraes - Piedras Bayas Beachcamp, Piedras Bayas, Chile

• Department of Architecture - Mist Hot-spring Hotel, Xuchang, China

• ENOTA - Termalija Family Wellness , Pod?etrtek, Slovenia

• GOA - HE Restaurant, Nanjing, China

• Jacques Ferrier Architecture - Aqualagon Waterpark, Marne la Vallée, France

• KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS - Kanda Terrace, Tokyo, Japan

• Liminal Architecture - Freycinet Lodge Coastal Pavilions, Coles Bay, Australia

• Matsuya Art Works with KTX archiLAB - The Edge of the Wood, Miki City, Japan

• Monoarchi - Treewow Retreat, Yuyao, China

• Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - The Walled - Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat, Yangzhou, China

• noa* network of architecture - Zallinger: Back to the origins, Saltria, Italy

• Taylor and Hinds Architects - krakani lumi, Wukalina, Australia

Sport

• ADEPT - Vestre Fjord Park, Aalborg, Denmark

• Central-South Architectural Design Institute - Zhejiang HuangLong Swimming and Diving Gymnasium Sports Center, Hangzhou, China

• Chiangmai Life Architects - Bamboo Sports Hall at Panyaden International School , Chiang Mai, Thailand

• Erkal Architects - Çankaya University Sports Center, Ankara, Turkey

• FaulknerBrowns Architects - Sportcampus Zuiderpark, The Hague, Netherlands

• HASSELL - Optus Stadium, Perth, Australia

• HOK - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, United States of America

• Koffi & Diabaté - Gymansium, Blaise Pascal Hight School, Anidjan, Ivory Coast

• PAD Studio - Canoe Lake Leisure Tennis Pavilion, Southsea, United Kingdom

• SPEECH - Luzhniki stadium, Moscow, Russia

• ZJA Zwarts & Jansma Architects - Thialf Ice Arena, Heerenveen, Netherlands

The top five countries entering WAF 2018 are China, Australia, the UK, Turkey and the US.

Latest news

World Architecture Festival reveals 2018 Building of the Year shortlists

By Kim Megson 26 Jun 2018

It has been extremely gratifying to review entries from more than 81 different countries and note the way in which architects are absorbing lessons from contemporaries across the world

– Paul Finch, WAF programme director