The judging of the WAF Awards is taking place during the global celebration of architecture – the World Architecture Festival, which is being held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore this week.

The building was selected by a jury of some of the world’s most dynamic architectural and urban designers. It overcame competition from a shortlist of 15 entries.

CitizenM Bankside is the fourth hotel introduced by Dutch hotel group CitizenM, with the aim of offering mobile travellers affordable luxury in the heart of the city. The concept is to provide its guests a luxury feel for a budget price. The rooms are stacked on a ground floor with a dynamic lobby, living room space and F&B functions that includes a publicly accessible cafe.

The jury commended the project, saying: “The CitizenM London Bankside project is a standout project that challenges the design norms in the hotel industry. The designers’ investigative thinking is reflected in this elegant delivery that has amazing immediacy.”

Judges also highly commended Kontum Indochina Café, Vietnam, designed by Vo Trong Nghia Architects.

This is the 6th year the World Architecture Festival Awards have been presented, and by the end of the festival 32 WAF Awards will have been announced across the three main sections of Completed Buildings, Landscape and Future Projects.

The awards programme will culminate with the announcement of the coveted World Building of the Year Award, which will be selected by the festival’s super-jury. It will be chaired by Ken Tadashi Oshima of The University of Washington.

The highly esteemed international judging panel also includes Ken Yeang – Llewelyn Davies Yeang; Patrick Bellew – Atelier Ten; Jeanne Gang – Studio Gang Architects and Dietmar Eberle – Baumschlager Eberle.

Projects entered this year, against a challenging economic climate, reflect the festival’s theme of ‘Value and Values’ demonstrating the core factors that inform the relationship between perceptions of financial value and the values that architects typically hold regarding their work. The World’s Best Hotel/Leisure Building Category was sponsored by WAF 2013 Partner Sponsor AkzoNobel.

Paul Finch, WAF Programme Director, said: ‘This year’s festival is already proving to be the largest, most well-attended and most exciting event to date. The strength of the entries in this year’s awards has even surpassed the very high standards set in previous years, ensuring that each category is extremely competitive. Today’s category winners will now compete for the festival’s ultimate prize, The World Building of the Year award, and our super-jury will certainly face some tough decisions given the calibre of today’s winning projects.”

Previous winners of the World Building of the Year Award include Luigi Bocconi University, Milan, designed by Irish practice Grafton Architects (2008); Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre in South Africa, designed by Peter Rich Architects of Johannesburg (2009); MAXXI (National Museum of the 21st Century Arts) in Rome, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (2010); Media TIC, designed by Cloud 9 Architects (2011); Gardens By The Bay, designed by Wilkinson Eyre, Grant Associates, Atelier One and Atelier Ten (2012).

www.worldarchitecturefestival.com

www.citizenm.com