The Central Building at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) has recently been shortlisted in the entries for the Higher Education and Research Price as part of the World Architecture Festival, 2014.

XJTLU's Central Building stands in the University's North Campus, and was put into use in the summer of 2013. The building covers an area of 59,000 square meters and serves as the University's Administrative Centre, Library, Training Centre and Students' Activity Centre.

The iconic building was designed by Aedas, the world famous architectural company and was based on a concept which used locally renowned Taihu Stone as its inspiration. In addition to the recent nomination, XJTLU's Central Building won a gold award in the "2011 China Habitat Model of Architectural Planning and Design Competition".

The space is innovatively divided to look like the eroded cross section of Taihu Stone, which, following ancient Chinese tradition represents the independence and integration of knowledge and thoughts. The building's internal design and functions have been similarly interconnected.

Well-known as the Academy Awards of the Architecture industry, The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is an annual festival and awards ceremony for architecture professionals and industry specialists.

Around 300 shortlisted projects compete for awards in 27 categories at this year's festival, including designs from companies and architects such as, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster and Woods Bagot. The Jury for this year is consisted of Richard Rogers, Rocco Yim and other world famous architects.

As the world's largest festival, the World Architecture Festival is dedicated to celebrating and sharing architectural excellence from across the globe. This year's festival (WAF 2014) will be held in Singapore from October 1st to 3rd, 2014. Keep checking the XJTLU news pages to see how Central Building does in the autumn.