2012 winner: Innhouse, Kunming, China

The timber-clad eco guest house is brimming with sustainable tech which makes it a light-filled and comfy place to relax. Living spaces and cantilevered balconies reach into the surrounding green canopy while subtle lighting streams through vertical windows.

Judge Luis Zapiain said that the building, designed by The Oval Partnership, "covered all the bases of what we were looking for: innovation, experience for the guest, use of material, the way it sits on the land, and the image it gives for China as an emerging country in the travel market".