AN eye-catching Oxford University building has scooped a top prize at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin, Germany.

The Investcorp Building for the university's Middle East Centre designed by Zaha Hadid Architects' was named the best higher education and research building by the jury at the event.

The judges said: "Zaha Hadid expressed an architecture and form that allows the interior of the spaces to enjoy the view of the urban setting while cladding the building in a material that say 'I am the future.'"

Dame Zaha visited the building when it opened last June as part of the Middle East Centre at St Anthony's College.

The £11m structure has been likened to a piece of ultra-modern sculpture, resembling the upturned hull of a ship, and contains a lecture theatre and library.

But it also provide controversial when its designs were first unveiled to the public, with one civic group labelling it 'questionable' and 'overpowering'.

Dame Zaha is also known in the UK for designing the Aquatics Centre in London that was used for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Her other projects include the BMW Building in the German city of Leipzig and the Rosenthal Contemporary Arts Centre in Cincinnati, United States.