World Architecture Festival Awards 2016: London's futuristic Crossrail station, Y:Cube pods for first-time buyers and two Docklands towers are named on global shortlist

Ready-made 'plug and play’ pod-style flats for first-time buyers and a pair of luxury residential skyscrapers are among the London buildings shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival Awards.

This year, UK-based architects dominate the global shortlist, for which the theme is 'housing for everyone'.

Canary Wharf's Crossrail Place is also in the running to win the Mixed Use: Completed Buildings award. The shops, restaurants and roof garden above the station were opened to the public last year, even though the high-speed line doesn't open until 2018.

The design is recognised for its 'intuitive' nature, with a sheltered public garden that is said to 'provide a true sense of escape from urban surroundings' for Poplar residents and Canary Wharf workers.

With the Y:Cube modular homes addressing 'a historic failure to build enough homes', Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners are strong contenders for the housing category.

The design was inspired by beach huts, and the self-contained units are pre-constructed in a factory so that water, heating and electricity supplies can be quickly connected on-site, creating affordable accommodation for young people struggling to get on the housing ladder or paying high private rents.

At the other end of the housing spectrum is Wardian London, by Glenn Howells Architects, which offers high-quality homes in a two contemporary tower blocks on the waterside on the Isle of Dogs.

It's up for the Residential: Future Projects award, and a standout feature is the balcony that wraps all the way around the building on each residential level, offering the option of a private garden for each apartment. There's also a Sky Garden at the top of the taller East Tower, providing views across the city for all residents.

The London projects will be judged alongside a Happiness Centre in Bhutan, a miniature library in the Philippines and a former Stalinist expo-centre turned urban farm.

The winners will be announced at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin on November 16-18, and will go on to compete for the World Building of the Year and Future Project of the Year prizes.