Liu has been a designer for 30 years.

In 2012, his design for the reconstruction of two mountainous villages in Dujiangyan, which were damaged in Sichuan's Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, won the Global Human Settlements Planning and Design Award at the Global Forum on Human Settlements held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Now he has another prestigious accolade to his name.

Winning a prize from the AIA is something great, it's recognition of the designer, said Jeff Dayu Shi, a well-known American designer in Beijing who has won many major international design awards, including the Red Dot Design Award four times in a row from 2009 to 2012.

Through its design, Buhou is believed to have represented a refreshing sense of urban space and emotional resonance to the historical and cultural city of Chengdu and embodied the history of the old city.

"Architecture should be like a box of time. When you go in, you can feel the memories of the past, the fresh life and the future yearning," Liu said.

The name of the design refers to the backyard of Sichuan's chief secretary's office during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Located at No 21 Buhou Street in the Jinjiang district of Chengdu, it was the residence of Sun Zhi, Sichuan's chief secretary.