A competition to select a "landmark building of international architectural significance" has been launched by Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company.
The building is to replace the former ferry terminal at the Carlisle Pier - itself described by the harbour company as a site of international significance.
Key conditions of the competition are that the proposed replacement for the ferry terminal should include "cultural attributes", a viewing area, public space and walkways.
The former ferry terminal has historic and emotive ties for many Irish people, being one of the main centres of departure for emigrants in the 1950s.
Since it closed as a ferry terminal eight years ago, the pier has been the subject of a number of proposals - including one from international architect Mr Daniel Libeskind, who designed an Irish diaspora museum there.
Mr Libeskind's plans, drawn up for the Devey Group, envisaged an "icon for Ireland" alongside a 250-bedroom hotel at the "prow" of the new building, as well as restaurants, bars, shops and apartments.
Mr Libeskind's previous designs have included the replacement for the Twin Towers in New York, and the Holocaust Museum in Berlin.
Mr Michel Hanahoe, the chief executive of Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company, said, however, that the company felt it would not be right to proceed with just one architect, one consortium, and that a competition was the fairest way to proceed.
Mr Hanahoe could not say, in advance of the closing date for expressions of interest, October 1st, what schemes would be in the final selection.
It is planned to select five applicants from those expressing an interest, probably by mid-October, and these will be put on public display to encourage public submissions on the project. The final selection will be advised by public submission as well as an expert group, and a decision is expected in February.
The competition brief allows for the incorporation of commercial uses which "may be necessary to underpin the commercial viability of the winning project". Other uses may include a hotel, offices, restaurants, shops - particularly marine-related shopping and bars.
Tax incentives are available until December 2003.
The Carlisle Pier benefits from water frontage on three sides, and is about 265 metres long. It and the new ferry terminal represent two fingers projecting into the harbour which is itself protected by two massive piers, the west Pier at 1,550 metres and the East Pier at 1,290 metres.
The Carlisle Pier covers a site of just under one hectare (about 2.25 acres), and the freehold is vested in the harbour company.
In terms of development opportunities, the harbour board is unlikely to sanction large-scale private parking which normally goes with apartment development on space grounds. Public transport in the area is, however good, and the DART station is across the road from the pier.
The full brief is available from Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company at Harbour Lodge, Crofton Road, Dún Laoghaire.
