THE two architectural firms that are collaborating on the replacement for New York’s Twin Towers are now competing to design a waterside complex on a derelict pier in Dun Laoghaire.

Daniel Libeskind and David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill together designed Freedom Tower for the World Trade Center site. At 1,776ft — a figure that commemorates the American Declaration of Independence — it is intended to be the tallest building in the world.

While the two architects reportedly clashed over Freedom Tower’s height and design, their firms are now in direct competition for a commission to design a landmark building on Carlisle Pier. Both have made the shortlist.

Judging begins this week in the competition, which is being run by Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company. The other designs are by Scott Tallon Walker, an Irish firm best known for creating the International Financial Services Centre, and Heneghan Peng, an Irish architectural practice that has never completed a building but last year won an international competition to design the Grand Museum of Egypt.

The shortlisted entries will go on display this week with the public being asked to nominate its favourite. A marketing company has been hired by the harbour board to gauge public reaction, with Libeskind’s futuristic design being tipped as the likely winner.

“We have hired Behaviour and Attitudes, a marketing research company, to find out how the public feel about the designs,” the harbour company said. “This information will be independently assessed before it is presented to the board, who will make the final decision.”

A number of assessment panels have also been established to judge the entries’ architectural, technical and financial merits. A final decision is expected in March.

Each of the proposals would cost more than €100m to construct, but all of them contain a commercial element to help fund them. The complex is likely to be a mix of hotels, offices, shops and residences with a strong cultural element.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s design incorporates a national maritime museum, Libeskind’s has a diaspora museum, Heneghan Peng proposes building an aquarium while Scott Tallon Walker’s design incorporates an emigration history centre and an art gallery.

The 1.6-acre site is surrounded by water on three sides and is currently zoned for light industrial and marina-related commercial use, so the winning design will have to go through the planning process.

The harbour board has been criticised by local groups who claim the public have been kept in the dark about the development. Richard Boyd Barrett of Save Our Seafront Campaign, an organisation that wants the harbour retained as a public amenity, claimed the public exhibition is not a genuine effort to get feedback. The group will have a private viewing of the designs before they are unveiled.

“The company failed to include the public in any consultation on the original 14 proposals in the competition,” said Boyd Barrett. “Instead, they decided on the shortlist and they have kept details on all the designs, including the commercial aspects, a secret.”

The group is particularly unhappy with Libeskind’s proposal for a 250-bedroom hotel and an apartment complex, believing that it effectively privatises the development.

“The Carlisle Pier is not something that should be cut off from the public,” said Boyd Barrett. “It is not good enough to offer a section of the development to people and close off the rest for private development.”

One of the proposals rejected by the harbour company is a €48m design by Beaux Walk Properties which had the support of the Maritime Institute, owners of the National Maritime Museum in Dun Laoghaire. The institute had been promised new premises as part of the proposal, and has expressed concern about the harbour company’s handling of the redevelopment.

Donal Marren, a local Fine Gael councillor, said efforts to involve the public in decision-making were genuine. Developing a design to the highest architectural standards was an offer that could not be overlooked.

“What we have is a very exciting possibility for the area and a unique opportunity to develop a prominent and striking building on a site that has been lying idle for too long,” he said.

Built between 1855 and 1859, the Carlisle Pier has been closed to the public since 1995, when a new terminal building for the HSS ferry was opened.

Michael Hanahoe, chief executive of the harbour company, said: “I want to encourage as many people as possible to come to the exhibition and make their views on the relative merits of the four proposals known.”

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