CALLING all exhibitionists. A 16-storey tower earmarked for Dublin’s docklands will be completely transparent, providing a perfect home for individuals with a penchant for being on 24-hour show. Alto Vetro — meaning tall glass — will be Ireland’s first block of homes made entirely from glass.

Each of the 26 apartments in the 16-storey tower will have floor-to-ceiling windows with only sliding wooden screens to preserve the modesty of residents. Net curtains will be a no-no, and messy rooms ill advised for buyers of the see-through luxury apartments.

And, it seems there is no shortage of people willing to go on permanent display. Treasury Holdings, developer of the ambitious project, says it has already got a waiting list for the apartments, which will boast unbroken views of the cityscape.

Daniel Williams, development manager for the group, said: “We’ve not even started to quote prices on the place and already we have a large number of very interested parties.

“There will be some control over what sort of curtains you can put up and over what the outside looks like to people but it’s not going to be draconian. If you are looking at 21st-century living, then this is the sort of thing people like.”

The wooden shutters on the building will provide some shelter for residents, who will have panoramic views of the city from every room in the apartments.

Shay Cleary, the architect, said: “The privacy thing is interesting and we spent a lot of time trying to work that out. The layer of timber screens mean you can move these according to the cycle of the day. If you’re having breakfast, they can be used for shading or you can move them into the living area. Within a glass building you are given a lot of options about how much privacy you want and that in itself creates a dynamic in the building.”

But not everybody is convinced. Patricia Casey, professor of psychiatry at University College Dublin, said the transparent building meant residents would run the risk of being unwitting exhibits in their own homes.

Residents of a posh New York street recently found themselves embroiled in a case of life imitating art when the newly renovated Museum of Modern Art’s floor-to-ceiling glass wall gave visitors a bird’s eye view of their upmarket apartments. Residents of the West 54th, who include Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, said their privacy had been invaded by curious museum-goers peering into their homes.

Casey said: “What strikes me is that what is fashionable now in terms of this building might not be so in 10 years’ time. You might hate being on exhibit, and people who are exposed physically also feel a psychological exposure.”

Jim Barrett, Dublin’s city architect, said the building would be among the capital’s most beautiful and dismissed concern about a lack of privacy as overdone. He said: “The only issue of visibility or transparency will tend to happen on the lower floors. After that, the openness won’t matter because the other floors will be so high up. The screening mechanism is highly effective so residents will not be on exhibit.”

Barrett said the tower had the potential to become a landmark in the capital because of its unusual design and features.

“It’s very attractive and, as a piece of pure architecture, it is probably the best we’ve seen in Ireland for a long time,” he said. “It is a very attractive building and its slenderness and elegance will make it a very well-known structure in Dublin.”

Work on the tower, which will be worth €20m when complete in April 2006, will start next month. The scheme will be built on the corner of Pearse Street and Grand Canal Quay.

The exclusive development is one of several high-rises planned around the docklands. The new block will be adjacent to the Bolands Mill, and opposite the Millennium Tower, a 16-storey building on Charlotte Quay. U2’s new studio, due to be at least 260ft tall, will be built on nearby Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.

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