Two rival schemes for the derelict Dún Laoghaire baths site could not be more different, writes Frank McDonald, Environment Editor.
Do the traditionally conservative burghers of Dún Laoghaire have the bottle to plump for a glass tower higher than Liberty Hall on the old borough's derelict baths site? Or will they settle for a squat hotel and leisure spa?
That's the issue to be decided by the elected members of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council on July 7th, after 14 development proposals for the former baths across from the People's Park were whittled down to a shortlist of two.
Models and drawings of the two schemes - a 104-bedroom hotel and thalasso (seawater) spa, by Bennett Construction, and a 60-unit "apart-hotel", office and retail complex, by the Pierse Group - are currently on view in the County Hall.
Yesterday the competitors made presentations to the media of their proposals. They earlier made similar presentations to members of the county council, but it is understood that only four councillors turned up.
The Bennett scheme, designed by architects Kenny Kane and Associates, would provide an indoor seawater swimming pool with associated spa treatment facilities together with a public pool in a small lagoon protected from the sea by a breakwater.
The granite-faced breakwater would double as a public walkway, linking the east pier in Dún Laoghaire harbour with Sandycove. However, extensive infill of the rocky shoreline would be needed to make room for the proposed swimming-pool.
The pool would have extensive rooftop glazing, but largely blank walls - apparently because too much natural light would promote the growth of algae. The four-storey hotel would have a wavy roofline, in deference to its maritime setting.
The Pierse Group's scheme, designed by architects Burke-Kennedy Doyle and Partners, is more challenging, as its centrepiece would be a multi-faceted glazed tower, with a sail-like profile, 65 metres (214 feet) high.
This 19-storey tower would occupy less than 30 per cent of the three-acre site. It is envisaged as a landmark building of international standard, which would offer a "dramatic presence" in the context of Dún Laoghaire's low-rise terraced houses.
Apart from a hotel and offices, the tower would have an indoor "street" lined with restaurants and retail facilities, with parking for 55 cars underneath. Through it, there would be a deck giving access to a 50-metre indoor swimming pool.
Outside, provision would be made for three public seawater pools as well as a new promenade extending to the east pier. The intention is to interfere as little as possible with the natural landscape of the shoreline, based on a Portuguese model.
Mr Ged Pierse estimated the value of the "planning gain" in terms of public facilities at €16 million.
However, he conceded that there was bound to be public opposition to the height of the tower. "It will shock some people, there's no doubt about that."
However, as someone who grew up in Dún Laoghaire, he was convinced that 95 per cent of the population would endorse this Barcelona-style leap into the 21st century.
Bennett Construction has stolen a march on the Pierse Group by lodging a planning application for its scheme. But this should not rule out consideration of the more radical alternative, not least because it offers much more to the public.
Whichever proposal is chosen, the county council will receive annual payments in return for providing the site.