Secretary of State, Peter Hain MP, today unveiled the winning design for the planned new Visitors’ Centre at the Giant’s Causeway, following an international architectural competition.

The winner, selected from over 200 entries, is Roisin Heneghan of Heneghan Peng Architects, founded in 1999 in New York and relocated to Dublin in 2001. Heneghan Peng has also won international design competitions for the Grand Museum of Egypt; new Civic Offices for Kildare County Council and Carlisle Pier Dublin.

The planned building will merge into the natural contours of the landscape ensuring the horizon is not disturbed by the building or its car park.

Congratulating Ms Heneghan, the Secretary of State said: “This design is a stunning piece of architecture, providing a unique space for visitors from all over the world to appreciate the natural beauty of Northern Ireland’s only world heritage site.

“This project is one of the most important developments for Northern Ireland’s tourism industry in many years. As a signature project of truly international appeal, the new Visitors’ Centre will significantly enhance the Causeway’s attraction for tourists, and will help Northern Ireland realise its full tourism potential.

“This project involves a number of organisations working together as partners - Moyle District Council, the National Trust, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and government. I congratulate everyone involved in taking the project to this stage and look forward very much to its realisation.”

The new visitor facilities will be owned by Giant’s Causeway Visitor Facilities Limited, a subsidiary company of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

A further separate international competition to select a designer for the interpretation and fitting out of the exhibition area within the new centre is already underway. It is anticipated that the whole project team will be in place by December, so that work can begin on the detailed design early in the new year.

Northern Ireland Tourist Board Chairman Tom McGrath OBE expressed his delight with the new design: “Having now seen the winning design I am extremely optimistic that the new visitor facilities will be acclaimed by local and international visitors alike. The design meets the needs of this sensitive World Heritage Site; it also promises to be a state of the art visitor facility which will enhance greatly the visitor experience at the Giant’s Causeway.”

201 entries, from architects across the world, were submitted to the international jury. Almost two thirds of the entries came from outside the UK, from as far a field as Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Namibia, South Africa, the United States and from all over Europe.

The full list of prize winners is as follows:

• First Prize: Roisin Heneghan; Hennegan Peng Architects, Dublin

• Second Prize: Vaino Nikkila; Jussi Palva; Riina Palva; and Ilkka Juhani Salminen, Helsinki

• Third Prize: Matos Gameiro + Carlos Crespo Arquitectos Lda, Lisbon

• Honourable mentions: Jun Aoki Associates,Tokyo; Carlos Sousa Dias & Nuno Santos, Portugal; Jennifer Carré, Paris

The international competition was conducted under the auspices of the Paris based Union of International Architects (UIA). The jury members were: Juhani Uolevi Pallasmaa; Mario Cucinella; Peter Hunter; Aidan McGrath; Duncan Lewis; Jochen Brandi; and Bruce Robinson.The UIA represents over a million architects throughout the world through national architectural associations that form the UIA Member Sections. A democratically structured body, the UIA is a unique world network uniting all architects.