The Irish Times

Heneghan Peng Design

What on earth is going on in Dún Laoghaire? With controversial plans to redevelop its derelict public baths shelved after loud protests by affronted residents and even more ambitious plans for the equally derelict Carlisle Pier becalmed by a failed procurement process, it looks almost like the revenge of Kingstown. It is now more than two years since the winning scheme by Heneghan Peng Architects (HPA) for the old mailboat pier was unveiled. Conceived as two long, narrow, glass-fronted blocks flanking a linear public space, it was seen as offering "an architecture of great refinement, elegance and sophistication" in the harbour. That was the view of the panel of assessors and the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company's board. The public, however, had voted for an avowedly populist proposal by international "starchitect" Daniel Libeskind to replace Carlisle Pier with something resembling a half-submerged ocean liner with its prow up.