Excerpt from the brief: The competition was an open two stage architectural competition for the design of for the architectural/design services for a National Centre for Contemporary Art. Carlow enjoys a national reputation as a centre for visual arts due mainly to the success of the annual Eigse Arts Festival which is now 25 years in existence. The Eigse Arts Festival which runs for a week every June is based in Carlow College and also uses the grounds immediate to the College to exhibit larger pieces of sculpture. Carlow Local Authorities, together with Carlow College and the organisers of the Eigse Festival wished to build on the foundations achieved through the annual Eigse Festival and develop a national centre for contemporary art in Carlow