Centre Pier, Galway Harbour Ideas Competition (Ireland)

The RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) is administering a single stage ideas competition on behalf of the competition promoters, Galway Harbour Company www.galwayharbour.com

Galway Harbour Company is seeking ideas for a significant building to be located on the Centre Pier, in Galway Harbour. The building should reflect Galway’s importance as a maritime and cultural city and offer a clear image and potential branding for the City of the Tribes. Competitors should assume a budget of €3,000 per m².

Competitors will be asked to design a building which incorporates a public stage, exhibition area, retail space, marina facilities, tourist information kiosk and commercial offices.

There will be two separate categories for submissions. Category A is open to architects. Category B is open to recent architectural graduates and current students.

Prize Fund of €10,000 is to be awarded at the discretion of the jury in Category A.
Prize Fund of €1,000 is to be awarded at the discretion of the jury in Category B.

This is an ideas competition, however, Galway Harbour Company reserve the right to use the winning entry in Category A for a live building project at any date in the future. In this instance, the author of the scheme will be formally engaged by Galway Harbour Company in association with a full design team.

“¢ There is no restriction on height or architectural form
“¢ Public access to the water’s edge should be maintained
“¢ Building should be commercially viable
“¢ Building should exploit waterfront location
“¢ Building should exploit views to and from building
“¢ There is no requirement for on site car parking

The competition is open to architects holding a qualification listed in the EU Qualifications Directive 2005/36/EC.

In the case of architects eligibility is defined as:
Equivalent means a person holding a qualification equivalent to a qualification for the purposes of Article 46 of the European Union Directive 2005/36/EC (Qualifications Directive) to include persons whose qualifications were successfully assessed by the Panel established by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government in 1996 and persons from outside the EU/EEA area. Persons outside the EU/EEA area should include evidence confirmation of registration with a national registration body and/or a UIA recognised professional organisation.

It is the function of the Registrar to decide on eligibility and equivalence.

An entry may be submitted by an architectural practice. In this case the name and address should be given and the official entry form signed by a partner who is MRIAI or FRIAI. In this context the practice is defined as; a partnership properly established for the purpose of an architectural competition or an association of architects for the purpose of entering a competition.

Entry is open to students who are currently pursuing an architecture degree or are recent graduates of architecture.

Eamon Bradshaw, Chief Executive, Galway Harbour Company
Sebastian Feldmann, Senior Executive Architect, Galway City Council
John McLaughlin, Director of Architecture, Dublin Docklands Development Authority
Garry Hynes, Artistic Director, Druid
Marcus Donaghy, Donaghy + Dimond Architects