The design for the new Landmark Tower and U2 Studio in the Dublin Docklands Development presents a unique opportunity to create an architectural landmark for the city of Dublin. Its location at the junction of the Grand Canal Dock, the River Dodder, and the River Liffey offers the opportunity to visually and contextually connect this new redevelopment to the city and the waterfront. These contextual relationships enforce our design concept of celebrating the waters edge and creating a dynamic tower as a beacon of growth.

A careful study of Ireland's natural forms and context was particularly inspirational to us. Much like the Giant's Causeway with its basalt shafts, our design proposes a series of sculpted shafts rising from a base, celebrating where land and water meet.

The proposed design follows the guidelines established by the design brief. It is comprised of a 4-story platform element which houses office space on the upper two floors with a café and restaurant/bar/nightclubs on the first two floors. Rising above the base is a 12-story residential tower. A two story recording studio acts as crown the tower.

The building base is designed to provide an urban block in basalt stone and glass. A two-story arcade along the waterfront gives a pedestrian scale while providing visibility to the café and restaurants and creating an active and vibrant street frontage. With its basalt façade the platform element recalls the Giant's Causeway connecting the design with it its Irish roots while providing a textural podium for the tower shafts above.

In accordance with the Master Plan requirements, the tower is designed as a disaggregated form with a slenderness ratio of 2:1. In addition, the mass of the towers above is broken into a series of slender towers more in proportion of the 4:1 ratio desired by the Plan. The towers, which are clad in glass and aluminum, undulate around a single basalt shaft as they rise from the base. This creates not only a sculptural presence in the skyline, but also provides unexpected opportunity for natural lighting, ventilation, and the capturing of views of this dynamic, vital City.

The strength of this design lies in the variety of profiles and forms that it presents from any vantage point, whether at the street level or from afar, which creates an ever-changing presence in the city's skyline.

The U2 recording studio occupies the top two floors of the tower capitalizing on panoramic view of the city and the water. It sits nestled between the shaft elements of the tower while using some of their roofs for garden terraces. The articulated mass creates a dynamic and iconic crown for the building. This form is inspired by the rock formations, which are evident throughout Ireland's countryside and its history.

With the recent economic transformation of Ireland and its growing place in the Global Community, this Landmark Tower can become a shining example of a modern Ireland, and help bring Ireland to the forefront of Modern Architecture.