Dún Laoghaire Baths nominated for The European Prize for Urban Public Space 2024

The redevelopment of Dún Laoghaire Baths is one of ten projects nominated for the prestigious European Prize for Urban Public Space 2024.

The International jury has chosen ten finalists, five in the general category and five in the Seafronts category, with Dún Laoghaire Baths nominated in the latter alongside two projects from Spain and others from Italy and Netherlands.

The European Prize for Urban Public Space is an honorary biennial competition that, since 2000, has recognised the best interventions in the creation, transformation and recovery of public spaces in European cities. This edition incorporates the Seafronts category in response to the particular vulnerability of coastal cities to climate change.

On 9th September, the 5 finalists in the Seafronts category will present their projects to the Jury. The winning works in the two categories will be announced on 29th October.

The finalists are based on a call for works carried out in either 2022 or 2023, a period that in the case of Seafronts, extends back to 2019.

On this occasion, the prize incorporates the Seafronts category into its usual call to highlight the role of coastal cities, laboratories for rethinking the city and ways of inhabiting it in the face of rising sea levels and extreme climate phenomena.

The work of the dlr Architects’ Department, in collaboration with A2 Architects, saw the Dún Laoghaire Baths project help revitalise the long-abandoned seafront facilities, reconnecting the town with the sea.

This was achieved through the careful, skilful use of materials that acknowledge the ocean’s energy, resulting in a robust, socially inclusive new route to the water for all citizens. The project included the removal of old, dilapidated buildings, opening new public spaces that restore the citizens’ relationship with the sea.