The Spire on Dublin's O'Connell Street is second favourite to win the prestigious Stirling Prize at an awards ceremony in London tonight.
The Spire is one of six structures shortlisted for the prize, which include an 80-storey London skyscraper, an arts centre in Austria and a business school.
Thirty St Mary Axe, the towering skyscraper commonly known as the "Gherkin", designed by Norman Foster Architects, is the favourite at odds of 2 to 1, while Paddy Power is offering slightly longer odds of 11 to 4 for The Spire to win the award, which is seen as architecture's equivalent of the Booker and Turner prizes.
In the shortlist The Spire was described by the organisers as "a true icon for a European capital city, confident of itself and its ability to produce cultural statements of significance".
There had been some questions raised over The Spire's inclusion, as it is more sculpture than building. It qualified for the competition as it was designed by an architect, Ian Ritchie and Associates.
The competition is open to structures in the EU designed by members of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Yesterday, Dublin City architect Mr Jim Barrett said he believed there was no doubt that The Spire was an architectural project in that it was the centre-piece to the rejuvenation of O'Connell Street, and provided a design focus for the scheme.
"Certainly, we would see it as architecture," he said.
He said shortlisting alone was "hugely prestigious", and indicated the awareness and public appeal of the project.
He acknowledged that it had not achieved iconic landmark status, but believed this would occur when the entire O'Connell Street and Parnell Street rejuvenation project was completed.
However, he said that there was evidence The Spire was already playing a part in people's lives. "One of our difficulties in cleaning it is lipstick tubes because people are using it as a mirror."
He said lipstick tips and tubes are becoming lodged in the base rivets of The Spire.
The full shortlist is:
1. Kunsthaus, Graz - Peter Cook, Colin Fournier;
2. The Spire, Dublin - Ian Ritchie Architects;
3. Imperial War Museum North, Manchester - Studio Daniel Libeskind;
4. Phoenix Initiative, Coventry - MacCormac Jamieson Prichard;
5. 30 St Mary Axe, London EC3 - Foster and Partners;
6. Business Academy Bexley - Foster and Partners.