island. At the time, the repair work required was estimated at £4 million. There were 95 entries for the competition from around the world. Architect Antonino Cardillo’s design included the existing buildings and added a large curvilinear concrete building to the island. The design called for many windows in the building to create a large panorama of the surrounding seascape. The winner of the design competition, Levitate Architecture and Design Studio Ltd, was announced in March 2008. The winning design included a dozen luxury apartments and a 50-room hotel. In September 2010 Urban Splash placed the pier up for sale, citing a downfall in business caused by the recession as their reason. In September 2011 Wahid Samady and Michael Ross were reported to have bought Birnbeck Pier for an undisclosed sum; Samady had also been awarded planning permission for a new development at the nearby Royal Pier Hotel site, just yards from the pier. In August 2012 further reports suggests the sale had not proceeded and that Urban Splash were still the owners. It was bought by CNM Estates of which Wahid Samady is chairman and Michael Ross is a director in 2014. In 2015 the Victorian Society included the pier on its list of the ten most endangered buildings. Part of the north pier collapsed during storms on 30 December 2015. In May 2019, Neil and Ryan Andrews were each sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to 18 months imprisonment for the attempted theft of the clock face from the pier's tower. The judge, noting that the tower and clock had survived the 1897 fire, an attack by the Luftwaffe and an accidental mine attack, said the damage caused was "highly visible and irreparable" and that the Andrews "will always be known as the two men who destroyed the history; it was vandalism and theft for greed". In February 2020, North Somerset Council started a compulsory purchase order on the pier. In November 2021, it was announced that CNM Estates had agreed to sell the pier to the council. Restoration work is planned to take place over several years with funding from the council, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Historic England, and others. Weston Lifeboat Station Due to the extreme tidal range in the Bristol Channel, finding a suitable launching site for lifeboats proved an arduous task for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Davits were installed on the