They may not have won the competition to design a new building for the World Trade Centre site in New York – their skyscraper experience was not deemed sufficient enough – but the vision that Angus Meek Architects had for Weston-super-Mare's new Grand Pier will, by the summer of 2010, become a reality.

The Cotham firm's design beat five other shortlisted entries to win the competition for a new pier pavilion. It was the overwhelming public favourite and one that pier owner Kerry Michaels said could bring "vitality and excitement to the town".

Before they made any initial designs, the staff at Angus Meek visited Weston for a day out by the seaside, having fun in the town and hoping to find inspiration for their proposal for the new pier.

Their final modern art-deco design, a colourful building with glass sides and four corner towers retaining a link to the old pier that was destroyed by fire on the morning of July 28, was inspired by a number of elements including a wave, cruise liner, deck chair, dolphin, wurlitzer and vintage car.

Spencer Back, an architect and director of Angus Meek, said he and many of the other staff were looking forward to taking their children to enjoy the new pier when it was completed.

Mr Back said: "We decided from a very early stage that what was going to be right for Weston was not some abstract architectural solution.

"We had a firm view that it should be wholly modern and colourful and made of new materials, and that it should be able to provide opportunities for the use of the building outside of the normal summer season operating hours.

"We were looking at all sorts of things and there are many subtleties, for example the roof looking like ripples in the sand.

"Lighting was also very important. The building will glow at dusk, something that we hope will be very attractive. We also wanted to make sure that you got a sense of seeing a view of the inside from the outside."

The old pier was contained in a white "box", but the design for the new pier includes glass walls and restaurants, cafes and function rooms that did not form part of the original building.

The challenge now is to secure planning permission from North Somerset Council and then work out how to build the new pier, the location of which 300m from the shore and 10m up in the air presents an unusual challenge.

Angus Meek's competition design will also need to be adapted to suit the detailed requirements of the Michaels, that will include new attractions and rides as well as the function rooms and restaurants.

Mr Back, a former chairman of the Bristol Society of Architects, said the firm was thrilled to be announced winners, beating three other Bristol-based firms and two from London, including Grimshaw Architects, which has offices in London, New York and Melbourne and is best-known for Bath Spa redevelopment and the Eden Project.

"We were very excited and pleased, but also a little bit surprised," Mr Back admitted.

"It was a very strong shortlist. Grimshaw is an international practice, but unfortunately its design was dubbed 'the skip'.

"We are obviously also very happy that a local practice has won and that we were able to come up with a scheme that was the most popular with the public - a Bristol Evening Post survey found that 58 per cent of Weston residents favoured the Angus Meek entry].

"It was something that was seen as being deliverable and one that the Michaels were confident could be built. We didn't want to make it a pipe dream. We wanted to make it a reality."

Angus Meek Architects was founded in 1882. Sir Frank Wills, of the Wills' tobacco dynasty, was one of the original owners of the firm.

It is the architect practice behind many residential, office and commercial schemes in and around Bristol including Praedium on Redland Hill, an award-winning mix of one and two-bedroom apartments, penthouses and four-bedroom townhouses, set amid landscaped grounds; and the new development currently being built on Portishead Quay comprising Bottelino's restaurant, flats and offices.