One architecture firm envisions the U.S. Navy's proposed new museum with a submarine lurking near the building's exterior, a periscope poking above the water's surface. Another designer proposes placing a replica of a fighter jet soaring above water fountains at the entry plaza.

Compared with the U.S. Navy's cramped, 60-year-old museum on the grounds of the Washington Navy Yard in the District of Columbia, the finalists are more visually eye-catching.

That's exactly what the Naval History and Heritage Command said it wants. The group has chosen five designs as finalists for a proposed replacement of the National Museum of the U.S. Navy. It expects to spend about $225 million on its new museum, with construction estimated to take 10 years.

In one respect, the Navy is playing catch-up to its rivals in the Army and Marine Corps, both of which have opened museums in the past decade. The Army's museum is in a group of glass-walled boxy structures at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In Quantico, Virginia, the Marine Corps' museum features a conical structure with a glass-ceiling atrium that serves as an exhibition center.

It stands to reason for the Navy that a new military museum in Washington, D.C., could become a tourist attraction, especially when it's located a short walk from the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium.

Five architecture firms offered varying ideas for the new Navy museum's look, with water a recurring theme along with displays of historic ships. The Navy said it will make a selection after an environmental review of the site, adding that it could even decide to chose a design that isn't among the finalists.

Here's a closer peek at the designs from the five finalists: Bjarke Ingels Group, DLR Group, Frank Gehry Partners, Perkins & Will and Quinn Evans.

Since its founding in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2001, Bjarke Ingels Group has designed buildings that were clearly meant to attract attention. The firm's VIA 57 West multifamily property in New York is a warped pyramid with an oblong-shaped hole in the middle.

While not as radical as VIA 57 West, the U.S.-Danish firm's Navy museum design is far from basic.

Bjarke Ingels' submission is a series of five cascading buildings reminiscent of the historic industrial structures that still make up a large section of the Washington Navy Yard. In the firm's design, the five buildings appear to be sitting atop water and they culminate at an atrium serving as an event and ceremonial space.

Ingels, the namesake founder of his firm, said in a statement that the design was a "labor of love" because he and his family's residence is a ferry he converted into a houseboat.

"The Navy belongs in the water so we put the museum in the water," Ingels said.

When seen from the street, the five structures appear as large-scale glass display cases with direct views into the museum’s exhibitions.

The firm's description of the design said it's intended to provide flexibility for a range of events "while also being a welcoming place of remembrance and contemplation for enlisted sailors."

The design submitted by Gehry Partners is described as "a large simple volume with glass on three sides."

The large exterior glass walls are designed to allow the building at night to "glow as a large light box and its images will clearly read from the surrounding city," the firm said.

Glass walls on the interior will allow museum curators to project graphics and video, "drawing comparisons in different eras in the Navy's history and relation between the different branches of the Navy."

The Gehry firm's design also is intended to recognize the traumatic experience of many veterans. "We want the exhibits to have gradual thresholds so that some vets can take the experience slowly," the firm said.

DLR Group's vision for the museum covers water, air and space.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based firm presented a Navy museum design with sharp angles on the exterior that are juxtaposed with the calming effect of water features. Multiple terraces jut out from the angled roof. A viewing platform is perched on the top floor.

"Its faceted surfaces are designed to reflect the sky, the water and the surrounding neighborhood," the firm said.

The mast of the USS Constitution, one of the first ships commissioned by the Navy in 1794, rises above the museum's roof and is intended to be visible from nearby city streets.

DLR Group has compiled a diversified project portfolio since its founding in 1966. Past projects include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, the Miami-Dade County Civil Courthouse and Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.

While the plaza's reflecting pool is intended to provide a calming effect, DLR made sure to include a major symbol of the Navy — an antenna and periscope of a submarine pokes from the water's surface.

Perkins & Will, one of the world’s largest architecture firms, also leaned heavily on the water motif for its proposed design.

The water theme covers not only a large water feature at the entry plaza, but also the roof design that appears to resemble either rising ocean waves or a sailboat.

"Conceived as a physical manifestation of endurance, the building is symbolic of the resilient and flexible fiber of the Navy," according to the firm.

The main entry plaza is intended to replicate the deck of an aircraft carrier, Perkins & Will said. A mix of different types of water features, "from calm to moderate to rough, creates an enhanced visitor experience while communicating the types of conditions that Navy personnel operate within."

Perkins & Will also designed a proposed logo for the new museum — three waves or sails representing air, land and sea placed next to the museum name.

Perkins & Will has plenty of experience working with government clients to create visually distinctive buildings. Its recent projects include the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall and the U.S. Coast Guard Museum in Washington.

Quinn Evans describes itself as an architecture firm that emphasizes collaboration with its clients.

"Our inclusive design solutions create accessible places and a sense of belonging for all," the firm says on its website.

Reflecting that mission, the Washington-based firm's museum design is titled Homeport, "where the land meets the sea, where the community and the Navy come together."

The firm added, "Long, linear forms reflect the piers, ships and Navy Yard vernacular, providing a sense of connection to the work of the Navy."

The building's exterior is dotted with lifesize replicas of historic Navy aircraft and ships. The interior exhibit spaces are also filled with lifesize replicas of ships, fighter jets and submarines. Quinn Evans lines the museum's edges with white brick and large glass walls that provide views into the galleries.

In some ways, the Quinn Evans design resembles another of its projects, Virginia Commonwealth University's Institute for Contemporary Art in Richmond. That structure also features a white exterior combined with large glass walls that provide views to the interior galleries.