House design guide
What Offaly wants your home to look like
The county encourages simple, well-proportioned rural homes that nestle naturally into the landscape and avoid breaking the skyline. Design emphasis is placed on narrow floor plans, traditional roof pitches, and the use of natural, high-quality local materials. Fussy, complex, or suburban styles, along with over-elaborate boundary treatments, are discouraged.
Accepted house types & forms
What they want to see
Encouraged by the guide
Energy efficient design and solar orientation(Page 4)
Design and orient dwellings to take advantage of site topography, wind shelter, and solar gain. Living spaces should face south or west, and bedrooms should face east.
Narrow plan forms(Page 6)
Narrow plan houses generally make better use of sunlight and daylight, and appear less bulky and squat.
Pitched roofs between 35-55 degrees(Page 7)
Where a pitched roof is used, the angle should generally be kept between 35 and 55 degrees.
Robust, well-placed chimneys(Page 10)
Chimneys should be located through or close to the ridge line, or remain flush with the wall on gables. They should be substantial and robust in appearance.
Vertical window emphasis(Page 10)
Windows should have a vertical emphasis to help balance the width of the building, aiming for a high solid-to-void ratio (more wall, less window).
Natural roof slate(Page 14)
Use natural dark-coloured slate where possible as it lasts for generations and looks better with age.
Retaining existing boundary treatments(Page 16)
Aim to preserve and retain existing roadside boundaries like native hedgerows and stone walls.
What gets refused
Discouraged by the guide
Breaking the horizon or skyline(Page 4)
Do not build on the highest part of a site or break the skyline, and avoid breaking views of water like rivers and lakes.
Cutting and filling hills(Page 5)
Reduce cutting and filling into hillsides as it leaves the landscape scarred.
Oversized houses(Page 6)
Avoid houses that are oversized for their site, the landscape, or surrounding buildings.
Foreign or complicated roof forms(Page 7)
Avoid foreign roof styles such as Dutch hipped, mansard, or Swiss roofs, as well as mid-roof dormer designs.
Suburban and fussy designs(Page 8)
Avoid suburban, urban, or fussy designs that use a complex 'pick n mix' of different architectural styles.
White uPVC fascia and soffit(Page 14)
Generally avoid white uPVC fascia and soffit; black is preferred and easier to maintain.
Dry dash, brick, and artificial stone(Page 15)
These external finishes are generally unsuited to rural areas and should be avoided.
Hard landscaping and tarmac driveways(Page 18)
Avoid surrounding the house with tarmacadam, brick driveways, or hard landscaping that divorces it from its natural context. Use self-draining gravel instead.
Materials & finishes
- Natural slate (dark in colour)
- Plaster finish around dormer windows
- Simple round black rainwater goods (copper, aluminium, or cast iron)
- High-quality sustainable painted timber for doors and windows
- Stone cills (deep cills for greater window definition)
- Unplastered rubble stone (used carefully and sparingly)
- Light, soft colours on main walls
Roofs & form
- Simple forms broken down into smaller elements
- Narrow plan forms
- Pitched roofs between 35-55 degrees
- Storey-and-a-half form (with roof lights or wall plate dormers)
- Avoidance of Dutch hipped, mansard, Swiss, or mid-roof dormer styles
- Robust chimneys positioned close to or through the ridge
Siting & landscape
- Nestling houses within natural contours and folds
- Siting houses as far back from the road as possible
- Avoiding building on the highest point or breaking the skyline
- Retaining and enhancing existing native hedgerows and stone walls
- Using self-draining gravel instead of tarmacadam or brick driveways
- Avoiding site floodlighting, decorative lamps, and urban gardens