Design guide · Clare County Council
Clare Rural House Design Guide
The council's guidance on siting and designing a house in the countryside.
Clare County Council · 88 pages
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- Siting Shape/Form Proportions Boundaries Materials House Types Vernacular Elements 21
- 22 Views over Doolin in North Clare gives an example of cluster development evolving
- 23 The character and quality of the countryside in Clare is rich in its diversity and range of traditional dwellings and local styles. These buildings denote cultural and regional identity within the county. Subtle differences in detailing are due to issues such as weather conditions, available materials and skills, as well as the historical and cultural influences. Where reasonable to do so, these details should be reflected in the design of a dwelling. The evolution of rural dwellings throughout the years has been influenced by the consideration of shelter, access, availability, drainage, and technological developments in materials. The quality and character of the Irish countryside has become valued both nationally and internationally. It is the developments of this diversity obtained through the physical and historical aspects that chart the evolution of the county’s landscape and will continue to do so for centuries to come. The main forms of design which contribute to successful and attractive integration of rural houses into the landscape are Siting, Shape / Form, Proportions, Boundaries and Materials.Vernacular Elements Introduction Consider the impact of your proposed dwelling on the landscape and surrounding environment.
- 24 Respect local traditional aspects of form and setting Siting Traditional dwellings often hug the contours of a site for shelter and use native planting to evade the weather. A rural building would rarely be located in an elevated and exposed location. New houses should be designed to harmonise and work with existing contours avoiding dramatic cutting and filling into hills which can leave the landscape scarred. When designing a new house against the backdrop of a large expanse of natural environment its design should recognise the relationship with the surrounding landscape, and this should be incorporated early in the design and not as a later addition. Examples of a traditional dwelling adapting to exposed and mature surroundings through sensitive siting, simplistic volumes and colour schemes
- 25 Shape/form Older dwellings followed a simple linear plan form with a pitched roof. Availability of local materials, the weather and building practices influenced this scale. The size of the pitched roof was often influenced by size of timbers available locally, the necessity to disperse rain quickly off thatch or the consideration of possible wind damage.Vernacular Elements
- 26 Proportions The older established buildings in our countryside often have an attractive appearance and are pleasing to the eye. Aside from setting, this can usually be attributed to pleasing proportions as defined by the wall height/length, roof type and pitches, chimney position, porches and openings such as windows and doors. These proportions were linked to considerations such as availability of materials, optimising natural heating and daylight, shelter and the practicalities of daily living along with the influences of particular architectural styles of the time. This is most evident in the use of classical proportions and symmetry. When a cultural pattern has been established a new house should relate to existing buildings in terms of overall composition including the relative size, volume, finishes and composition of the elements and possibly the colour scheme. The Volume and Proportion The Features which contribute to a pleasing aesthetic in this style.
- 27 Boundaries The boundaries to rural houses in Clare often have drainage ditches, hedges and walls located along the perimeter. Boundary walls are traditionally constructed with limestone rubble in North Clare, shale in West Clare and sandstone in East Clare. In areas where stone was not readily available sod ditches and banks were constructed and these were often colonised by native plants or planted with indigenous hedges and trees. Such treatments gave shelter, provided drainage and blended the property into the surrounding countryside.Vernacular Elements There are many different boundary wall construction types and materials in Clare. Refer to ‘Stone wall Building Guidelines, Clare County Council Conservation Officer. Boundary wall near Ruan replicates existing methods used in the area. The use of heavy capping stones allows much smaller stones to be used in the building. Although mortar has been used to consolidate this wall at Carron it is hardly visible and required no pointing . The heavy field stone capping has been popular for centuries This dry stone wall at Carron is an excellent example of replicating the local style. The horizontal wall with the vertical capping and uprights is common throughout County Clare This new earthen/sod wall at Rinneen blends very well into the surrounding landscape where this method of banking is traditional Ditches or raised banks of earth, some faced with stone, are very common in Clare. Earth is pilled up, sometimes over the top of a wall and a whitethorn hedge is planted separately from the ditch or out of the face of the ditch and trained to grow vertically. The whitethorn hedge provides some stock proofing and also reduces wind-speed across the land.
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- 29 Materials In traditional buildings most roofs were thatched or slated with local slate – Moher/Liscannor slate in West Clare and Killaloe/Portroe or Broadford slate in East Clare. Walls were constructed of locally quarried stone and rendered internally and externally with lime burned in limekilns. The materials used would generally be from the locality and would blend with the existing landscape.Vernacular Elements Consider the use of local materials in your house design. As well as supporting local industry it also reflects local building traditions, which can be seen in some of the more attractive villages in the county.
- 30 Evolution of House Types in Clare For generations people who lived in the countryside were directly related to or involved in rural activities. It is really only in the last hundred years, with improved transport and infrastructure, that homes have been built for people not involved in farming and rural occupations. Many of the original country houses are no longer in use as working farm dwellings, but have been altered and enhanced in such a way to accommodate modern needs. Below are examples of traditional country houses found in Clare. More examples of form are illustrated on page 54. Two storey farmhouse. Classical lines, plastered walls and slate roof Dormer Cottage. One and half storeys. Windows split at eaves line with decorative eaves detail. Estate House. Formal architectural style. Georgian or classical proportions Coastal Farmhouse including barge and plaster details The Long Farmhouse. More spacious rooms with slate, thatch or iron roof Hipped roof cottage. Square plan and symmetry
Source Clare County Council: Clare Rural House Design Guide · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.