Building Sensitively and Sustainably in County Louth

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   POLICY GUIDELINES No shelter on an exposed coastal site Discreet building in a sensitive landscape near Ravensdale

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   Chapter 5 - Design guidelines for countryside, towns, villages and development centres This chapter offers design guidelines for single houses and clusters of houses in the countryside, where the location is appropriate, within towns and villages, and within the designated development centres of the county. Ireland's rural history, and that of County Louth, has ensured a continuity of habitation in the countryside. Formerly, living in the countryside reflected farming patterns, with the single farmstead and associated outbuildings on the land. Today's pattern of development in the rural environment indicates changing lifestyles and aspirations. The availability of vehicular transport and greatly improved telecommunications means that distance from the workplace or urban centres no longer creates an obstacle to living in the countryside. The rural dream remains strong in Ireland. However, creeping suburbanisation of the rural landscape, unless managed and guided, will erode the very attributes that are treasured about the countryside. The availability of well-designed urban houses, with adjacent green areas, in proximity to services, schools, shops and the workplace is vital to the creation of a sustainable structure for living in the country. Travelling long distances to perform daily tasks can increase stress and consumes non-renewable fuel. However, the realisation that countryside homes can become viable workplaces, due to the advent of tele-industries, with fax machine, phone and computer to provide the basic ingredients for effective rural-based jobs within the community, is creating a reassessment of the potential for country living. Whilst the best of traditional building and local architecture can influence new design, the demands of modern lifestyle create a new challenge: how to successfully integrate a new home into the rural environment. Site-sensitive design looks to local influences, such as climate, natural features, traditional built forms and views. By recognising and realising the potential for design in the landscape, new development can promote site-sensitive houses and clusters which add to the distinctive nature and quality of place in the countryside, whilst strengthening the settlement structure for the county. The guidelines in chapter 5 are divided into three parts, as follows: 1 Design guidelines for single houses in the countryside 2 Design guidelines for towns and villages 3 Design guidelines for grouped development in designated development centres opposite New terraced housing is sympathetic to the urban character of Carlingford

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   DESIGN GUIDELINES Design guidelines for single houses in the countryside Traditional Patterns Observation of the patterns of design and location of traditional houses can give a strong lead in setting out design guidelines for new dwellings. Traditional houses take advantage of opportunities for shelter in the following ways: • by locating houses away from the full force of prevailing winds, and sheltering it, where possible, by the lie of the land and its natural features • by creating sheltered situations through the planting of trees and hedgerows; older houses benefit from the maturing of the planted landscape, which cannot be achieved overnight with new houses • by using enclosing walls to create good microclimates and to define and shelter gardens and yards • by exploiting the form of the house and outbuildings in a way which creates enclosure and shelter. Farm cottage in timeless setting sits unobtrusively as part of the landscape

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   DESIGN GUIDELINES The form of traditional houses was invariably simple, relying on the walls and projecting porches and outbuildings for variations in form and to enclose space around the house. The making of the entrance is a very important design characteristic in County Louth, as elsewhere: substantial piers, stone walls at either side, gateways composed in countless different ways to give expression to the entrance. This house in Ravensdale is set into a well-planted and sheltered location. Immediately above is a new house, which is barely visible, despite its proximity, because of pre-existing mature screen-planting. The choice of a sheltered site will allow this almost-finished house bed into its setting relatively quickly Design Guidelines 1: site-sensitive design CHOOSE A SHELTERED SITE OR THE MOST SHELTERED PART OF A SITE • Identify and use the natural sheltering features of the site: folds in the land, contours, existing trees and hedges. Aim to design above frost hollows and below the skyline. Try to understand the local climate on site. • Establish site orientation and ensure that the design takes advantage of the sun. • Recognise wind patterns (obtain a wind rose for County Louth). Minimise exposure through design. • Identify views from the site in order to include them in requirements for enclosure and shelter. • Consider views to the site and building, and their impact on the landscape. CREATE MORE SHELTER WITH NEW PLANTING AND LAND-SHAPING Planting trees and hedges and creating shelter belts can significantly reduce the impact of the wind and will save up to 15% in heating costs.

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   DESIGN GUIDELINES Shape the building and land to guide the wind above, around and away. Information on planting for shelter is included in the appendix. CREATE FURTHER SHELTER BY USING WALLS AND OUTBUILDING TO ENCLOSE AREAS AROUND THE HOUSE There are opportunities for imaginative design solutions which exploit the built elements on the site to create enclosed and sheltered areas around the house, in conjunction with tree and hedge planting. Traditional farmyards and gardens exemplify these opportunities. The elements which can be used might include garage, stores, sheds, stable accommodation and conservatories. EXPLOIT THE SUN The positioning of the house relative to the sun can make substantial differences to the climatic conditions both within and outside the house. Advantageous orientation allows the sun to be used as a component of the heating system of the house. Design for house which uses ancillary accommodation and landscaping to create an enclosed, sheltered area at the front Establish a sun-path diagram for the house to understand how to effectively exploit the sun

7. Page 77(read from a scan)

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   DESIGN GUIDELINES Design Guidelines 2: presence in the landscape SIMPLE FORMS LOOK BEST IN THE LANDSCAPE For the most part, houses are visible and often prominent in the landscape, at least until planting grows. Most modern houses with a simple sloping roof and rectangular form are innocuous in the landscape, but bulky or unfamiliar forms can look wrong. Whilst a contrast between old and new can be successful, it is more likely to clash, unless handled with skill. Traditional building form provides hints for creative reinterpretation relative to scale in the landscape, depth of building, frontage characteristics and use of materials. Avoid complex and unfamiliar forms. LIMIT THE RANGE OF MATERIALS USED Building materials on offer make it possible to use a wide range on a single-building site. This can result in a visual hotchpotch. The setting will often suggest appropriate materials which are compatible with neighbouring dwellings. Consider Examples of familiar forms in the landscape. Beware of unfamiliar and overly complicated forms. The same house, but 'finished' differently. The simple form is transformed by the use of a lower roof-pitch, inclusion of a bulky dormer, horizontal windows, fake shutters, the application of a mixture of styles and materials, and inappropriate planting.

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   DESIGN GUIDELINES using similar materials for house, boundary walls and outbuildings. Avoid, for example, brickwork in areas where it is not usually chosen, and the use of token panels of stonework. CONSERVE THE EXISTING LANDSCAPE AS THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL SITING OF HOUSES In most situations, the existing field boundaries and landscape elements are an inseparable part of the larger landscape. By conserving these patterns it is easier to create a landscape-sensitive solution. New building blends with the landscape because it sits within it. By carefully siting the house to make use of existing hedgerows and trees for shelter, any rawness is avoided. Design Guidelines 3: the roadside frontage GOOD ENTRANCES CAN BE BOTH BEAUTIFUL AND SAFE WITHOUT DESTROYING THE HEDGEROWS AND BOUNDARY WALLS The greatest visual impact of built development in the countryside is perhaps created by the entrances to house sites. These new entrances, together with their gateway, or opening and driveway, have created large holes in the natural environment by the removal of hedgerows from the leafy lanes of County Louth, and their replacement with ranch-type fencing, concrete walls, or post and wire fencing. The openings must meet demanding engineering requirements for visibility and car movement, and consequently can be of some length. It is a design challenge and opportunity to make an opening along the roadway which complements the frontage. The traditional elements of hedgerow, bank, wall and gateway can be represented in an original and imaginative way, without destroying roadside quality. Avoid harsh ground surface treatment. Gravel, for example, is less obtrusive than asphalt in the natural environment. Use materials and landscape treatment which are

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   DESIGN GUIDELINES The new opening should stitch into the existing roadside treatment. The most favourable point of access is where an existing hedgerow is degraded, or a tree, through age or condition, requires removal. All too often, the openings appear as a gash in the hedgerow, filled in with an inappropriate boundary enclosure such as concrete fencing. Judicious design can minimise hedgerow and tree removal by carefully locating and shaping the entrance gateway to achieve the required sightlines. compatible with the area. New boundary edges should recognise local traditional techniques. Stone walls are prevalent in many areas of the county. Often grassed verges exist in front of the boundary. The difficulties arise in a marked way when there are several frontages, and particularly when these are adjacent to one another. In these circumstances, it is important to establish rules to ensure that the entrances are compatible, and combine to create an attractive rhythm. Making an entrance A mature landscape leaves only the entrance as a hint of the house within

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    DESIGN GUIDELINES Design Guidelines 4: different landscape settings BUILDING ON THE COASTLINE Those areas which are suitable and available for building along the coast are likely to be low-lying and exposed, offering little protection from the topography or landscape elements. Coastline areas have suffered from the building of individual houses, one beside the other, generating a random and disparate appearance. The application of guidelines about materials, form and boundary treatment should help to improve future development, and planting for shelter is a most important consideration. In bleak, open and flat landscapes, the house form will be visible from many miles away, and will create a silhouette on the horizon. Design needs to recognise this challenge and use methods to break down scale, or creatively reinterpret traditional strong forms in the landscape, such as barns, towers and other recognisable built features. Wind protection should be considered at design concept stage. Siting in a flat, exposed situation will require years of careful planting and screening to achieve satisfactory shelter and a softening of the impact on the landscape BUILDING IN THE CENTRAL PLAIN This area contains the richest agricultural land in the county. It has an established landscape tradition, derived from the division of land, with stone walls in some places, hedgerows and grassed banks in others. Belts of trees define the horizons. In this area, because of the established landscape, the form of houses is more easily accommodated and may not be the dominant consideration. However, the development of sites where field boundaries are ignored and roadside hedges removed along the entire frontage is very damaging to the traditional landscape. New house in established landscape will require further planting to bed it in its environment

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