Building Sensitively and Sustainably in County Louth

1. Page 91(read from a scan)

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   DESIGN GUIDELINES Design Guidelines: groups of houses UNDERTAKE A THOROUGH SITE ANALYSIS Identify climatic patterns, natural landscape features, orientation, wind direction, sun path, vegetation, trees, hedgerows, watercourses/springs, views to/from the site, problem zones (i.e. poor drainage or ground conditions), neighbouring buildings, traditional treatment of walls, etc. EXAMINE THE LOCAL DESIGN VOCABULARY Examine the design vocabulary of historical and vernacular building types in the locality as one starting point for design. TRADITIONAL CLUSTERS MAY PROVIDE USEFUL MODELS – CLUSTERS CAN IMPROVE SHELTER Use each site and its associated outbuildings, such as garages and sheds, together with walls and neighbouring buildings, to shield from winds, thereby creating a favourable microclimate. CONSIDER THE GROUP OF HOUSES AS A WHOLE Grouped sites need to have common rules regarding materials, boundaries and landscape. Consider grouped parking or screened parking, and avoid excessive harsh surface treatment. Gravel surfaces are visually preferable to tarmacadam. Boundaries to each building in the group should be of the same design in terms of height and materials. The area between the boundary and the road should be treated in the same way throughout. These measures will help to unify the appearance of the group. Wherever possible, conserve natural hedgerows and trees on the boundary, and repair openings in hedgerows. Consider the impact of grouped housing from different views in the landscape. Design to minimise its effect by using natural contours, horizon lines and vegetation. GENERATE OPEN SPACE AND PLAY AREAS WITHIN THE CLUSTER Grouped housing can be designed to enhance the public/semi-private and private realms. Create opportunities to provide safe play areas for children and to utilise open space. Carlingford – Access from the main street through an archway to new housing behind APPLY GUIDELINES TO CARAVAN PARKS Caravan parks, by their nature, are grouped clusters. The general principles above apply in similar measure. The unsheltered and open characteristics of coastal locations increase the urgency to provide climatic protection through sensible layout, the use of attractive permanent boundary treatment as screening, and the undertaking of appropriate coastal planting.

2. Page 92(read from a scan)

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   DESIGN GUIDELINES APPLY GUIDELINES FOR INDIVIDUAL HOUSES WITHIN GROUPS • Houses should recognise their responsibility towards their neighbours. Competing styles and the application of products 'onto' the house, such as plastic porticos, concrete balustrading, applied 'stonework', and the like, creates a confusing mixture. • Aim to create a favourable microclimate on each individual site. • Individual access points from the road can be unified through materials, height and gateposts. • Individuality of design can be achieved through recognition of the natural planted features and climatic conditions on each plot through orientation. Houses which maximise climatic advantages have reduced running costs. • Outbuildings present a design opportunity to increase privacy, shelter and enclosure, and to achieve an integral composition. These elements include porches, garages, sunrooms, sheds, pump houses, etc. • Aim to hide services such as oil tanks, satellite dishes, washing lines, bins, etc. • Anchor the house in the natural environment by fortifying existing planting with indigenous planting. New terraces of houses with carefully considered stone walling boundaries and attractive gates enhance the built environment of Carlingford The design of new houses is enriched by recognising prevailing winds, orientation, landscape, relationship to other buildings, and methods to enhance privacy and create shelter. In this case, each plot is designed separately without acknowledgement of the above. The introduction of quality boundary edges and significant landscaping would benefit the whole.

3. Page 93(read from a scan)

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   APPENDIX Appendix Planting for Shelter Ireland has a higher wind speed in winter than most other European countries. The effects of exposure in coastal areas are compounded by salt-laden spray carried on the sea winds. In sheltered locations, however, the climate can be favourable. The role of shelterplanting is important to achieve this. Most of the older houses in County Louth are located in the more sheltered positions, surrounded by belts of trees. Today, however, many houses are sited prominently, and are subject to strong gales, yet little consideration is given to shelterplanting. The type of suburban garden favoured by new owners is not sufficient to counteract the severe climatic conditions experienced in many coastal and rural locations. The advantages of shelter-planting Hedges, groups of trees, shrubs and shelter belts, when planted near buildings, have the following advantages: • they shelter buildings from cold winds and driving rain; • they can reduce fuel consumption of the building by up to 20%; • they provide privacy; • they improve the appearance and comfort of the immediate area, making it more desirable as a place to live and work; • they encourage wildlife; • they soften the outlines and reduce the dominant appearance of new buildings; • they help to harmonise the buildings with their surroundings; • they provide an additional point of interest in the countryside, with varying forms, colours and textures throughout the year. Planting for shelter creates a favourable microclimate and can reduce heating bills

4. Page 94(read from a scan)

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   APPENDIX Siting Shelter-planting should be located across the path of the wind and should be sited to make use of and improve local features such as ridges and outcrops. Planting on ridge tops is not recommended. Permeability A good shelter belt or hedge filters the force of the wind without causing damaging turbulence. Profile Shelter-planting should lift the wind, and not cause winds to be funnelled below the crown of trees. Therefore a shelter belt should have a hedge or wind-tolerant shrubs on the windward side, and taller trees in the centre. Height and Length As a rule, the sheltered zone will extend for a distance twenty times the height of the trees and will become effective when the length exceeds twelve times the height. Permeability Profile Height and length

5. Page 95(read from a scan)

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   APPENDIX Planting A shelter belt should consist of not less than three rows of trees, with a row of broadleaved trees included, together with a hedge. Forestry transplants of 'whips' up to 50cm tall should be pit planted at two-metre spacing in staggered rows. In very exposed locations, planting should be on the leeward side of a stone wall, dyke, or timber lath screen. Stock-proof hedges should be purely hawthorn, with plants 25cm to 50cm high, at 25cm spacing, in a double, staggered row 15cm apart, giving eight plants per metre. Purely amenity hedges may contain other species as well as hawthorn, and may be planted in a single row at 30cm spacing. Aftercare Trees and shrubs should be well watered after planting, and hedgerow shrubs cut back to 10cm above ground to encourage bushy growth. Plants cannot compete for water with a mat of grass or weed. The soil should be kept clean with mulch, herbicides or black polythene. Larger trees may need a short stake, about one metre tall, to hold roots until established, and this should be removed in the second year. Farmhouse in upland location achieves shelter by positioning and planting Shelter belt consisting of three rows of planting Hawthorn Blackthorn Hazel (150mm apart) Boundary edge Sycamore Ash, Beech, Corsican Pine, Sitka Spruce (2m apart) Hawthorn Blackthorn Hazel

6. Page 96(read from a scan)

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   APPENDIX Suitable Species In exposed coastal areas the following are the species likely to succeed and are selected for their tolerance to salt-laden winds. Consult with your local nursery. species common name evergreen height (ft) rate of growth Acer pseudoplatanus Sycamore 60 F Alnus glutinosa Alder 35 F Atriplex halimus portulacoid Tree purslane S 6 M Crataegus monogyna Hawthorn 25 M Eleagnus macrophylla pungens Oleaster * 12 M Escallonia macrantha * 10 F Euonymus japonicus Spindle * 15 M Fraxinus excelsior Ash 60 F Fuschia magellanica Fuschia 8 F Griselinia littoralis * 15 F Hebe brachysiphon * 6 M Hippophae rhamniodes Sea buckthorn 8 M Ilex aguifolium Holly * 25 S Olearia macrodonta Daisy bush * 15 F Olearia traversii 20 VF Pittesporum tenuifolium * 15 F Picea sitchensis Sitka spruce * 100 VF Pinus nigra maritima Corsican pine * 120 M Pinus pinaster Maritime pine * 100 F Pinus radiata Monterey pine * 120 F Populus alba White poplar 70 VF Prunus spinosa Blackthorn 10 F Quercus ilex Holm oak * 50 M Salix alba White willow 90 VF Sambucus nigra Elder 12 F Senecio greyii * 3 Sorbus intermedia Whitebeam 50 F Tamarix * 10 M Ulex europaeus Gorse * 8 Information in this appendix is taken from Building Sensitively in the Landscapes of County Wexford (by the same authors), published in 1988. It was supplied by

Source Louth County Council: Building Sensitively and Sustainably in County Louth · 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.