Design guide · Monaghan County Council
Monaghan Design Guide
The council's guidance on siting and designing a house in the countryside.
Monaghan County Council · 2008 · 105 pages
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- 31 Some small Country Houses have extensive groupings of farmbarns, stables and workers’ housing grouped formally around one or more courtyards. They are isolated within their own large acreage. CROSSROADS Buildings (in multiple ownership) are built up to the road line on three or more corners of a cross road. This forms a distinctive“semi-urban” grouping. It is usually relatively isolated. SMALL COUNTRY HOUSE Classical “cube” or box house fronts onto a formal garden and/or small woodland with a rear courtyard enclosed by linear farm barns.
- 32 2.5 materials/ COLOUR Historically walling material in rural house construction in Co Monaghan was predominantly rubble stone. The habitable portions of cottages and farm houses were often brightened up by limewashing directly onto the stone. Later most houses were finished externally in traditional lime based plaster with a smooth or roughcast finish or in pebble dash providing a second line of defence against the dampness due to penetrating rain. Unpainted this render had a soft luminous light grey colour. More usually whitewash was applied. This sometimes had an earth pigment added (such as ochre) giving a buff or soft buttermilk colour. Recently it has become fashionable to pick external plaster off traditional rubble stone buildings leaving the stone exposed and diluting the traditional character of these buildings. The trend has influenced a new aesthetic in rural housing. Natural and imitation stone have become increasingly popular as a facing on all or parts of new houses. This is a significant and regrettable departure from the County’s strong traditional characteristic of rendered (painted or unpainted) rural housing. Historically the use of brick (either on its own or in conjunction with rubble stone) was a feature of the Victorian era. Such houses were frequently within landed estates and not often visible from the wider landscape. Concrete blockwork cavity wall construction, rendered, was the cheapest and most common form of construction for much of the 20th century during which cement based renders overtook traditional lime. Left unpainted these have a darker grey hue than the traditional lime render.
- 33 Over time cement renders develop a mellow patina that has a character all of its own. Unpainted cement and lime renders blend well into the rural landscape. In the past 10 years a large number of rural houses built in red brick and/or natural/reconstituted stone has given rise to an aesthetically unsuccessful though very dominant characteristic. This is detracting from the visual quality of the Co Monaghan landscape. Roofs were traditionally either thatched, sheeted in corrugated iron (often painted red, green or left galvanised) or slated (invariably Welsh Bangor Blues). More recently other roofing materials have emerged – blue black concrete roof tiles, and in cases red clay pantiles. The use of thatch on a new house is uncommon today however it is a renewable material and is very acceptable visually and in terms of sustainable design. In general houses that adhere to the palette of materials identified as those most characteristic of rural vernacular buildings in Co Monaghan will be considered favourably: Rendered Masonry (Unpainted or painted in subtle greys, off white, buff and cream Natural slate (blue black) Corrugated iron Thatch Materials that are not listed above may be appropriate as part of a particularly innovative design concept. A judgment should be made against how well such proposals blend harmoniously with the rural landscape. Such materials and designs will need to be of a high architectural standard to be acceptable.
- 34 County Monaghan has an abundance of derelict dwellings and sites. In an era where there is an increase in demand for houses in the countryside the re-use of existing semi-derelict dwellings and the redevelopment of mature sites is a preferable and more sustainable option than a new build on a greenfield site. Disused historic buildings in the countryside offer huge potential as a means of repairing and reinforcing the County’s regional character. They represent a social and cultural way of life now long and embody an architectural expression that is unique, authentic and invariably pleasing. Their re-use is consistent with the aims of sustainable development. With existing access lanes and mature boundary planting, they absorb new inhabitants discreetly without detriment to the existing visual quality of the countryside. The materials that make up these buildings carry within them what is known as an embodied energy value i.e. the energy that it took to extract them from the ground and transport them to the site. Bringing a ruin back to life avoids expending extra energy to extract and transport all the materials that are needed for a new house. However the solid masonry construction of these buildings means that achieving the insulation standards required to meet today’s energy conscious Building Regulations can be a challenge. 2.6 potential of re-using existing BUILDINGS BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER
- 35 BUILDINGS AT RISK The County is peppered with numerous historic buildings of all sizes in various states of dereliction. If action is not taken soon these will be undoubtedly lost. These are a glimpse of times past. Their presence within the wider landscape strengthens its architectural diversity, richness and consolidates its character and identity. REFURBISHMENT A derelict cottage can offer much potential. It can be possible to give it new life as a comfortable, attractive home meeting modern needs but still retaining its original character. Many of these old buildings sit within a mature landscape setting adding instant maturity and character to its setting. CONVERSION Even old buildings whose first role was for something else (eg: mills, warehouses, farm barns etc) can be successfully converted to residential use and offer interesting possibilities in terms of the types of spaces that can be created inside. The re-use and conversion of existing historic buildings in the countryside helps to protect the County’s unique heritage and reinforces its identity. BEFORE AFTER BEFORE AFTER
- 36 Proposals for sensitive re-use, conversion and conservation of traditional buildings will be encouraged while proposals which may result in the destruction of the original architectural form and detail will be discouraged. SPECIALIST ADVICE Specialist professional advice and construction skills are required to achieve high quality conservation. Advice should be sought from a conservation architect to test the feasibility of retaining a particular old building to meet your needs before buying. The RIAI Conservation Register lists architects who have specialist skills in this type of work. SIGNATURE ASPECTS SOME KEY CHARACTERISTICS… LANDSCAPE The County’s drumlin landscape with its tight field pattern and tradition of indigenous hedges is capable of absorbing new houses provided they are well sited. Some minor excavation may be necessary but this should be avoided. PRESENTATION TO THE ROAD The evolution of what is known as “ribbon development” where a number of detached houses in a line front onto a main road has been evident since the 1970s. This type of development integrates poorly into the rural landscape. Traditionally there are many examples in the county of small cottages and farm groupings built close to a main road. These usually front directly onto it with an irregular forecourt that is open to the road, or with the gable of a shed or house presented to the road. Such buildings are invariably isolated along a given length of roadside and do not form the linear development described above. They are also generally small scale and integrate well. Increased noise levels and loss of privacy due to today’s traffic levels makes the traditional arrangement of a house fronting a forecourt open to the road much less attractive. However modern design can draw on these traditional patterns to maintain the essence of this traditional vernacular pattern and better integrate development into the landscape. Where new single houses are in close proximity to a county road they should be sited in a way that maintains the patterns outlined above (and referred to in pages 30 and 31) and should be set back from the road and accessed via a single track hedgelined laneway.
- 37 OTHER TRADITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS Access - this was invariably via a long tree lined avenue or through deciduous forests to reach ‘Big Houses’. Hedge lined single track laneways or a narrow lane running through a small stand of trees usually provided access to smaller country houses, ‘Glebe’s’, rectories, farmhouses and cottages (except where the latter fronted onto an open forecourt facing the County Road). Nestling within field patterns - Many houses were often set back from a Main County Road (though this was not always the traditional arrangement ) Shelter - sites were usually positioned on the lower slopes of a hillside rather than on the exposed hilltop Access roads often followed existing contours and the alignment of field boundaries. Scale - is generally small Trees - Generous use of deciduous broadleaf trees (to provide shelter from prevailing winds) also acts to soften the visual impact of the house Simple form and detail. GROUPINGS OF MAIN DWELLING AND OUTBUILDINGS Traditionally farmhouses in Co Monaghan were built as part of a bigger grouping that comprised a one or two storey main farmhouse with outbuildings arranged to form either an L shaped or U shaped group around a farmyard. New houses that draw on this generic siting layout should be encouraged. Designers can re-interpret this in an innovative way and give it a contemporary expression.
- 38 Proportions are pleasing to the eye both in terms of overall form as well as the size and position of window and door openings within a façade. UNADORNED DETAILS LIMITED PALETTE OF EXTERNAL MATERIALS: Wood float finish render (painted or unpainted) natural slate – blue/black or Bangor Blue corrugated iron (this needs to be carefully handled since modern equivalents present detailing issues and are difficult to use in a visually simple way) Ashlar finish natural stone. This should be natural and locally sourced. If sourced from elsewhere it should be natural and match the colour and texture of local stone SIMPLICITY Simplicity of form – The most successful rural house designs are those which draw on the essence of simplicity in the form and detail of traditional houses. This does not mean that the end result should be a pastiche of a traditional house. Pastiche is discouraged. Innovation and creative flair is encouraged where it translates the simplicity of the past into something that sits sensitively into the landscape and is also rooted in the 21st century. Simplicity in detail – a marked feature of the traditional vernacular farmhouse or cottage is great simplicity in everything. Even the large 18th century Irish Country Houses built in the Palladian Classical style are relatively austere and have minimal decoration. The following elements of design need careful consideration: shapes of building blocks window openings and frames door openings and design of doors omit barge boards on cottages or vernacular farmhouses limit the palette of materials limit the use of colour
- 39 TRADITIONAL HOUSE FORMS Square, hipped roof block – two storey (solid, closed quality) Double pitched linear - initially one unit, perhaps with later additional accretions added in a line Double pitched formimng an L or U in plan – one and two storey TRADITIONAL RURAL OUTBUILDING FORMS Lean-to shed Curved Belfast truss with or without lean-to additions Enclosing rubble stone walls associated with walled gardens at Big Houses
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