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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- Pyramidal roof is aesthically poor Too dominant and heavy Ridge is too high Overhanging eaves is visually crude Roof proportion is much better but overhanging eaves still makes roof look heavy Height of roof is greater than half the wall height Roof still looks heavy Wall is very long relative to the ground to eaves height Ridge line much too high Length of ridge too short Roof too dominant Overhanging eaves is visually crude Removing the overhanging eaves helps reduce height of roof and achieves a much better roof proportion but the façade looks squat because it is too high compared to its length Roof and wall proportions good Eaves to ridge height is less than half the wall height x x x x x 1 2 3 4 5 6
- 72 CHIMNEYS Chimneys on this type of house usually straddled the ridge and were much taller than the average linear farmhouse. This extra height makes a significant difference to the overall proportion of the house. If these chimneys are too short they will make the house look squat. Chimneys that are too narrow or too tall can be visually displeasing. Either (or any of these) will have a negative impact on the overall proportions of this type of house. Country houses of this type were usually finished as smooth or roughcast plaster, either painted or unpainted. A roof with no overhanging eaves or fascia boards suits this material finish but could look awkward on a similar house built in brick or fine ashlar stone. Traditionally small country houses of this type were not built in brick in Co. Monaghan. The judgement of a highly skilled architect is crucial when making decisions about how to handle such details as the eaves. The overall appearance of the house will suffer if the wrong judgement is made. PORCHES The next things to be considered are the porch (if there is one) and the height and position of chimneys. If the proportions for these are not pleasing they will detract from the overall look of the façade. In this type of house the porch was usually a very simple box stuck onto the front wall. It usually had a flat roof because this allowed the first floor windows to run through uninterrupted. Porches that are to big exert too much dominance on the facade. When they are too small they will be lost and lack presence. 7 FLAT ROOFED PORCH
- 73 WINDOWS AND DOORS Next (and perhaps the most difficult thing of all) is to decide on the proportions and composition of the windows and doors. Achieving good proportions in these elements is a task for your architect or agent. No one else can deliver well proportions. When he or she is working on this aspect of the design they need to consider the following: Window and door shapes (height and width) should be appropriate for their function and be a visually pleasing grouping within the composition of the overall façade as well as visually pleasing in themselves. Each window or door should have be of a size that is visually pleasing relative to the surrounding solid masonry – not too big and not too small Framing divisions (mullions and transoms) should be carefully designed to achieve well-proportioned panes of glass. When the subdivision of framing is aesthetically poor this can undermine an otherwise well proportioned building. Avoid sandwiching mullions between panes of double glazing. Where different window shapes and frames occur make sure that these complement each other visually.
- 74 The traditional valley gutter to the rear of ‘Glebe’ houses often caused construction defects. This has been eliminated to avoid this by forming a flat roof over the central portion and allowing the ridge to run continuously around the roof. Flat roofs that are well detailed and finished in a high quality material (such as lead) are very durable and can look very well. This solution should not be attempted with low quality materials such as mineral felt or butyl rubber. In this approach chimneys are best re-positioned at the edge of the flat roof (rather than straddling the pitched and flat roofs) WINDOWS In sketch 9 ground floor windows are a pleasing proportion made up of a double square but the first floor windows are not so good and there are difficulties with the cill height required by the Building Regulations for escape windows. Window proportions are pleasing for both ground and first floor windows but the ratio of window to wall area is uncomfortable. These windows are too big for their façade. 8 xWELL DETAILED BULL NOSED EDGE TO LEAD FINISHED FLAT ROOF 9
- 75 In sketch 11 ground and first floor windows are both well proportioned but they are quite small relative to the overall façade and make the house look “mean”. First floor escape windows demand side hung opening lights. This necessitates either window frame W or Y. Frame W looks incongruous against Frame X below while the proportions of glass panes in Frame Y and Z are slightly out of sync. In sketch 12 a decision to try square proportioned windows on the first floor has helped solve the problem. This was combined with taller ground floor windows that are one and a half times taller than they are wide. This allows side hung casement windows on both floors with framing divisions that are similar on both floors. The 900mm cill height on the first floor complies with the Building Regulations for escape windows. Although there is a lot of wall between the cill of the first floor windows and the head of the ground floor windows this looks fine. 10 12 11 W X Y Z
- 76 BOUNDARY WALLS appropriate local natural rubble stone boundary wall short lengths of wall close to houses are acceptable in painted plaster with insitu concrete copings (avoid precast concrete copings). Long stretches of these walls can be unsightly. DOORS back doors were usually vertically boarded tongued and grooved painted timber front doors were sometimes the same as back doors or framed and quarter panelled in painted timber CILLS traditionally cills were carved from natural stone (often sandstone). They were relatively chunky in appearance and had a pencil round on the arrises (corners). over time they were often painted. avoid pre-cast concrete cills and thresholds. insitu concrete is the preferable modern equivalent if the budget won’t stretch to sandstone. OTHER ELEMENTS AND DETAILS
- 77 CHIMNEYS chimneys are best centred on the ridge keep the outer line of the chimney stack flush with the gable the width is best between 450 – 600 mm wide the length of chimney stack should be noticeably longer than the width copings look best when they are quite deep eg 00 – 50 mm. EAVES, GUTTERS AND DOWNPIPES The details of eaves, gutters, downpipes and verges at farmhouses and classical Glebe houses were simple and shared the following characteristics: half round gutter profile and circular section downpipes (cast iron or cast aluminium is preferred – avoid PVCu and extruded aluminium) L shaped rise and fall brackets to support gutters avoid timber or PVCu fascias/soffit boards – these create crude eaves details KEEP MODERN DETAILING SIMPLE The simplicity that is evident in many old farmhouses can be given a contemporary expression in 2st century dwellings without loss of simplicity or resorting to pastiche. Consider: high specification painted timber windows painted metal cills self finish render in muted tones (greys, beige, fawn etc) half round cast aluminium gutters supported on bracket fixed to rafters eliminates the need for overhanging fascia boards and overhanging soffits plastering gables right up to underside of slates along verges – this looks simple and visually effective avoiding PVCu soffit, fascia and verge trims
- 78 4.5 energy/SUSTAINABILITY There are a number of questions to be asked relative to sustainability and energy consumption when considering the preparation of a brief and the selection of a site. These issues need to be explored in even greater detail when developing a design concept and final design as there a range of steps that can be taken to maximise efficiency and minimise energy consumption through a considered approach to siting, orientation, design and layout. The aim is to minimise consumption of energy and resources. A large house will require more energy to heat and cool it. But if the house is bigger than necessary then it takes a lot more energy to run it and make it comfortable. All of this increases the energy load both in terms of actual fuel consumption used by the household but also during fabrication and transportation of the materials used in the construction of the building and fittings be they toilets, concrete roof tiles, showers or solar panels. To live in a more sustainable way identify the minimum size of house that will meet living requirements and then design the house to minimise consumption of energy resources. Could a study or den be big enough to take a sofa bed and turn into a spare bedroom when guests arrive? Is the extra en suite really essential? How do we reduce our consumption of energy and resources? Reduce the house to the minimum size required to meet day to day needs Make the shape of the house as compact as possible Insulate the enclosing envelope (walls, roof, floor and windows) to a high degree PASSIVE SOLAR HEATING The sun is free energy. The effective capture of this inside the house by making much greater use of passive solar design will reduce consumption of fossil fuels. This is the energy saving strategy that has most to offer under Irish climatic conditions. It depends, for its success, on the shape of the building, the materials it is made from, the size and position of windows – and especially the levels of insulation in the walls, floor, roof and windows. The Direct Gain system is the most effective passive solar method in Ireland’s climate. In this approach solar gain is maximised by positioning the larger windows on the south and west sides of the house and deliberately making window openings as small as possible on the north side of the house.
- 79 Sometime the shape of the site, its contours or other factors may mean that it is not always possible to orient the house so that all the most frequently used rooms eg kitchen/living/dining and family rooms are on the south side of the house. When this is the case move these rooms so that they have at least one external wall facing south and/or west. Ideally these rooms should have two external walls with a south and west aspect. Position little used rooms such as bathrooms, utility rooms, stores or corridors on the north side of the house. These act as a buffer helping to reduce heat loss from the rooms used most often in daytime (kitchen, dining, living rooms). Well insulated buildings with large areas of south or west facing glazing can be vulnerable to overheating in summer. In a passive solar building good window design, appropriate shading, natural cooling devices and sensible control systems will all be needed to maintain a comfortable balance. Solar panels and evacuated tube solar collectors (for heating) are most effective when they are placed at an angle of 45o and face due south. This can be difficult to achieve when other important factors call for an orientation and roof pitch that deviates from this. In addition sunlight reflecting off a roof that is peppered with solar panels will stand out visually making it difficult to blend into the surrounding countryside. Consideration should be given to locating such elements on the ground at the appropriate angle and orientation.
- 80 Narrow plan house with long south facing facade Three storey house with long axis at a right angle to contours Modestly sized two storey house with long axis at a right angle to contours Long house parallel to contours resulting in unsightly excavation ORIENTATION There can often be a conflict between achieving an orientation for the house that suits the landscape setting and one that is best for passive solar gain. For instance a narrow plan house that has one long façade facing due south will be very good for maximising solar gain into the rooms on this side of the house provided there is a buffer of less important rooms on the north side. But on a south facing steeply sloping site placing a very long narrow house parallel to the contours could result in a large amount of unsightly excavation. It could mean that such a house would be poorly integrated into its landscape setting. Very long narrow houses on sloping sites can often be better integrated visually when the long axis of the house is at right angles to the contours and the house is allowed to step down the site. Where this is the case a balance must be struck between an appropriate form, well positioned in a particular landscape and optimising passive solar gain. x
Source Monaghan County Council: Monaghan Design Guide (2008) · 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.