Design guide · Roscommon County Council
Rural Design Guidelines
The council's guidance on siting and designing a house in the countryside.
Roscommon County Council · 70 pages
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- County Roscommon Rural Design Guidelines
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- Foreword Rural Design Guidelines Foreword This guidance Document has been prepared as supplementary to the Roscommon County Development Plan. The policies and proposals of that plan set out the planning context for development in the county. Certain detailed matters can be more readily dealt with in this supplementary guidance format. The purpose of this guidance document is to provide information and advice on the design considerations which should be taken into account to successfully integrate single new dwellings into the landscapes of County Roscommon. The intention is to encourage a more sympathetic approach to the siting, location and design taking more regard of the traditional building styles of the locality and paying due respect to the landscape within which that dwelling is to be sited. It will assist people in choosing an appropriate location and design for their home and provide a consistent approach in determining applications. The Guide gives a clear indication of what Roscommon County Council will require when considering the merits of a planning application. The Guide has been prepared to highlight the importance of choosing the most appropriate site and sensitive design which can determine the outcome of the planning application and the integrity of the proposal to its site context. The Guidelines are not intended to be prescriptive; rather the purpose of the guide is to make clear those issues concerned with achieving good siting and design. This Guide gives advice to the applicant on whether or not the proposal is appropriately positioned in the context of the site. The design of the house should take into consideration the land and its rural surroundings. This can inform the architectural style best suited to the design quality of the house whilst enhancing the visual amenity of the countryside. Also the design guide has refrained from the ‘pattern book’ of good designs instead it explains the principles of good rural house design. On the issue of design, the Guide aims to inspire modern/contemporary designs with local traditional building forms. The Guide can promote a ‘smart build’ philosophy for energy efficiency to reduce costs for one-off houses in the countryside.
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- Contents Rural Design Guidelines Foreword Contents 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Purpose of the Guidelines 2 1.2 The Aim of the Guidelines 2 1.3 How to use this Guide 3 1.4 The Planning and Design Process 3 2. Landscape Character 5 2.1 Landscape Character 6 2.2 Landscape Character Areas 7 2.3 Our Landscape 10 3. Our Place in the Landscape 11 3.1 Settlement Patterns 12 3.2 Settlement Groupings 12 3.3 Building Types 14 3.4 Vernacular Architecture 16 in Roscommon 3.5 The Built Form in Co. Roscommon 16 4. Siting and Integration 19 4.1 Choosing the right site 20 4.2 Locating the house 21 4.3 Working with the sun 22 4.4 Dealing with contours 23 4.5 Access 24 4.6 Front boundary options 26 4.7 Native trees and hedging 27 5. Re-use, re-organise, re-place, 31 5.1 Re-use and convert 32 5.2 Re-organise and extend 33 5.3 Extension forms 34 5.4 Re-placement dwellings 35 5.5 Options for replacement 36 5.6 Garages 37 6. New Build 39 6.1 Designing the right house for the 40 right site 6.2 Form follows Function 41 6.3 Rural building forms 41 6.4 Sub-urban building forms 44 6.5 The narrow plan approach 45 6.6 Avoiding the deep plan solution 46 6.7 Massing 47 6.8 The problem with the Big House 47 6.9 Addressing the problem 47 6.10 Scale and Height 48 6.11 The Design Process 49 7. Adding the detail 51 7.1 Roof Style 52 7.2 Dormer windows 52 7.3 Windows 53 7.4 Bay windows 53 7.5 Doors 54 7.6 Porches 55 7.7 Chimneys 55 7.8 Materials 56 7.9 Stone 57 8. Sustainable Design 59 8.1 Energy Efficiency 60 8.2 Renewable energy sources 60 8.3 Retrofit 60 8.4 Building Energy Rating (BER) 61 8.5 Building Regulations 61 Acknowledgments 63
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No text on this page — it is probably a drawing, a map, a photograph or a scanned page. See it in the PDF.
- 2 Introduction Rural Design Guidelines 1.1 Purpose of the Guidelines The rural design guide has been prepared to assist people in making a planning application for the refurbishment of an existing dwelling, replacement of a dwelling as well as the construction of a new dwelling in the countryside. The guide shows the importance of good siting and sensitive rural housing design when building in the countryside. The guide does not aim to assert generic responses to the rural countryside instead it highlights to users, the benefit of appropriate design in relation to issues of siting, orientation, local materials and building elements. It is recognised that both traditional and modern design can inspire and develop attractive buildings that contribute to the landscape and the rural character of the area. The guide aims to inspire contemporary design that is uniquely Irish in origin in a way that is authentic, creative and a worthy contribution to the built heritage for County Roscommon. 1.2 The Aim of the Guidelines The guide addresses how a design project should be approached and how to stimulate debate about the fundamental principles which best inform rural house design. This guide provides a step by step approach on site selection, site layout, form and shape, proportion, massing and volume, orientation, passive solar gain, adaptability of design and modern energy technologies. This document highlights the key issues to be considered when determining either the success or failure of the new house in rural County Roscommon. The guide seeks to achieve the following; · To ensure houses are in an appropriate location · Encourage a more sympathetic approach to the siting, location and design · Integrate the house into the landscape · Promote both traditional and contemporary building styles · Encourage good quality local building materials and energy conservation through the use of energy saving technologies.
- 3 Introduction Rural Design Guidelines 1.3 How to use this Guide The policies relating to Rural House Design are included in the Roscommon County Development Plan. This guide is structured in order to understand and develop an insight into its policies. This guide tells you about: Landscape Character — what gives our rural areas their unique character and how do we preserve this character through new development Our Place in the Landscape — exploring the settlement patterns and vernacular typologies Siting and Integration — how we can integrate development with the landscape Re-use, re-organise, re-place — how can existing buildings be used to their full advantage and how can you design top quality replacement houses New Build — how should new buildings be designed to fit the landscape Adding the detail — what features should be incorporated into the final design Building for the Future — how do you improve the environmental standards of development in order to minimize costs and impacts on the surrounding environment Within each section the key principles of quality design and sustainable development are clearly explained along with points to consider when replacing, extending, designing and siting buildings. 1.4 The Planning and Design Process The design of a dwelling in a rural setting is not always a straightforward process. When preparing to submit a planning application there are a number of issues which need to be addressed to reach a favourable decision. The Guide is meant to assist the applicant and prospective developers to submit a favourable proposal for a dwelling in the countryside. During the planning and the design process the applicant should consider the following; · Site Selection — Good siting is when a building appears to embrace the surrounding landscape rather than having a visual impact on its surroundings. Appropriate siting will consider the retention of existing topography, trees and hedgerows to respect its setting and to complement the visual integrity of its surroundings. · Site layout — Determine the best layout by identifying existing features and ensure the design of the building is orientated to take advantage. The design of the proposed house must show consideration of the sites surroundings and the character of traditional buildings in the area. · House Design — The design of the building should enhance the visual character of the area. In particular the house proposed should be appropriate to the site context and the design of the house should represent good proportioning. · Landscaping — At the initial planning stage, landscaping should be considered to blend the house into the surrounding countryside. It is good practice to encourage landscape plans as part of the design submission for rural dwellings. · Sustainable Construction — These design principles should endorse a ‘built for purpose’ philosophy in a way which promotes the lifetime adaptability of buildings.
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Source Roscommon County Council: Rural Design Guidelines · 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.