Rural Design Guidelines

1. Page 41(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 41 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines Shape and orientate the buildings to guide the wind over, around and away Left, house, catches the wind on all sides because of its prominent siting House A House B Above, house A at higher level on steep, engineered, contour. Large bulk. Difficult to successfully plant banks. Natural contour not respected house B uses gentler part of the slope. Steps down to follow contour. Locally appropriate plan form fits in with landscape. Exploits orientation possibilities Alternative, left and below, house is sheltered by the topography, careful siting and its own form, more enegy efficient and less obtrusive Above, Shelter by using the slope and tree-planting Above, Shelter using the built form of the house to create enclosure Above, Shelter from the prevailing wind with trees 37

2. Page 42(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 42 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines Guidelines Prepare the site for unobtrusive siteworks * Consider the total site development at an early stage, to allow for adequate space for treatment of effluent and, if required a site water supply (See Appendices 4-6) * Anticipate run-off for rainwater with appropriate soakaways. Prepare adequate site drainage to connect with local watercourses if possible * Try to achieve underground service for electricity and telephone, at least in the vicinity of the house Guidelines Exploit the Sun: Choosing a good orientation, as well as creating shelter, will help to produce comfortable and sustainable living conditions. * Orientate the house and appropriate rooms to take maximum advantage of the daily path of the sun * Exploit the sun to improve comfort and energy efficiency, placing glazed areas to take solar advantage and improve daylight, solar gain with conservatories, sun rooms and rooflights, sunny sheltered outdoor areas, conserving heat by better insulation and through storage in the building fabric * Use technological advances to extract heat from under the ground through heat pumps with low temperature underfloor heating, solar collector panels for hot water, photovoltaic roof panels. Use energy efficient technology. (See Appendix 3) Face south to catch the sun W S N winter sunpath summer sunpath E The path of the sun, summer and winter, needs to be understood to achieve optimum orientation, making most of the energy supplied without cost by the sun Above, application of sunpaths, showing low angle of winter sun and high summer sun. Sketch shows North face of house with minimal glazing to conserve heat Above, sketch shows South-facing frontage of the house, glazed to capture the sun's energy, contrasting with the North face, shown above 38

3. Page 43(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 43 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines 3.3 Design the Building Form to Fit the location Simple, familiar forms look best in the landscape. The scale of the building should be appropriate to its setting Guidelines * Larger houses and their resultant form, whilst they may be visible should be contained in the landscape, avoiding obtrusiveness * The size of site is an important factor. A small, typical, half-acre site is unsuitable in a country setting for a large house. The house needs space to fit Typical farmhouse cluster shows an aggregation of rural forms surrounding the main dwelling X √ √ √ √ √ √ A series of images showing the difficulty of using a deep plan (top) in terms of its apparent bulk. The other images are typical, though not exhaustive, of the familiar and simple Westmeath traditional built forms. The classical buildings with simple villa form used deep plans 39

4. Page 44(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 44 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines Westmeath-based building forms offer hints about achieving delightful diversity in design and avoid the problems associated with bulky looking larger houses, exemplified by the deep plan dwelling at 7. All the houses shown have about the same floor area, including the deep plan dwelling. Typical shallow plan depths are from 4 to 7 metres. The deep plan is about 10 to 12 metres 1 Combination of single and one-and-a-half storey zones attached to the two storey core of the house 2 Two storey house with extended arms at the rear, creating a sheltered courtyard 3 Two storey classical-style farm house with outbuildings 4 Two storey reducing to single storey; could be stepped on a slope to maintain two storeys in each zone 5 Two storey house with extension at side and rear. One-and-a-half storey zone at rear could be splitlevel and two storey if slope allows 6 Agricultural forms are powerful and familiar and might be adapted for domestic application 7 Example of a bulky form taken from a real dwelling built recently where the apparent scale (large and dominant on site), is not helped by a deep plan (about 10 metres), and complex roof form Guidelines * In High Amenity areas, or in local areas where there is a tradition of single storey houses, it may be preferable to design a single storey building. However there are many traditional two storey houses in the County offering good models for appropriate situations and large enough sites * Single storey houses can be successfully screened with hedges, walls and trees if the site suggests an inconspicuous building * Using the roof-space for bedrooms helps to achieve a modest scale and is energy-efficient. Minimum size for bedroom windows must be checked for fire escape; dormers need to be handled with care and sparingly, to maintain the roof appearance * Most roof pitches in country locations have pitches of 40° to 45°. Older buildings had roof pitches up to 55°, usually because of a thatched roof originally. Shallow pitch roofs can give a squat appearance √ Newly-built house in County Antrim, where a combination of single storey and two storey height, using a shallow plan depth, is designed as a courtyard building, similar to and reminiscent of the traditional farm courtyards and dwellings. It is an original and contemporary dwelling, yet it speaks of a timeless tradition of building 40

5. Page 45(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 45 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines Guidelines * Take care when considering unusual forms. They may seem interesting, but more often they will be obtrusive. HANDLE WITH CARE, and skill. Traditional building forms provide many hints for creative interpretation. In general, beware of complex and unfamiliar forms * Consider the advantages of a wide frontage and narrow depth plan, as in vernacular houses. It is effective for sunlight and daylight, solar gain and rooms with windows on either side. It can be made to fit the site with less earth moving Above, unusual and complicated forms can be conspicuous....this example shows the difficulties of introducing complicated forms along with a wide range of materials Left, this drawing is derived from an actual example in County Westmeath; the form is bulky and complicated, the mixture of brick and render is unhappy √ Three views: Above, newly-built wide frontage house where all the rooms enjoy view and sunshine. The roadside frontage, below left, is blank except for the door and achieves complete privacy for the occupants. The building is split-level on plan to cope with the slope on site. The position of the house in a mature landscape, below right, is carefully chosen to be set within the mature trees, creating shelter and a visual backdrop 41

6. Page 46(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 46 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines * Deep house plans, where the depth is similar to the width, may be adapted to rural house locations, but they need to be designed with care to avoid a bulky appearance. Some traditional buildings avoid the bulk of a deep roof, with a double roof, or a short pitch roof to ridge at the front and long pitch at the rear √ Modern house, above and below, has a wide frontage with both view and sunny side facing away from the access. It is carefully positioned relative to existing tree shelter. The limited number of openings emphasises the simple form with pitched roof. The colours used, white for the walls and dark blue slate for the roof help to fit the building into its rural context. √ House, above and below, with stable building used as part of a courtyard for shelter. The house has a short pitch, and bedrooms in the roof space at the rear, to reduce the apparent scale from the courtyard access side at the front. The south side at the rear has larger glazing areas to take advantage of the sun. Entrance, below, is simple with new trees replacing those lost in making the sightlines. 42

7. Page 47(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 47 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines 3.4 Design in Detail, 1 Limit the Range of Building Materials Guidelines Using too many building materials may cause visual overload. * Consider materials traditionally prevalent in the area: slate roofs, plastered walls, (stone finish was mainly reserved for outbuildings), painted timber windows and doors * Take into account that the contemporary palette of materials has greatly increased, with new possibilities in the sustainable use of glass and a fresh awareness of the sustainability and natural appearance of timber * Use colours which fit in with local traditions * Take care when mixing materials like brick, stone and concrete, for 'effect' or as 'features' * Natural materials are generally more sustainable. Think twice about plastic windows, eaves, weatherboarding, fibre cement 'slates' and concrete roof tiles: examine the useability of timber windows, natural slates and timber cladding as well as rendered blockwork and paint finish. Rediscover lime as an exterior plaster and limewash as an exterior paint √ New slate roof supported on timber structure oversails an existing stone outbuilding in this extension to an existing lodge. Simple form and clear use of materials make for a successful design. √ Slated roof and simple painted render, helps to integrate a complex form, incorporating stables with the dwelling, located on naturally occurring level ground on a sloping site. The dark coloured fascia defines the roof effectively. X This example has a subdued colour range, but shows the downside of using modern plastics and alternatives to natural materials * Fibre cement slate looks good when new, but may weather poorly * Plastic boarding on dormer; uPVC gutters and windows; may discolour * Artificial stone facing to walls * Visual clutter Natural materials are more likely to weather better than manufactured alternatives and are more sustainable 43

8. Page 48(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 48 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines √ Above, conversion and extension to a traditional cottage. On the right, traditional slate roof on existing cottage: on the left the new extension is built with large pane timber windows and natural stone cladding with a zinc sheeted roof which makes a gentle contrast with the original building √ Left, Re-cycled stone and toughened glass are used together to create a successful contrast of new and old materials, at Belvedere Visitor Centre, Mullingar √ Right, and below, three basic natural materials, stone, slate and timber are used in a new building in a historic context. The slates and stone are re-cycled; the timber is western red Cedar, which weathers naturally to a silver finish. Other timbers, however need to be treated to survive weather degradation 44

9. Page 49(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 49 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines 3.4 Design in Detail, 2 Use good detailing in sympathy with rural building traditions There is a vast vocabulary of building construction available from centuries of traditional building. These guidelines are not prescriptive, but they help to explain the relative simplicity of traditional building construction and the apparently clumsy detailing of much modern building construction. Building Regulations impose constructional requirements which must be met. Walls Guidelines * Plastered or rendered walls have dominated the finished material used in houses, both traditional and contemporary, and remain the most versatile finish * Changes in building construction practice have introduced timber framed houses, usually under the cloak of a cement render finish, but more acceptance of timber finishes is likely * Brickwork is used as cladding to timber frame houses, but rarely to good effect. In Westmeath, brickwork is not a locally available material and is best avoided * Wall-to-roof junctions were simply detailed with flush eaves and gables, giving a simple, very understated quality to rural buildings, which may be replicated to advantage today to avoid projecting eaves, verges and box eaves Right, cottage with new extension shows how simple detailing of eaves and gables may be replicated in new buildings to give a sharp and clean appearance. Below, modern interpretation of traditional building material: stone, combined with a modern treatment of zinc roof and a glazed wall contained within the stone wrapping. The ground condition is left undisturbed, to make a good connection between building and landscape 45

10. Page 50(read from a scan)

    Cite this pagePDF p. 50 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
    Westmeath Rural Design Guidelines Roofs Guidelines * Roofs have a strong visual appearance in the landscape, with slate as the dominant roofing material. The roof pitch affects this. Shallow roofs below about 30 degrees, usually tiled rather than slated, look out of place in the Westmeath countryside * New materials for roofing, such as profiled aluminium or steel sheeting may also be laid to low pitches. They should be treated on their specific merits, as a new element in the vocabulary of roofs which echoes the corrugated iron roofs * Concrete tiles are available in many variations, but may weather less well than natural clay tiles * Modern metal roofs can be integrated successfully as a familiar rural roof covering Dormers and Roof Windows Guidelines * Dormers are a device for allowing light into roof spaces. They make a strong visual impact, so should be treated with care and sparingly. They are useful where the reduction of height from two to one-and-a-half storeys is desired. However, they can be visually fussy and may not be worth the change from two storeys, where the roof and elevation is kept simple * The visual appearance of the roof is easily spoiled by making too many openings, especially with dormers. Like windows in walls, the distance between dormers is critical. If they are too close, the appearance is of an upper storey, rather than a roofscape. * Roof windows have a rather different impact. They introduce a great deal more light into the roof space than dormers. Large areas may cause downdraughts, or overheating and glare if the openings are large. They are very effective means of ventilation as they draw out the warm, moist air in the room. Their visual appearance, like dormers, can be affected by too many, or poorly distributed roof windows. The profile of the most recent roof windows is almost at a level with the roof covering, and improves their appearance from outside. Above, large house is located close to mature trees which reduce the apparent scale and help to create an appropriate setting The roof windows and an atrium space extending upwards through the roof are examples of using the roof space to allow light into the building. This newly-completed house reduces to a minimum the palette of materials, and has employed simple, elegant detailing to roof and window conditions 46

Source Westmeath 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.