Design guide · Wicklow County Council
Single Rural Houses Design Guidelines (County Development Plan, appendix 2)
The council's guidance on siting and designing a house in the countryside.
Wicklow County Council · 38 pages
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- D E S I G N G U I D E L I N E S F O R N E W H O M E S I N R U R A L W I C K L O W S I N G L E R U R A L H O U S E S WICKLOW COUNTY COUNCIL
- FOREWORD This rural house design guide is intended to provide guidance to prospective developers of single dwellings in rural Wicklow. The following information and illustrations are non-prescriptive and are general in nature; the guide does not provide a definitive ‘list’ of all dwelling styles or features that may be granted permission; nor does it set out all planning considerations relevant to an application for a single rural house. It is intended to be utilised as a tool to assist potential applicants, architects, landscape architects and planning agents in the areas of site selection, house positioning, layout and house design. As this guide is principally concerned with house design and layout issues, it does not provide guidance on on-site effluent disposal systems, water supply and entrance / road safety requirements. With respect to on-site water services, developments will be required to comply with Wicklow County Council’s “Policy for wastewater treatment and disposal systems for single houses (PE ≤ 10)” which is available on the County Council’s website and the applicable Drinking Water Regulations. While this guide will address the aesthetics of entrance design, with respect to road safety standards, such as required sightlines, the most up to date road design manuals should be consulted.
- 01 SITE SELECTION Choosing where to build 02 HOUSE POSITION & SITINg Principles of good siting, managing contours, rural infill 03 HOUSE DESIgN Principles of good rural design, scale, height, format, roof style, dormers, windows & materials 04 ANCILLARIES Boundaries, entrance design, landscaping, outbuildings, energy efficiency, extensions & conversions 05 APPENDICES Acknowledgements, Photo & Design accreditation CONTENTS
- 02 The overriding objective when considering building a house in rural Wicklow is to protect and conserve the beautiful landscape and environment we have inherited from other generations. The key to this is site selection and site layout, and the house should be absorbed as much as possible by the landscape, and this should be helped by landscaping. The house type and design also has an important impact. Thus houses that do not fit into the landscape due to their scale, unusual design features, colour, or materials that are non-traditional to that particular area will tend to stand out in close up and far distant views. Likewise boundary features and site entrances can add to the visual intrusion, and even landscaping with non-native species will cause a development to stick out in the general landscape. The following paragraphs are to give guidance, but should always be read in the context that the overall design and siting should leave as small a trace on the landscape as possible. INTRODUCTION 01
- 01 SITE SELECTION C H O O S I N G W H E R E T O B U I L D
- All new developments will be required to be sited in such a way that allows them to blend into the landscape and not form an overly visible or strident feature on the landscape. Therefore site selection is the most critical step in rural house design. Some sites, for a variety of reasons, may not be suitable for house building and even a well considered and designed house may not be permissible. Where no site choice is available, it cannot be assumed that permission will be granted solely on the grounds that the applicant has a bona fide necessity to live at that location. • The openness and visibility of the site in the surrounding landscape, the sensitivity or vulnerability of the landscape to new development and the existence of protected views or prospects in the area. In these regards, prominent and exposed sites should be avoided as well as those that would impinge on a protected landscape or view. Applications in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will be required to be accompanied by a Visual Impact Assessment (more information on VIA is found in pages to follow); Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Glendasan mining village, Wicklow When selecting a site, the following criteria must be considered:
- • Impacts on any other properties or dwellings – cognisance must be taken of potential impacts on existing proximate dwellings, particularly overlooking and overshadowing; * = Undesirable design approach = Recommended design approach Avoid building in prominent open areas, or areas of protected views or landscapes. • The possibility of clustering the new development with other houses or manmade structures; however, care needs to be taken to avoid over-development in any location or ‘ribbon development’ ; • The existence of heritage features on or near the site, such as protected habitats or archaeological features. A buffer zone between such features and any new development may be required, the extent of which will depend of the feature to be protected; Avoid ribbon development, an almost continuous road frontage type development, where 5 or more houses exist on any one side of a given 250 metres of road frontage.
- Proposals within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty may be required to be accompanied by a Visual Impact Assessment. In other landscape areas, the planning authority may require the submission of a Visual Impact Assessment, where a proposed development is likely to affect a particularly scenic or sensitive landscape. A Visual Impact Assessment (VIA) should include the following: - An evaluation of the visibility and the prominence of the proposed development in its immediate environs and in the wider landscape; this assessment should include the erection of profiles of the house and / or the production of photomontages of the proposed development from clearly identified vantage points - An evaluation of impacts on any listed views / prospects and an assessment of vegetation / land cover type in the area (with particular regard to commercial forestry plantations which may be felled thus altering character / visibility). 02
- 02 HOUSE POSITION & SITINg R E A D I N G T H E L A N D S C A P E
- 15°15° SUNPATH winter summer winter summer winter summer New houses shall be suitably positioned on site to make maximum use of screening available either from the land form itself or from existing tree cover. Positioning in a sheltered location not only aids visual integration in the landscape, but also provides benefits to the house in terms of protection from the elements and improved privacy. The house should be positioned to maximise daylight and solar gain – 30% energy savings can be achieved if the house is oriented within 15° of south, provided its main living areas are arranged to avail of passive solar gains (refer to the ‘Development & Design Standards’ of the Wicklow County Development Plan); Houses shall not be above a ridgeline or so positioned to break the skyline or to appear highly visible or dominant in the landscape; Houses located in the middle of sites / fields, distant from boundaries will not be considered acceptable – houses should be ‘tucked into’ existing field boundaries; PRINCIPLES OF GOOD SITING: 03 Avoid houses breaking the skyline. 04 Passive design angled towards the sun with large openings to maximise solar gain.
Source Wicklow County Council: Single Rural Houses Design Guidelines (County Development Plan, appendix 2) · 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.