Rural House Design Guidelines
Ireland has a long standing tradition of people living in rural areas. In today’s modern Ireland, rural living remains a popular choice which has meant the tradition of designing single house developments in the countryside is still very much alive. As our population increases and demand rises, local authorities are faced with the challenge of ensuring these developments stitch seamlessly and positively into the natural landscape.
Protecting the high quality character of the Irish rural landscape is a top priority for most of our local authorities; working with designers and architects alike to achieve good quality design and development which will be sustainable into the future. Guidance (in terms of site layout, scale, form, shelter, materiality, sustainability and so on) related to designing ‘one-off’ houses in the countryside is readily available from each local authorities design guides.
Here at McKevitt King we work very closely with these guidelines and local authorities in producing high quality sustainable design, predominantly in Meath and Louth and occasionally in Kildare, Monaghan and Fingal. See links below:
Meath Rural House Design Guide
https://meathcountydevelopmentplan.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/appendix-15-rural-design-guide.pdf
Louth Settlement Strategy
https://www.louthcoco.ie/en/publications/corporate-plans/chapter-4-settlement-strategy.pdf
Kildare Rural Design Guidelines
The planning guidance document produced by Cork County Council was one of the first documents of its kind. Its importance and influence in the design of single house development in the countryside cannot go unreferenced; this document can be found at the link below:
Cork County Council Planning Guidance and Standards Series
https://www.corkcoco.ie/sites/default/files/2017-05/planning%20enquirer.pdf
