Howth Urban Centre Strategy Fingal County Council

2.0 Howth in Context
2.5.1 Building Proporti on
Many older properti es within Howth have a verti cal emphasis
to their character, having narrow frontages. Verti cal windows
enhance the verti cal emphasis of the building elevati on.
However in recent ti mes modern inserti ons have introduced a
horizontal element that can be visually jarring to the prevailing
verti cal rhythm.
A ‘solid to void rati o’ describes how blank or windowed a building
looks. It is interesti ng to note that the more successful buildings
that fi t well in the village’s streetscape have a high degree of
visual solidity.
Building fronts with large areas of horizontal emphasis
and dead frontage are likely to sit uncomfortably in the
traditi onal streetscape.
A change in height of building fronts refl ects the change in buildings. Despite the change in height, the buildings retain suitable proporti ons.
A poor solid to void rati o. The building fronts appear too horizontal.
A good solid to void rati o. The building fronts appear verti cal.
Howth Urban Centre Strategy
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