Rural Design Advice for Individual Houses in the Countryside

5.DESIGNING THE HOUSEThe use of standard house typesthat take no, or little, account of thecontext of the site or the traditionalstyle of County Limerick is to bestrongly avoidedDifferent ApproachesA sensitively designed house is a subtle blend ofmaterials, scale, proportions and traditional details,producing a timeless composition of unsophisticatedsimplicity. Much modern housing betrays a lack ofappreciation of the distinctiveness of the traditionalCounty Limerick building style, or attempts to mimic itthrough inappropriate plan layouts, styles, decorativemotifs and unsuitable materials. Houses are oftendesigned in a far too ‘fussy’ and over complicatedmanner, using imitation detailing and materials under themisconception that such adornment will create anappropriate ‘Olde Worlde’ effect.It is necessary to take a fresh approach that iscontemporary while being respectful of the past.In many cases, such designs are selected from patternbooks, or else comprise a collection of random designelements chosen from a range of different sources. Theresult is usually confused building forms that frequentlylack visual repose and appear alien to their rural setting -particularly when adjacent properties vie for attention,rather than sitting unobtrusively in the landscape.As described previously in this Design Advice, there area number of basic principles that need to be considered.One of the most important of these is context, followedby issues such as proportion, form, scale and massing,as considered in the previous section of the DesignAdvice. This section describes the more detailedelements of house design that need to be considered inorder to achieve more appropriate and good-manneredrural buildings.Typical over-complicated house types recently constructed54. 55. 56.Successful contemporary interpretation of traditional forms46.County Limerick: Rural Design Advice for Individual Houses in the Countryside