Irish Housing Design and Development
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Living in Ireland, 2006.
One-off housing has rightly received a lot of attention here, but the buildings in which the majority of Irish people live, David McWilliams’ piggy in the middles as it were, much less so – namely sprawling housing estates. The design, layout and efficiency of these houses in Ireland is generally regarded as appalling, and in my view is much worse than is perceived by the agenda-setting greater-Dublin/mid-Leinster population who have seen a degree of improvement in design at least in recent years. But outside the Dublin area, just as with development 100 or 200 years ago, the quality falls through the floor, only this time not even basic standards in proportion and finishing are adhered to, as happened in the past.
I think the above image illustrates very well one of the major drivers in the explosion of one-off housing we have seen of late, as PDLL has pointedly highlighted in various threads. Not that it can be used as an excuse for the scale of what we’re seeing in the countryside, as people will always want to build their own thing given the opportunity, but the astoundingly poor residential developments we are experiencing in urban Ireland (which includes hamlet, village, town and city) are in no small way contributing to the ever-growing apathy with the housing sector in this country, encouraging people, if not quite forcing them, to self-build – eschewing the horrible way in which we are now expected to live, which essentially is what developers are dictating. Developers, not planners.
We have the bizarre situation of profit-driven builders – experts in finance, bricks and mortar – controlling how many hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions into the future, live their lives. Controlling how our society operates. Controlling the aesthetics of the buildings and broader environments of where we live. Controlling how we interact with our communities, indeed even the very success of communities. Controlling the format of communities; dictating who will live in a certain development and who will not by virtue of the size, nature and accessibility of units constructed, and the provision or otherwise of social and affordable housing. Controlling how the wider country’s environment is treated, and how it will continue to be treated into the future on a host of levels. Controlling the social costs to the State, again on so many levels – either by virtue of what is built, or what not is built resulting in problems being created elsewhere or at best being sustained elsewhere.
To suggest that developers are the sole drivers in how housing developments are built would be naive, but they still hold far too much clout relative to planners. It seems if a sprawling estate of monotonous units is proposed, and in line with zoning and Area Plans etc, the authority can do little other than wave it on subject to minor tweaks here and there. Certainly that’s the impression one gets from an outside perspective.
This was just meant to be about aesthetics, but seems to have widened a bit 😮The above introductory image is that of a new housing estate in Dundalk – about 15 minutes walk from the town centre on the important Avenue Road that some might know. Built by McParland Brothers to name and shame, this ‘superb development’ of lumpen detached and semi-detached houses is accessed via a soulless entrance road from the Avenue Road, lined on all sides by spirit-crushing six foot pebble-dashed walls as if the entrance to a penitentiary. The first view of the estate is that of the back arses, soil pipes, satellite dishes and garden sheds of half the houses in the development – a view not only for those entering the place, but also that for all passing traffic on the main road. And neatly rounded off with crude and depressing, wholly outdated sodium lampposts. This is what constitutes planning in Ireland in 2006.
Where are the planners? Did a planning professional even view this file? Well come to think of it, it seems one did, as the ‘softening’ sticks that estate agents call trees and the po-faced ‘high quality finish’ entrance piers scream the desperate input of an LA rep of some kind :rolleyes:
In typically cynical developer style, and a phenomenon we are now seeing from Bantry to Bangor, the houses comprising the ‘public face’ of the estate running along the main road are tarted up with a multitude of colours, cut stone dressings, gables n fairytale fancy bits, arched windows and neatly finished garden walls and fences:
…with the all-important ‘protective’ wall, Luas-style, shielding the delicate residents from the scum of the earth that will populate the uggh public road.
The reality of the estate proper however, is quite a different matter. As you can see in the distance, all of a sudden the fantasy ends and hard reality bites, as the beta carotene colourant comes out and the accountants move in. The bog-standard 3-bed semi emerges, as do the industrial vats of banana paste and lorry loads of plastic windows, fascias, soffits, guttering and downpipes. No variety in unit size is accommodated, no variation in aesthetics is permitted, no interest or focal point is added to any road, and bare breeze block walls comprise the boundaries of each plot. Every driveway accommodates two cars, and the entrance to the estate is designed almost as if to dissuade residents from entering or exiting in any manner other than inside the protective confines of an automobile.
Development Irish-style, in all its soul-shattering glory, truly manifests itself.It really is so depressing seeing this sort of muck still going up; the fact that it’s some of the better stuff being built in contrast to more rural areas is all the more crushing. It is astonishing we’re still building this rubbish nearly fifty years after first being introduced on a mass scale – the only progress made being the ‘luxury’ feature of a television aerial socket being included in the master bedroom and the kitchen being plumbed for a dishwasher. (We’re supposed to be grateful for these things by the way). The bare minimum in insulation and efficiency of heating systems again examples of startling modernity that we are to be eternally indebted to developers for their provision.
Whatever about the stunted textbook design of Irish housing, it never fails to astound how developers, even when building in the ‘traditional’ idiom cannot do things properly. Just look at the proportions of this muck – the stodgy leaden character, the vast areas of blank wall, the quality of finish, the plastic features, the token gestures, the ridiculous scaling, the breaking of arched windows with horizontal opening lights…the list goes on.
And why oh why isn’t PVC banned across the board at this stage for use in residential developments, as it is in some counties now? Such a prohibition ought to feature in every Development Plan in the land – hardly likely though considering the clout of the building industry amongst our political elite, and the certain outpouring of anguish at the loss of their cheap-n-cheerful quick-fix solution to filling those annoying big gaps in their cavity block walls.
Does anyone have other examples of such reprehensible building – and indeed good examples, to be positive about things, particularly those that manage to reach decent densities and employ quality design using the fairly conventional house model, without going the apartment route. This is Ireland’s biggest problem I think – it’s an either/or proposition being made by all developers with apartments and semi-ds, or the combination of both as a token gesture which largely doesn’t work either.
It’s difficult to be positive though when you see the likes of the television porgramme ‘Showhouse’ in all its shameless glory. Modern Ireland personified. -
Well Articulated Graham…Could not agree more.
Adding to this is also the Shopping Mall Experience where going to town (or the High St) is no longer in vogue, instead we flock to some out of town Liffey valley style shopping centre which is all car dependant, offers a very limited choice of shops (i.e. multinational chains) and is totally removed from any sense of location. These centres do not encourage individual businesses and further add to the power of the big corporate chains (such as Tesco’s of this world).Am I encouraged by any new developments in Ireland in 2006? Not really but I think this is a problem which is not only prevalent in Ireland but much of the developed world.
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Agreed, great post, thank you GH.
An older example of this type of development is the Watsons Estate in Killiney, a typical early 1970’s Gallagher development. Gallaghers always sold sites in 2s and 3s on the entrance road to their estates. The buyers, usually small spec builders produced a more varied mix of detached type and style. That gave the development some “cachet” and Gallaghers then could charge more for their dreary semis further in. In this case density got heavier, styling worse and eventually when they joined the back of the estate to Ballybrack local authority housing the architects threw in the towel completely! -
Ha! And this is exactly what is happening right next door to the above estate also (yes, another one), where ‘quality’ red brick houses line the roadway featuring highly prized diarrhoea coloured timber effect PVC windows and bastardised Georgian front doors, whilst like clockwork the rest of the development falls away to rendered elevations with the brick reserved for the front ground floors only, and white PVC.
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Kudos on the top notch post there Graham…
A few years ago when a certain development in Rathcormac ( Between Fermoy and Cork ) was built the locals described the monstrocity ‘LEGOLAND’. You can see this development on the southern approach to the village on the main Cork to Dublin road) Most people thought that this was a once off – one that slipped through the planning system. But now this type of development is the norm. At a glance the windows appear to be flush with the wall and the colours are a delightful mixture of sandy yellow and terracotta orange. As a plus the PVC sofits have been abandoned for no sofits at all
The most irritating thing about these developments is how they are marketed. The words ‘Luxury’ ‘Spacious’ ‘Architect designed’ and ‘Delux’ have lost all their meaning and have become useless cliches. Worst of all are the ‘Only 40 minutes from Dublin ones’. 40 minutes if you have a helicopter
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Have to agree with the above statements. However dont want to seem to cast a shadow on the sentiment or the logic of the argument, but if you do get any developer with the intention of building a variety of homes both in size and style and with some thought as to the aesthetics of the development rather than the monotony of marching lego blocks with big PVC smiles they put them on the market for twice what they’re uglier more monotonous cousins are being sold for. Its just the fact that today you are lucky if you can afford a showbox lego house and it makes me sick to see the profits these guys make from this.
Simply put the developers control ever sector of the construction industry from deciding what goes where and more importantly what we pay for them. Its strictly a profits game and run by greedy people. Honestly it beggers me how these people can wake up in the morning and see the crap they pox the landscape with. They must look better through a pair of €1000 Raybans in the back of a BMW 7 series????
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Clearly they must, given the window through the pictures below were taken (apologies) certainly didn’t do these developments any favours.
Relevant to the War with Capital thread but perhaps more apt here, below is another classic example of the suburbanisation of the countryside with appalling design, on this occasion in Co Louth. Dundalk and the southern seaside village of Blackrock were once two very separate entities, divided by a green belt roughly a mile deep comprised of marshy fields near the coast and solid ground further in. Over the past ten years, but especially the past five, the coast road linking the two together has seen an explosion in ribbon development, comprised solely of estates, small groupings of speculative houses, and the inevitable one-offs. Not a single service is provided for, or ever can be provided, as the density is simply too low. Perhaps the planning authority’s thinking on this is that residents can avail of the warehouse retail park nearby – Atlantic Homecare does after all sell chocolate at its tills.
What is most offensive about this development is that what was once a tranquil rural area is now plastered with the most hideously designed buildings I have ever come across. It simply beggars belief that this scenic coastal location with wild salt marshes directly across the road and the Cooley Mountains sweeping away into the distance has been trashed with such monstrous development. Just look at this travesty of design:
An absolutely horrific scene presented to the visitor and resident alike – it literally makes you weep having to pass it on a regular basis. The usual suspects of plastic cladding, plastic windows, vast expanses of ghastly pebble dashed wall, tokenistic use of red brick, ridiculous scaling and basic design principles eschewed, galvanised features, exposed piping, unadorned metal lampposts, acres of tarmac for all the cars, soulless walled-in access roads etc etc etc…
Located in what is officially known as the middle of nowhere, this development is entirely car dependent: the nearest shop in either direction is at least a mile, with churches and schools probably even further.
Further down the road a similar development of laughable ‘townhouses’, i.e. tall narrow shoeboxes for first rungers, is being thrown up, with twee stone cladding, gables and more white plastic windows. Again no variety, no evidence of considered design, no services, car dependent and fronting a busy regional road.
Down the road even further there’s a more traditional estate of four-bed semis just completed – the same problems yet again.And in the midst of all of this is a single late Georgian farmhouse, only five years ago standing completely on its own, scenically nestled in the wilderness, painted a pale colour and softened by surrounding trees. It originally featured typical timber sashes, fascias and iron rainwater goods. Not protected, the owners recently saw fit to rip everything out bar the original slates, and give it the usual Celtic Tiger treatment in all its garish forms. Finally the adjoining garden was carved up and the whole lot sold off for a nice tidy packet.
Alas the rest of us are now lumped with the delightful scene of a ravaged period building, wrapped up in a hideous ‘protective’ six foot wall, new access road to cater for the ever-expanding hoards of car commuters, and a garden full of no less than three sunny yellow, detached monsters:
Needless to say at least one is currently rented, presumably by the developer, whilst the others were recently marketed for sale as ‘Executive Residences’.
Rant ends.
It’s only when you see more and more mindless development going up that you realise this is an unstoppable machine. Farmers are selling fields here for millions, all with access to a regional route and presided over by an appeasing planning authority of the smallest county in Ireland with the country’s two largest towns, desperate for levies and with probably under-resourced planning divisions.
What’s frightening is that there’s countless more fields to be filled in in this area, flanking the town and neighbouring village, with seemingly no coherent, detailed area plan in place. It seems every time you pass down this road a new section of hedgerow has disappeared revealing more hideous development – which ironically would have been better left covered. It really is depressing.
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Hi all,
I agree totally with the view that the developer is setting the scene with little or no control or real direction being visible from independent planners. It is all about the numbers game – how many can we fit in, how small can we make them and how high can we push the price !
Just an image to show the complete lack of design we see everyday in this part of the woods in Tallaght – this is what our planners allowed under section 23 on a village streetscape opposite a medieval church .. it is absolutely mindnumbing and very depressing. It shows no understanding of appropriate design or use of imagination in design – of course not – that costs money and detracts from the bottom line for the private developers.
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The big question is however – who is going to stop it and when?
The impact to the economy is scaring every stakeholder in economic Ireland to even suggest we change this “winning formula”. -
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2/1/2009
To try and be constructive (and perhaps consolidate issue-driven threads rather than location-specific ones), below is an example of an admirable small-scale apartment block recently completed in Dundalk.
Ignoring the municipal clutter, it’s a rare example of rubble stone being used in a expressly modern way, employed for its inherent characteristics of warmth and texture, rather than any attempt to be faux-traditional. Its use alongside a similarly coloured brick works surprisingly well, while for once, yellow-painted render is contextual.
The balconies are generous and elegantly detailed – the smoked glass a curious but effective concealing throwback to the 1980s.
Okay it’s not going to win awards, but then most buildings shouldn’t. What it is however, is a well considered, subtle design that takes account of its riverine setting, of which we should see more being built on a wider level.
Similarly, a little further down the Ramparts River is this very successful conversion of a 19th century warehouse.
Not remotely self-conscious or brash in impact, the conversion appears completely organic, while also making an elegant contemporary statement.
I suspect some/all of this may actually be offices, but it’s equally relevant to residential.
Now compare the likes of the above to what recently went up across the road.
If architects are beholded to their clients, it’s up to planners to enforce better standards.(And if they were beholden 3-4 years ago, I’d hate to think what it’s like now).
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Graham: interesting post and thread. I agree with all your comments, including your observation on ‘municipal clutter’ (what is it with public realm these days – is it the ugly bugs’ ball?), but it’s intersting that a stream which might have once been considered ‘back’ land now becomes an important element as a reference and a setting for the buildings adjoining, and as an element to be ‘seen’ from the building as part of the living experience. So, not merely does the street need to be seen in context, but elements such as water as well. Municipalities need to get their collective finger out, now that they have a ‘breather’ from frenetic development, to assesss critically the townscape they are allegedly managing. A case of watch this space, I think.
PS The ‘awful’ stuff across the road is partly relieved by the brick trims; I thought ‘fyfestone’ had been consigned to the dustbin, but apparently not.
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