The successful design of a good quality sustainable housing project depends on the balance

struck between a range of factors. Issues such as accessibility, security, safety, privacy,
community interaction, availability of appropriate services and the provision of adequate
space, should be given due weight.

The typical family dwelling will be required to meet the needs of infants, young children, adults and
older people, either separately or in combination, at various stages of its lifecycle.

In preparing the Guidelines, particular account has been taken of the objectives of
government policy on sustainability, including issues such as energy efficiency, environmental
protection, access for people with disabilities, meeting varied needs of occupants through
their lifetime, durability and continued performance of buildings and the need to make
optimal use of infrastructure and avoid unsustainable urban sprawl. This guidance document
has been the culmination of wide consultation of stakeholders within the housing sector.
Mission Statement

The purpose of these Guidelines is to assist in achieving the objectives for Delivering
Homes, Sustaining Communities contained in the Government Statement on Housing
Policy which focuses on creating sustainable communities that are socially inclusive by:

promoting high standards in the design and construction and in the provision of residential
amenity and services in new housing schemes;

encouraging best use of building land and optimal utilization of services and infrastructure in
the provision of new housing;

pointing the way to cost effective options for housing design that go beyond minimum codes
and standards;

promoting higher standards of environmental performance and durability in housing
construction;

seeking to ensure that residents of new housing schemes enjoy the benefits of first-rate
living conditions in a healthy, accessible and visually attractive environment; and

providing homes and communities that may be easily managed and maintained.


The Guidelines

Government policy on architecture and the importance of good design in achieving a good quality
living environment in residential development;

The principles of good practice in urban design, including the need to respect existing heritage,
scale, character and residential amenity and to contribute to the regeneration of rundown or under-
used areas; and Quality Housing - Essential Requirements

Socially and environmentally appropriate
The type of accommodation, support services and amenities provided should be appropriate to the
needs of the people to be accommodated. The mix of dwelling type, size and tenure should
support sound social, environmental and economic sustainability policy objectives for the area and
promote the development of appropriately integrated play and recreation spaces.
Architecturally appropriate
The scheme should provide a pleasant living environment, which is aesthetically pleasing and
human in scale. The scheme design solution should understand and respond appropriately to its
context so that the development will enhance the neighborhood and respect its cultural heritage.

Accessible and adaptable
There should be ease of access and circulation for all residents, including people with impaired
mobility, enabling them to move as freely as possible within and through the development, to gain
access to buildings and to use the services and amenities provided. Dwellings should be capable
of adaptation to meet changing needs of residents during the course of their lifetime.

Safe, secure and healthy
The scheme should be a safe and healthy place in which to live. It should be possible for
pedestrians and cyclists to move within and through the area with reasonable ease and in safety.
Provision for vehicular circulation, including access for service vehicles, should not compromise
these objectives.

Affordable
The scheme should be capable of being built, managed and maintained at reasonable cost, having
regard to the nature of the development.

Durable
The best available construction techniques should be used and key elements of construction
should have a service life in the order of sixty years without the need for abnormal repair or
replacement works.

Resource efficient
Efficient use should be made of land, infrastructure and energy. The location should be convenient
to transport, services and amenities. Design and orientation of dwellings should take account of
site topography so as to control negative wind effects and optimize the benefits of sunlight,
daylight and solar gain; optimum use should be made of renewable sources of energy, the use of
scarce natural resources in the construction, maintenance and management of the dwellings
should be minimized. The use of suitable infill sites for the building of housing schemes can:
facilitate a mix of residential tenure within an area, thereby helping to promote social
integration and facilitating the creation of vibrant, sustainable communities;

help to restore, strengthen or upgrade the social and physical fabric of an area and eliminate
derelict, under-utilized areas;

1.4.2 Use of back lands
Where a town or village lacks development in depth, the use of back lands, e.g.,, old yards,
gardens, paddocks, etc., may help to improve the cohesion of the town or village. In larger urban
areas, where authorities are acquiring back areas for road improvement, off street parking, etc.,
consideration should be given to how perimeter areas might be developed. With forethought, it
may be possible to provide for clusters of housing in association with these developments.

Adjoining lands
Regard should be had to the use (or proposed use) of adjoining lands, which may conflict with the
safe use of the site for family housing purposes or have an adverse impact on the visual or
environmental quality of the proposed housing scheme, e.g., busy traffic routes, inappropriate
industrial use, and places of late night entertainment/activity.
Particular care should be taken to ensure that pedestrian access to sites would present no
undue difficulties (including security problems) for future residents, particularly children, older
people or people with a disability.
Layout possibilities
It is important to recognize the existing character, street patterns, streetscapes and building lines
of an area, particularly in the case of infill sites or where new dwellings will adjoin existing
buildings. These are primarily planning and design issues, which are dealt with in later chapters,
but the degree to which they will impact on any new development will need to be taken into
account in assessing the development potential of any proposed site.
Orientation, the microclimate (shelter/exposure, windbreaks, proximity to existing buildings and
built-up areas, etc.) and features which might beneficially be incorporated into the scheme (such
as trees, views, walls, streams), will all have a bearing on how well the site can be used for
housing. However sites with difficult topography or infrastructural limitations should be assessed
for their economic viability at the initial stages.

Site evaluation report
Sites should be inspected prior to acquisition by appropriately qualified professionals and the
findings documented. A range of factors that should be taken into account when assessing the
suitability of a site for housing purposes and matters that should be addressed in the Inspection
Report are set out in Appendix (i) to these Guidelines.

Statutory Procedures
In all cases the development of a site for housing purposes should be in accordance with proper
planning and development and comply with the objectives of the Development Plan for the area.
It should be noted that the Planning Acts8 require that an Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) be carried out in certain cases, including where a development project involves the
construction of more than 500 dwelling units; and
where an urban development would involve an area greater than 2 hectares in the case of a
business district, 10 hectares in the case of other parts of a built-up area and 20 hectares
elsewhere. (In this context, business district means a district within a city or town in which the
predominant land use is retail or commercial). In addition, an EIA is required where the
development would be likely to have significant effects on the environment. The circumstances in
which this may arise are set out in the relevant sections of the Planning and Development
Regulations9. These factors should be taken into account as part of the overall assessment of the
suitability of the site.



Housing needs and types of dwellings required, i.e.:
the mix of tenures anticipated for the scheme; the density of development envisaged and the
number, mix and size of dwellings required;
the form of dwelling types envisaged, e.g., houses, apartments, etc.; and any specific
requirements regarding consultation with prospective occupants or others.

General pointers for scheme layout, such as:
the location, type and extent of public open spaces, play spaces, car parking, etc., and the nature
and extent of landscaping envisaged;
private space associated with each dwelling and the treatment of boundaries between adjacent
private areas and between private and public areas;
pedestrian and vehicular circulation to, within and through the scheme, e.g., road width
requirements, footpath links to surrounding facilities, etc.; and the inclusion, where appropriate, of
a public art project.

The design of individual dwelling units, including:
spatial standards to be achieved within individual dwellings, including the disposition of, and the
relationship between individual rooms, circulating areas, etc.;
the extent and nature of storage provision required;
the type of heating system, bathroom facilities and sanitary and other services to be provided;
the use of particular materials, components or equipment which are considered desirable for
sustainability reasons; and in so far as practicable, the design should provide for flexibility in use,
accessibility and adaptability.

Requirements relevant to the site that may affect the design of the scheme, such as:
status of land title and any necessary way leaves, easements, etc.; results of site analysis,
including topography, investigation of ground conditions, location of existing services and rights of
way and the need for any further investigations;
the Development Plan zoning for the site and the need for compliance with any statutory planning
and environmental assessment procedures, including compliance with the requirements of the
Development Plan;
any specific requirements with regard to access to the site and existing and proposed roads and
services within or adjacent to the site;
the heritage significance of the site and any requirements for the protection,
conservation, refurbishment and use of existing buildings and features within the site;
requirements for the demolition of any structures, including the need for compliance with statutory
health and safety requirements regarding removal and disposal of hazardous materials;
requirements for the treatment of boundaries between the proposed scheme and adjoining
properties;
pointers regarding the overall impact of the scheme in the context of the surroundings; indication
of possible uses for the remainder of the site, where the scheme under consideration relates to
part of a larger site; and a general requirement that the proposed scheme should be appropriate in
the context of economic, environmental and social sustainability policies relating to the larger
neighborhood
Factors that have a bearing on the initial and running costs of any housing scheme include:
the topography of the site and the manner in which this is taken into account in the design -
particularly as it affects the amount of excavation required for foundations and services;
the density of the scheme, i.e. the number of dwellings/persons accommodated per hectare;
the variety of different dwelling types used in the scheme and the number of each type used;
the lengths of roads, footpaths, service runs, etc., relative to the number of dwellings
provided;
the extent of hard landscaping required, including screen walling and front garden walls, relative
to the number of dwellings provided;
the durability and maintenance characteristics of forms of construction, components or materials
used; and the degree to which the forms of construction, components or materials used, are
likely to be familiar to the contractor, or to require specialist skill and a particularly high level of
supervision to ensure proper installation.