Swords Masterplan - Fingal County Council

10.1 Introduction
The urban design framework for the Swords Town Centre Masterplan provides a
guide to suitable building heights for new sustainable development, whilst
protecting the established residential and visual amenity of the area.
Context is paramount and an appropriate response is fundamental in respect of
five key criteria:
1. Respect of the Amenity of Existing Development: Where the heights of
proposed buildings require set back distances and landscape screening
elements to protect the privacy of local residents adjoining development areas.
2. A Positive Contribution to the Public Realm: Buildings exceeding the general
context heights and unscreened by natural features will have to demonstrate
their urban design merits both in terms of outward appearance and benefits
accruing in terms of open space and additional amenities provided.
3. Heritage Valued: Protection of key vistas, of local protected structures and
the social and historic heritage of the area is important. Heights and massing
should not adversely impact on the innate and valued historic character of
the area.
4. Landmark Role: Areas of particular significance, higher density and increased
activity can be identified via taller buildings acting as landmarks. The location
of taller buildings can be part of the process of creating an identity for the
town. It requires both a rationale for locating these taller elements and an
understanding of their desirability and viability in those locations.
5. Sustainable Compact Development: New urban development must follow
the logic for compact form at higher densities to be sustainable. Urban sites,
especially in the vicinity of mass transit systems such as the Metro, can
support higher densities than suburban or rural locations. In order to
maximise such limited and valuable sites it is appropriate to consider a scale
change in the interests of creating mixed urban developments with lower
environmental impacts.
S W O R D S M A S T E R P L A N
10.0 Swords Town Centre Heights Strategy
10.2 Overview
The heights strategy for each of the character areas is explained in detail in their
respective sections throughout the Masterplan document, however the overriding
features are as follows:
1. Swords Town Setting
There are four main elements defining the town setting.
● Topography and Landscape
The gently rolling topography and natural tree cover of the Swords environs
provides few long distance or local views in and around the town. The skyline
has no pronounced built forms or profile defining the Town Centre and only
glimpses of fragments of buildings are visible within the general tree canopy.
This enveloping nature of the natural tree cover is further enhanced by the
verge planting of the R132 which effectively channels views along the
roadway. St. Columba’s Church and Round Tower, the only historic
monument of any height, is hardly noticeable as it barely emerges from the
tree line except in a few locations within the Town Centre itself. Views of St.
Columba’s Church and Round Tower from within the Town Centre shall be
protected.
The town is endowed with extensive open space in the form, predominately,
of natural landscape centred around the Ward and Broadmeadow River
Valleys. These landscape assets are a key defining quality of the town. As
such both their amenity value and potential to inform the identity of Swords
should be considered with respect to development proposals and appropriate
height or massing. Views into and from these public open spaces should be
both protected and enhanced. The heights strategy identifies these open
spaces and key views through them.
● M1 Motorway Presence
The motorway is relatively distant from and offers little prospect to the Town
Centre. Prominent forms visible from the motorway are the industrial sheds
of the Swords Business Park area to the east and recent housing
developments further south. Much of the motorway is a cutting, except to the
North where it rises to cross the Broadmeadow Estuary. Opportunities to
announce the identity of Swords to passing traffic on this significant
transport corridor exist on development lands adjacent the motorway in the
Seatown and Lissenhall areas and these locations are identified on the
heights diagram.
● R132 Approach
The strong tree lined parkway condition to the R132 limits the appreciation of
height in the adjacent developed areas. Little if any buildings are visible from
the R132 as it passes through Swords to the east of the current Town Centre.
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There is no overt identification of the location of the Town Centre as the
parkway condition of the R132 is nearly constant and there are no significant
buildings (other than the Pavilions Shopping Centre). The parkway planting
does an effective job in masking the disparate heights and forms of the
differing uses along the R132. The height and density of the parkway trees
play a positive role in projecting the image of Swords as a ‘green’ location
and should be protected and enhanced as a key element of the vision of
Swords as ‘an emerging green city’.
● Residential Areas
Much of the existing residential areas of Swords are made up of 1 to 2 storey
houses. The heights strategy for areas located outside of the Town Centre
areas will respond to this existing context as well as the need to create a
hierarchy of public spaces and a local centre focus where the heights
increase to up to 4 floors to create a stronger sense of enclosure and
intensity of activity.
● Metro North
The arrival of Metro North will change the current highway orientated R132
route through Swords by attracting development around the Stop locations.
Some of these developments are subject to future LAPs, but higher buildings
will logically be centred on the areas around the future Metro Stops of
Fosterstown, Swords, Seatown, Estuary and Lissenhall. Heights will
decrease towards the existing residential areas, but will inevitably create a
distinctive scale change at the stops and articulate the route along the R132.
Significant areas of undeveloped land, or areas requiring rezoning to reflect
their current and future status within the Swords Town environs, lie adjacent
most of the Metro Stop locations. Heights in these locations are set to reflect
the local context, the opportunity to create a distinctive identity for the area
and best practise on sustainable development densities/mix of uses.