Swords Masterplan - Fingal County Council

10.3 Town Centre Key Areas
The Town Centre is divided into the following six key areas:
● Metro Quarter
Main public spaces, such as that at the Metro Quarter, can accommodate
greater heights depending on their location and hierarchy within the spatial
order of the town. The greatest heights will be located around Metro Quarter
in keeping with sustainable development best practice policy to locate higher
densities around public transport interchanges. As the effective gateway to
Swords, the Metro Quarter has a rational for being a significant orientating
landmark within Swords Town and visible on the skyline and approach
routes. A pair of taller buildings is proposed as a marker of the importance
of the Metro Quarter to Swords Town and within County Fingal as a whole.
These buildings will be subject to assessment of their overall architectural
and urban design merit when considering appropriate heights and
appearance.
● Pavilions and Barrysparks Development Areas
Building heights within the Pavilions and Barrysparks development areas are
driven by their proximity to the Swords Stop and the need for a compact
urban form with a mix of uses over the core retail levels. Heights range from
3-10 storeys depending on the use within each building and the need to
create a modulated building profile to minimise any potential adverse impact
on adjacent development and respect the historic character of the existing
Town Centre core area. A heavily tree planted southern edge mitigates the
scale change between the extended Pavilions area and Carlton Court.
● Cultural Quarter
A precedent for the main street area south of the Malahide Road has been
set by the Penneys development set at 5-6 storeys. This height is to be
respected by all buildings around the Cultural quarter. The exception to this
is on the western side of Main Street where the heights have been limited to
2-4 storeys such that the views and amenity of the Ward River Valley Park
will not be affected.
● Historic Town Core and Civic Quarter
The design of all new developments along the existing main street are to
respect the existing parapet heights of 1-3 storeys, however this height may
graduate to 3-5 storeys away from Main Street with frontage onto Forster’s
Way/New Street and the Ward River Walk, where topographical changes
allow increase in height.
The Council offices currently present a high quality landmark building with an
important and dominant function to perform in the Civic Quarter. New buildings
which may be accommodated in this area should respect the landmark
nature of Civic Offices, as well as the historic importance of Swords Castle.
● Existing Residential Areas
The height of buildings located at the edge conditions between existing
communities and development areas will respond sensitivity to their locations.
Landscaped buffer zones will be provided as well as decreased heights.
● Industrial Lands
Town Centre industrial lands are largely screened by existing trees on the
site perimeters. The heights strategy assumes that such landscaping
elements can be retained and enhanced to permit 3 to 5 storey developments
in due course.
S W O R D S M A S T E R P L A N
10.4 Landmark Buildings
The building height strategy sets overall recommendations designed to offer
guidance on new developments in the plan area. Nevertheless, the plan
recognises the importance of landmark buildings in making urban design
statements which can enhance the skyline and the character of Swords
generally. The plan provides opportunities for landmark buildings at several
locations within Swords Town such as:
● Cultural Quarter
● Metro Quarter (east and west of the R132)
● West side of R132 at Fosterstown station
● East side of R132 at Seatown station
● West of M1 motorway in Seatown development area.
● End of North Street, opposite Balheary park
An increase in building height, at the discretion of the planning authority, may be
accepted where it can be demonstrated that there is a strong urban design
rationale for doing so, although it should be re-iterated that landmark buildings do
not necessarily have to be high to achieve their objectives in urban design terms.
10.5 Tall Building Design
In all cases, the architectural quality of any building taller than its surrounding
context, will be a primary consideration and the design, proportion and materials
must be demonstratably of the highest quality. Tall buildings should also have a
slenderness (height to width ratio) of 3:1. It should also be demonstrated that the
scale of development proposed will not impact negatively on the amenity or
microclimate of the open spaces in the area.
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