3.2 Analysis of Historic Town Centre From an examination of existing land uses, 3 main character areas can be identified within <strong>Swords</strong> Town Centre [see map – Existing Character Areas and Movement Strategy]: 1. Retail/Commercial Core: This area comprises Main Street and extends to the Pavilions Shopping Centre site. The majority of the small scale retail/services functions within the Town Centre are focused on Main Street and its associated side streets, while the large scale retailers are facilitated within the Pavilions Shopping Centre. Main Street is predominantly vernacular in character with development being mostly 2 and 3 storeys. There have been some modern interventions onto the Main Street which are unsympathetic to the prevailing low rise character. 2. Commercial/Residential Core: North Street is characterised by a more commercial focus, with offices, small scale retail outlets, small mix of terraced housing, public houses, apartments and a hotel. The current trend is for medium size offices to locate here. Dublin Street and Dublin Road also accommodates a range of small scale commercial units, as well as residential uses and a secondary school. 3. Civic/Community: The civic core is located at the junction of Main Street, North Street, and Seatown Road. The character area lies east between North Street and Main Street. School, community and civic buildings, in addition to housing, are located along this route. The <strong>County</strong> Hall, <strong>Swords</strong> Castle and Courthouse are focal buildings at the junction of Seatown Road/Main Street/North Street. Seatown Road reinforces the east-west linkages through the town and has the potential to become a strong and attractive route into the Town Centre from the proposed Seatown Metro Stop. Key to the success of <strong>Swords</strong> will be the consolidation and strengthening of the above character areas and multi-functional role of Main Street/North Street area, as well as future integration/connectivity with Town Centre expansion areas. Improvements to the associated public realm will be important, as well as improved accessibility for all modes of transport, including strong linkages to Metro North. In terms of <strong>Swords</strong> retail/commercial core, the historic Town Centre is unsuitable for large format retailers due to the tight urban grain and plot sizes. This constraint within the historic fabric has resulted in the extension of the retail area to the Pavilions site. The extension of the shopping core from Main Street to the Pavilions has allowed the retail core of <strong>Swords</strong> to develop and extend in close proximity to Main Street, whilst retaining the historic character and role of the Town Centre. However, connectivity between Main Street and the Pavilions site is currently poor, with a limited number of visitors to the Pavilions attracted to Main Street. The <strong>Fingal</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>Council</strong> Offices and other offices/services on Main Street currently sustain flow between the 2 areas. However a reverse attraction to Main Street from the Pavilions Shopping Centre needs to be established. This is critical in the event of the further expansion of the retail core into the Pavilions and Barrysparks lands, adjoining the Metro North stop. S W O R D S M A S T E R P L A N The existing Cultural/Recreational attractions are the Castle and its Park, the riverside walk to the west of Main Street, the Ward River Valley Park, and the round tower. While these facilities are within the core, they are poorly developed and poorly integrated with the Town Centre. Views of <strong>Swords</strong> Castle from Main Street are obstructed by the buildings in front of it. There are few buildings overlooking the riverside walk, which is of poor environmental quality, attracting few people. The Ward River Valley Park has few facilities and is very poorly linked to the Town Centre. For <strong>Swords</strong> Town Centre to develop, emphasis must be placed on the diverse range of activities and attractions within the core area and its amenity value. In terms of accessibility for all modes of transport, car parking facilities are limited within the Town and public transport services are inadequate. Facilities for cyclists are poor, with only a limited network in isolated sections of the Town. These issues must be addressed as part of the <strong>Masterplan</strong> for <strong>Swords</strong>. 25 inch Historic Map: 1897 - 1913 1 8 3.3 Development of Activity Nodes 3.3.1 3 ACTIVITY NODES To ensure the vibrancy and activity of <strong>Swords</strong> Main Street is developed into the future, it is proposed that there will be 3 key nodes of attraction in the Town Centre which will build upon the existing nodes and character areas through the strengthening and development of links between the Main Street, the Pavilions and the Barrysparks development areas. The proposed Town Centre Nodes are: ● Civic Quarter ● Cultural Quarter ● Metro Quarter The design and character of these activity nodes is explored later within this <strong>Masterplan</strong>. There are 2 ancillary nodes identified, these being Balheary Park and the proposed Leisure Node within the south-eastern extent of the Barrysparks land. While these 2 nodes are considered important in the future expansion of the town, they will not be fully defined or designed pending the preparation of a Local Area Plan(s) for these areas. [see Existing Character Areas and Movement Strategy map and Proposed Character Areas and Movement Strategy map].
S W O R D S M A S T E R P L A N 1 9 Proposed town character areas and movement strategy
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