Swords Masterplan - Fingal County Council

3.4 Urban Design Guidelines
To achieve the Vision for Swords traditional Town Centre, urban design guidelines
have been prepared for each of the Character Areas based on the urban design
appraisal in Appendix 1. The character areas addressed are as follows:
3.4.1 Commercial/Residential,
3.4.2 Civic Community
3.4.3 Retail/Commercial Core.
The Commercial/Residential character area has been divided into sub character
areas for the purposes of the guidelines given the varied existing characteristics of
the area:
3.4.3(a) North Street East
3.4.3(b) North Street West
3.4.3(c) North Street North
The urban design analysis is addressed under the following headings:
● Land Uses
● Topography
● Views
● Public Open Space
● Legibility
● Connections + Routes
● Parking
● Safety and Security
● Protected Structures
● Development Block Size
● Urban Grain
● Quality of Building Frontage
● Building Orientation
● Building Height and Massing
● Architectural Features
● Materials
S W O R D S M A S T E R P L A N
3.4.1 THE RETAIL/COMMERCIAL CORE
Urban Design
Principle Issue Urban Design Guidelines
Land Uses
Topography
Views
Public Open
Space
Legibility
The Town Centre area has a large convenience retail offer due to the
location of the Pavilions Shopping Centre and a broad range of
comparison shopping. The Main Street area is unlikely to attract a
large format retailer due to the centre’s tight plot size, but could
accommodate specialist niche retailers.
The Town Centre’s flat topography heightens the significance of
landmark buildings.
Swords’ largely flat topography increases the importance of streetlong
views and vistas within the town. Views of Swords Castle, St
Columba’s and St Colmcille’s Church are especially important in
Swords, projecting the town’s positive image.
Planting and greenery is a distinctive feature of the retail/commercial
core. The wide pavements of Main Street accommodate large mature
treestands (Plane variety). To supplement this there is a small parcel
of green open space and mature tree stands of Holmes Oak
(Evergreen Oak) north of Main Street associated with the entrance to
Fingal County Hall. There exists along Main Street excessive visual
clutter in terms of road barriers, bollards etc. The River Ward
currently is an underutilised asset which the Town Centre effectively
turns its back on.
The Town Centre area contains some very legible features: Swords
Castle, the historic street shape of Bridge Street, North Street and
Main Street and the historic buildings which line them. Enhanced
gateways and public realm improvements to the Town Centre would
counter negative images of the town among visitors and residents. There
are a number of significant barriers within and around Swords, such as
the river to the west of the Town Centre, Dublin Road to the east of the
Town Centre and the lack of a pedestrian friendly link between the
Pavilions and the Town Centre.
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Promote the development of specialist comparison retail supported by
an evening cafe/restaurant culture to the backlands areas both east
and west of Main Street. Promote the development of active ground
floor uses along Main Street. Promote a pavement culture with spill
out areas from restaurants and cafes along Main Street which will also
aim to diversify the current evening economy offer. To maintain Main
Street’s position as a mixed use street in Swords it is considered
appropriate to limit the expansion of certain non retail and inactive
street frontages that would otherwise detract from the overall
character of the street. These uses are as follows:
• Amusement Arcades
• Bookmakers/Betting shops
• Discount Shops
• Take Aways/Fast Food Outlets
• Public Houses
• Financial Institutions
These uses shall not be permitted to locate around the civic or cultural
nodes or at existing or new junctions (both pedestrian and vehicular) at
Main Street, Dublin Street and the new riverside streets. In addition
they shall not be allowed to predominate along any section of Main
Street or the new riverside street.
Protect strong views within Swords, particularly towards Swords
Castle, St Columba’s Church and St Colmcille’s Church.
Retain the view of Swords Castle from Main Street and Dublin Street.
Protect the view to the historic core of Swords at St Columba’s Church
and round tower from Main Street, Church Road and Well Road.
Protect the view to the spire of St Columcille’s Roman Catholic Church
from Main Street and New Street.
The Town Centre area is a sensitive area for new landscaping
interventions given the number of protected structures and buildings of
interest within the area. Enhance the entrance to Swords Castle at Main
Street to a hard landscaped pedestrian friendly public open space.
Legibility and identity at a large scale (blocks) or at a small scale (groups
of buildings) can be defined by the use of tree planting and street
furniture. This can be achieved by specifying particular material/planting
palettes distinctive to that area. It is the intention of Fingal County
Council to develop a positive public realm around Swords Castle as part
of a separate project. There is an opportunity to rationalise the visual
clutter along the Main Street to provide a more pedestrian friendly
environment. There is potential to front buildings onto the river Ward to
provide surveillance, an active edge, and an attractive visual aspect.
Increase the legibility of the area through the use of landmark
features such as focal buildings, intimate spaces and street trees.
Seek ways of overcoming the barrier to the west, the River Ward, by
the addition of a pedestrian bridge. Connect the existing river walk to
Bridge Street and northwards towards Swords Town Park.