Swords Masterplan - Fingal County Council

4.1 Character
The Civic Quarter is defined as the area at the junction of Main Street/North
Street where the main civic uses are located including the Fingal County Council
offices, the Courthouse, and Swords Castle, which was the historic governing
centre of the Town.
There is an opportunity to develop and consolidate this area as an expanded
Civic Quarter and thereby strengthen the attraction of the northern end of Main
Street, through the development of the Council owned surface car park at the
junction of North Street and Seatown Road (possible future uses for the Council
car park could include a new Garda station and Courthouse) and the
development of a major civic space in front of Swords Castle.
4.2 Connectivity
The proposed Metro Stop at Seatown will be the main stop directly serving the Civic
Quarter, further enhancing its accessibility and hence attractiveness. There may be
an opportunity to develop the Council owned surface car park at the junction of
the R132, as well as a number of key sites along Seatown Lane to strengthen this
route from the Metro Stop back into the Civic Quarter and the Main Street.
4.3 Design
S W O R D S M A S T E R P L A N
4.0 Civic Quarter
Key to the enhancement and attractiveness of this Civic Quarter area, is the
development of a Public Realm Strategy for the Town Centre, which will include
the design of the public realm at the junction of Main Street/Bridge Street/North
Street incorporating the area in front of Swords Castle, the entrance to Main
Street and the area adjoining Fingal County Council car park. The design of this
public space at the Civic Quarter, including the increased visibility and
enhancement of the Castle, is important to the success of this area.
The proposed Public Realm Strategy for the Town Centre will address a number
of criteria including inter alia the following:
● Provision of two public plazas at the Civic (Swords Castle) node and the
proposed Cultural node at the southern end of Main Street.
● Enhancement of the ‘Green’ character of Main Street.
● Reduction in the width of the carriageway along Main Street and the widening
of footpaths, thereby enhancing pedestrian connectivity and priority.
● Traffic management measures, including on-street parking arrangements.
● Removal of superfluous street clutter and providing for integrated street
furniture, public lighting and signage strategy.
● Integration of hard and soft landscaping, with an appropriate maintenance
regime (with particular regard to providing a palette of [1] appropriate tree
species and [2] material palette for hard landscaping/surface materials
within the Town Centre).
● Establishment of criteria for the provision and location of public art.
The criteria to be considered within the Public Realm Strategy are discussed
further in this Masterplan under Section 9.0. The strategy will be prepared in
tandem with the development of the Traffic Management Strategy for Swords
Town Centre.
In recognition of the importance of the public realm to the vibrancy and quality
of the Town Centre environment, including the success of the Civic Quarter, the
public realm strategy shall be complete within 12-24 months of the preparation
of the Masterplan.
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