boyle local area plan 2012 - 2018 - Roscommon County Council

PART II: DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR 2012 – 2018 & BEYOND Chapter 6: Built & Natural Heritage
3. Boyle ACA - Design Guidance
The introduction of an ACA does not mean that there is a compulsion to alter any
features that existed when the ACA was designated. There is however a duty to
protect the historic fabric and in the event of proposed change all historic fabric
should be retained and repaired and any replacement features should be historicallyappropriate.
Specialist advice may be needed to make accurate choices but the
following guidance is intended as general advice for this ACA. It also applies to any
new build within the ACA. Consultation with the planning authority is recommended.
This advice does not apply to protected structures as they require a greater level of
assessment and the best quality materials.
Roofs – slated roofs should be repaired using natural slate to match. Any roof that has
been re-covered with non-slate materials should, upon re-roofing, use a natural slate
to match the other slated roofs in the ACA. Blue Bangor or an Irish equivalent is
preferable to any other type.
Chimneystacks - should be maintained, repaired and kept rendered.
Rainwater goods – All should be regularly maintained. Cast-iron gutters and
downpipes should be retained, repaired and if necessary replaced with cast-iron;
gutters should have a half-round profile and downpipes a circular section. PVC goods
should be replaced with cast-iron or cast aluminium, both to have a painted finish.
Walls – all buildings within this ACA should have rendered elevations except for the
courthouse, the clocktower, the Shambles screen, the Bank of Ireland and the Credit
Union building. All ruled and lined render, channelled render and plain render should
be retained and repaired. On an elevation directly facing the street it should be
painted; rear elevations were traditionally left unpainted here and so do not have to be
painted. Where the render has been removed, as on four buildings and one ground
floor in the ACA, it should be replaced with a lime render, either plain or ruled and
lined, with quoins as an option. Outbuildings and warehouses may either be rendered
or of exposed stone.
Opes – all opes on the upper floors should be rectangular with classical proportions.
Where these have been altered they could be reversed. New build should also have
classical opes.
Cills – all stone cills should be retained. A few buildings have replaced their cills with
concrete cills. These should be replaced with stone cills, either painted or unpainted
and new build should use stone cills too.
Windows – all existing sash windows should be repaired. Any pvc/aluminium
windows should be replaced with timber sash windows - any building which dates to
pre-1830 should have six-over-six windows with no horns, any building 1830-1860
should have horns but could be six-over-six or two-over-two, any building post-1860
should have horns and be two-over-two or single-pane. In the absence of certainty a
good default for this ACA would be single-pane sash windows with small horns. All
have narrow frames and glazing bars and a painted finish.
Attic dormers – none new should be added.
Rooflights – if any new rooflights are permitted to be inserted they should be small
and match historic cast iron ones. Care should be taken with distant views with this
aspect.
Decorative architraves – all should be repaired and kept painted. Where none exist or
where new opes are being formed no architraves are required.
Threshold steps – all stone or terrazzo steps should be retained and repaired. New
steps should be stone preferably.
Doors – all timber panelled doors (and their frames, overlights or fanlights) should be
retained and repaired and kept painted. Any new doors to replace pvc or aluminium
ones should be painted timber panelled with no inset lights, and should match an
existing historic door within the ACA.
Door furniture – historic ironmongery should be retained and treasured.
Shopfronts – all historic timber or rendered shopfronts should be retained and
repaired; all vitrolite and mosaic tiled shopfronts and stainless steel framing should be
retained and repaired. Where a new shopfront is permitted a variety of styles would
be appropriate as long as the fascia was not too deep, the classical format of vertical
and horizontal was followed and the members not too wide. Overly heavy corbel
brackets should be avoided. Some recessed porches include good features such as
floors, ceilings, doors which should be retained even if the form of the porch is
permitted to be changed. Where new fascia lettering is permitted on historic
shopfronts it should be in the form of individual letters.
Fixtures – there can be a surprising number of redundant fixtures on a building, such
as lights, signs brackets, poles etc that are no longer in use. These should be removed
if they are of no heritage value and the wall made good.
Wiring – wiring across a façade should be kept as tidy as possible.
Other Features – other historic features on buildings should be retained and repaired.
Planting – none extra should be added.
Boyle Local Area Plan 2012-2018 Page 75