Design Guide for Rural Northern Ireland
Scheme Design: Rural Forms

In the introduction to this Guide we examined the most common traditional buildings and their shape, such as the rectangular plan with a pitched roof. This is the most common shape for buildings in rural Northern Ireland, and the linear plan-form leads to scheme layouts made such as running along a slope, stepping down a slope, or enclosing spaces such as yards or gardens. There is only a small range of traditional rural shapes, and these can be readily distinguished from their suburban counterparts. A common design mistake is to implant suburban shapes in the rural context, and this should be avoided.