If there is an upside to "bungalow bliss" it is that, in the "mad rush" for housing in rural areas over the past 40 years, Irish villages and small towns have been spared the worst ravages of poor development.
According to Mr Mike Shanahan of MSA Architects in Cork, the "upside" of recent decades of building in the countryside has been that small towns and villages remain "pretty much intact".
Mr Shanahan will tell a conference on rural housing and development today that building regulations are in need of a complete overhaul to reduce the negative impact of new developments, particularly in infill developments.
Mr Shanahan argues that "clients who do wish to respect and seek out Irish-built heritage are often only those from abroad".
The vertical sash window is almost obsolete, leading to problems of proportionality in new homes, according to Mr Shanahan.
He also criticises "alien" suburban architecture at crossroads and villages, and ribbon and cul-de-sac enclave extensions to rural villages.
Organised by the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland and the Irish Planning Institute, the conference in Galway will see planning professionals address the controversy of widespread one-off rural housing and what is appropriate development of towns and villages. The conference will examine the challenges for planners, architects, politicians, local community representatives and landowners in creating sustainable development.
Mr Niall Cussens of the national spatial planning unit of the Department of the Environment will speak about the proposed settlement patterns in the National Spatial Strategy.
A separate conference, entitled "One-off rural housing is there an alternative?", is to be opened by the Minister for Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Mr Ó Cuív, in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, tomorrow.
Information on both conferences is available from www.riai.ie and www.northtippcoco.ie
