Acre & Arch

About Acre & Arch

Acre & Arch is a resource for people planning and building one-off houses in rural Ireland. It's built from real experience — not content written by someone who has never dealt with Irish planning, Irish contractors, or the peculiar joy of specifying a heat pump for a rural Irish site.

Where this comes from

I'm Mark. I'm a software engineer from the Irish midlands — grew up in the countryside and I'm currently at the design and planning stage of building a house there. Over the past two years I've gone deep on every aspect of an Irish self-build: planning strategy, structural options, mechanical systems (ASHP vs GSHP, MVHR specification, wet underfloor heating, solar PV, battery storage), window specification, passive design principles, and BER/NZEB compliance.

My father has 40+ years of Irish residential construction experience. Between his knowledge and my own research, I've built up a detailed picture of how things actually work in rural Ireland.

The problem I kept running into: the information exists, but finding it is harder than it should be. Good answers are scattered across old forum threads, county development plan PDFs, and private Facebook groups. Most websites covering Irish self-build haven't been updated in years. And even when you do find something, it's rarely specific enough to help you make a real design decision — whether that's choosing a house type, setting a realistic budget, or understanding what spec level you can afford.

I'm comfortable with technical depth, I can tell when research is rigorous, and I find the complexity of a well-designed building genuinely interesting. This site is the resource I wished existed when I started.

What this site is

  • Accurate, current, Ireland-specific guides covering planning, costs, systems, and process — with enough detail to actually inform decisions
  • Interactive tools (starting with the build cost calculator) that give you specific numbers by house type, spec level, and region — not vague ranges
  • Downloadable templates based on real documents from my own build — architect brief, design decision log, systems specification
  • The Acre & Arch newsletter with updates as I progress through my own build

What this site is not

  • Professional advice. Nothing on this site constitutes architectural, engineering, planning, legal, or financial advice. Always consult a qualified professional for decisions about your project.
  • A consultation service. I don't offer one-to-one advice. The content here is the advice — written once, for everyone.
  • A sales site for products or services I'm affiliated with. Where I recommend things, I explain why. If I add affiliate links in future, they'll be clearly disclosed.

Accuracy and updates

I try to be accurate, and I check figures against multiple sources. But build costs move, grant schemes change, and planning policy evolves. Every article is dated; treat older content as a starting point, not a definitive source. If you spot an error, please let me know via email.

Disclaimer

All content on Acre & Arch is provided for general information and educational purposes only. It is not professional advice of any kind. Costs quoted are indicative based on publicly available data and personal research; they will vary significantly based on your specific site, specification, and contractor. Planning policy interpretation varies by local authority. Always engage a qualified architect, engineer, solicitor, or other appropriate professional before making decisions about your project.

Acre & Arch is operated by The App Farm Ltd, registered in Ireland.