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 currently building a house in rural Ireland, at design and pre-planning stage. Over the past 18 months 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 and is the main contractor on my build. Between us, we have a reasonable view of how things actually work in rural Ireland — which is often different from what you read online (particularly when that online information is UK-based or 10 years old).

I'm a software engineer by profession. 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

  • A library of practical, Ireland-specific guides covering planning, costs, systems, and process
  • Interactive tools (starting with the build cost calculator) to help you sanity-check numbers
  • Downloadable templates based on real documents from my own build — architect brief, design decision log, systems specification
  • A newsletter (The Self-Build Brief) 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.