The early urban structure of Bessbrooks is U shaped in form in a bid to emphasise the importance of shared open space in the daily lives of the mill workers and their families. As a result, the houses were organised to accommodate shared open space and amenities for the occupants of the town.

In addition to this, the Portlaw Truss was readily used in Bessbrook in workers’ houses. Historically used in Quaker workers cottages, the bowstring truss, colloquially known as the Portlaw Truss, was first used in Portlaw, Co. Waterford, another Quaker settlement In Ireland. The truss reflects the philanthropic and humanitarian approach the Quakers took towards working and living conditions within the village they built in Ireland. 

The introduction of the curve in our proposed section is reminiscent of this historical domestic form – a reintroduction of the portlaw trusses once seen elsewhere in the village. Our curve has a more modern pragmatic use however to diffuse direct sunlight as it enters the pavilions interior spaces.