I'm sure there's plenty of confusion about the why's and wherefore's of house orientation. The reality, as I have recently discovered, is that if want to live in an area that is older, developed, close to facilities, you take whatever orientation the block actually happens to be and do the best you can with it. Unless you're out in the country, or buying something in a new estate, you may not get a choice of orientation: we certainly didn't. And yes, our garage does have the best aspect - because there was nowhere else to put it - it had to face the street - but we live walking distance to shops (think of the petrol saved on not having to get into the car), we've got clerestory windows on the west side so no afternoon sun issues, and we're assembling a collection of sails for the south side, where the deck is, to provide shade from the late afternoon sun. Oh, and skylights for the kitchen. No, not ideal. But the location is, and the designers have worked around the constraints of orientation. And that's reality for a lot of us.

If you search DIY banquette on Pintrest you’ll see instructions and measurements. Most are in inches but you can convert them. Could you measure the seat height of the chairs you are using with the table (you need the table first) subtract the cushion height and that will give you the bench height. It does depend on the height and weight of those that will be using it the most, to get the best fit.

i would probably try for at least 90cm but depends on the size and shape of the room, location of doors and windows and size and shape of other fixtures..can you post a plan of the room?

keep in mind that my plan has single external walls and all the inside and outside walls are 10cm thick to make drawing easier and the depth of the verandahs includes the eaves, adding a brick veneer would use more space and given the choice it would be lovely to plan for a covered walkway and raked ceilings in the living areas and this is a very basic gable roof but there are lots of more exciting/expensive roof options to consider