i was wondering about a downstairs front door but then how would you use the upstairs entry and what about potential loss of the grandparents' bedroom and space taken away from the garage and storage... different internal stairs meant enlarging the whole downstairs floor area (and changing the roof) and sacrificing space needed for the new upstairs deck and future pool (and extending further into the yard encroaches on the neighbours' views) but the old front stairs can be lengthened to maintain the original look of the house and you'll find that friends and family will more likely come in through the garage or rumpus room and the old front stairs will be used for only very enthusiastic sales people and photo ops but you do need to confirm all the dimensions on the original floor plan as the room sizes are inconsistent and an accurate original floor plan (including exact location of doors and windows) will help ensure that my suggestions could fit with the least amount of alteration to the existing structure and may also invite different suggestions from other HOUZZERS and happy to redraw your plans if you can correct this copy

From a "passive solar design" point of view, everything is right. Rectangular home facing north/south. With north facing living rooms, rarely used rooms to the west. But one other thing to consider, plumbing. Locating it close together will lower building costs, & the wastage of water, waiting for hot water. So I'd consider swapping bedroom 4 for the western wet areas. Behind the kitchen is have the laundry, then bathroom, then linen, the bedroom furthest to the west. I'm not mad about western bedrooms, especially in hot climates. But in this case it sounds like it would be used sparingly. Plus if make sure there was no western window, just a northern one. Insulating the western wall well, & using a radiant barrier (reflective insulation). The approach will also significantly shorten the length of the western hallway. Greatly increasing the size of bedroom 4. Talking room sizes, & room numbers, from a sustainability point of view, I think the home is too large for what is likely to be a two person home for much of the time. The embodied energy (emissions created) from a new build home is huge, averaging 15 years of operational energy. I'd be looking to reduce the house size, by using multipurpose rooms. The occasional kids housed in the study, or the media room. This can work out great with clever design (like incorporating murphy beds). How will the media room be used? Will noise be an issue. Will you be happy to have it so close to the master bed? The building orientation/shape will be great for solar PV, with a large roof area facing north. I'd I was building nowadays, is be aiming for an all-electric home. Ditching gas - of its even available where you are - in favour of efficient electric appliances. Reverse cycle AC for heating (if it's required), supplemented by fans for cooling, hot water heat pump (extremely efficient), induction cooktop (sensitive, fast acting, easy to clean). All powered by solar PV. If it's an option, I'd look at 3 phase power, which will let you install a larger PV system. It will also allow you install a fast charger for EV, likely to be your next car purchase, or soon after.

Yikes, even taking out the alfresco (I think the builder said this wouldn't be included in the calculation) still makes it 227.5sqm! I also just noticed that the zoning might actually require a 3m setback, sorry, it's hard to get actual zone info. The front and back are ok with the retaining and the garage just needs to be 6m from boundary which looks fine. The left side though may be pushing it. And also this plan will likely be out of our price range. I'm wondering if this alternative plan the builder gave us may fit? His price for this works out just inside our budget... we didn't originally like it but have worked out we could change the garage door to the right, fence from the garage up to the north boundary and have a gate for access to front door... it's not as ideal to have the garage taking up some of the good view, but it might even work better for the driveway position. In the second picture, the road ends at the 7.0 text and (A) I think is part of the section to the right... I'm not sure if their designer realised this or if there is an allowance for my driveway to go through there.

hi OK Louise thanks for the dimensions. Ive also heard alternative interpretations - 150mm clear on each side of the loo for elbow room and 700 clear in front of the bowl. The toilet Im looking at is 400mm wide, and 660 long. That means a 700 wide and 1360 long could be the bare minimum. That's why Im wondering if i can push it to say 1300 long (ie 640 clear in front of the toilet) I realise you've provided best practice, comfortable and aesthetic layout. However Im just looking at functional, and am willing to make a compromise in this area to free up space elsewhere. Is there an Australian standard or building code that needs to be complied with, that you're aware of? TIA