we can't read the wording on the floorplan but it looks like the designers have produced what you asked for internally although i would prefer a simple verandah across the front door instead of the gabled porch. The feeling of a high ceiling can be achieved by having a raked ceiling over the living, dining, kitchen and stairwell, tall enough to have generous ceiling fans without having to raise the ceiling of the whole upstairs. Install an opening window as high as possible in the stairwell to improve stacking ventilation (with electric window openers) Overall ventilation can be improved by aiming to have an entry and exit point for breezes on opposing walls in every room and short horizontal windows (like the ribbon windows on the old east elevation) tucked up high as possible under eaves on east and west walls rather than tall narrow windows can improve daylighting and help reduce overheating. Consider security fly screening the external areas to exclude harsh sun and bugs and allowing stacking doors to be kept open and the outdoor areas to be used as much as possible (with the screens on the outside openings the stackers can be installed without their screens, improving the connection to outdoor living areas)

I'd still be looking at carving out more northern external aspect......you could fit it what you need by following this more "L shaped" concept by pulling back to the easement and strategic hugging of southern boundary in places and increased pushing further north in the central zone, and flipping the west verandah to the north and accommodating more extension to the west......you have enough space to work with Rather than think of what you can do in terms of size/length, you need to resolve from the basis of function.....the reason why we'd be encouraging the resolution in this direction is that it will feel much more spacious and light, be better zoned and mitigate the one dimensional central corridor factor which will be what you'll get if you take a elongated rectangle and try and fit it all into a predefined external shape.....easement restriction is not the major issue....what you want to do is maximise the external aspect from as much of the house as possible....you could put the shed in the south west corner and get it out of sight - that north west corner is prime external focal point Good luck! Cheers PD :)

HI All - for some reason my lengthy reply a few minutes ago was deleted :-(. I put so much thought into it! So here it goes again. Basically a big thank you to you Houzzers. MB your subfloor ventilation sounds great and Im glad it's fixing the problem so simply. The reason why Im trying for a whirligig solution is that I favour a passive system, however if it doesn't work I'll look into what you suggest Siriuskey - yes to some kind of kit. I've already contacted a guy on Gumtree selling grannykit frames - he says for something to my specifications would be about $4000 for the steel frame alone. Would need to check engineering details - and the liveable sheds you've linked me to seem to have that all checked. Although getting a local Chippie to frame it all up on site - as Twos Co suggests - is probably the most economical option Two's Co - thanks for the feedback and the excellent checklist of processes. I've covered most of the concerns though - I've got the DA based on my own flimsy plans. Because it's relatively small, I was going to work with the builder directly and over-engineer it. I've since engaged an architect to do some handsketches and draft specs, which will be signed off by a structural engineer. It's basically a portal frame independent structure, with a 3 degree pitch skillion roof. The house was rewired and the wires you can see are non-live looms waiting for the extension! The sewer is not connected and that part was never plumbed in. There's good rear lane access, but for the purposes of getting concrete in, I'll most likely get a concrete pump from the front of the house - for $180 per hour they will save time and make the concreting much easier. The existing trench I got dug in because I had an excavator on site installing those lovely large concrete blocks you can see, for the retaining wall (500kg each). But that was 7 weeks ago, and the excavation has got too large, and I worked out for a very similar cost I can make the extension 1m wider, so why not. The existing trench I can fill in with the demolition rubble, compact, and filled with any fill waste. Two's Company, I'm on the fence about removing the existing Bedroom 3. If I thought it wouldn't add to the costs too much, I'd do it. One advantage is that I could then make the whole 9m long extension (Option 2) around 150 - 300mm higher, (ie a step up from the existing house) and thus avoid too much excavation and a potential pond. To answer your question about damp and moisture, the whole house is facing a hill with 7 degree slope, and fixing this has been the main aim of the retaining wall, however the runoff is only likely to increase in coming years. anyway here are a few photos. The site is still so messy because the demolition only happened 2 days ago - Im still tidying up....

the original question was to add more light to the kitchen and i've also reduced the overall size without losing any of your preferred features but it's still a very generous house with options to reduce more if necessary...my suggestions include changes that simplify the main roof and uses a simple "flat" roof over the alfresco with panels of lazerlite the most economical way to avoid too much inside shading or an adjustable flat alfresco roof the best option to allow winter sunshine and summer shade and Velux roof windows and/or Solar Skylights would be a worthwhile investment to add more light and/or ventilation inside but, ..unless you already have a 24 seat dining table (about 8m long?) i suggest that three 8 seater folding tables would be more flexible and allow for more intimate occasions and i've added an optional storage area in the garage that could be useful to store extra furniture and there's also plenty of inside storage ..it's such a good size block of land that there should be space for a driveway and parking area on the east or south sides and plenty of space for a pool, the north window in the master ens could be converted to an external door and i've added a small hallway to separate the rumpus room from the master suite..the first plan shows the house on the block with furniture and the second plan omits the furniture and shows the simpler roof shape