could suggest that you make the extension a separate building connecting via glass or other enclosed walk ways ie: one extending from the passage into the family and another between the kitchen and pantry they only have to be deep enough to stop the gutter from the original house touching the new house which could have amazing sloping roofs and high ceilings. I also notice that I haven't marked a laundry, that shouldn't be too difficult. You could consider extending the carport along the boundary which could include a laundry, WC within a pool house for the NEW Pool. Many ideas as many ways to do things cheers PS: do you want to share where the house is, must be one of the wine country areas in , guessing SA,VIC,Hunter Valley

Western Sydney can be a very hot place in summer. So you've really got to try to minimise summer heat loads. What does this mean? Keeping the summer sun off your windows. Easy to do in the north, with appropriate length eaves. But much more difficult to do from the east & west. As the sun is lower in the sky & eaves become ineffective. Western sun is a particular problem, as the sun is in this direction at the hottest time of the day. So that is why quite a few people a few commenters have raise the issue of too many western windows. So how do you resolve this? It's difficult to do when the long sides of your home face east & west. But there are options to minimise western glazing. Firstly, eliminating or minimising windows. That's a very large western window in the dining area, which will get blazing hot in summer. I'd be eliminating this window (more in that later), or at least greatly reducing its size. I'd be eliminating the western wrap-around portion of the master bedroom window. Yes, it may look cool, but this will be at the expense of you comfort. You certainly don't want SW sun coming in your bedroom windows in summer evenings. Same goes for the media room. A very large western window means a very hot space. I'd this a true media room? If so, I'd think you'd want lower levels of glazing in this room. I'd actually eliminate this window, & take the following approach. Next, where possible, swap the western windows for glazing facing a different direction. You can do this in the media room, with long, thin windows. You can also do this in the upstairs living area. Again a large western window, which certainly should be swapped out for a northern window. Thirdly, locate rarely used rooms in the western side of the house. So they can bear the brunt of the western sun. Bathrooms, laundries (not in your case), & importantly, the garage. So I'd actually look at flipping the from portion of the house, so that the media room faces SE & the garage SW. Tough you won't have access from the garage to the laundry, which may be something you want. I'd then consider having the entrance to the home on the western side, beside the garage. This means you'll have a shorter hallway from the entrance to you living areas. Changes to the location of the garage to the western side may not be allowed, of the road is busier, or if the driveway is too close to the corner. So that would need to be looked at, if you were considering this change. As for your remaining western (& eastern) windows, you've got to try to minimise the amount of heat that comes through these windows. There's a few approaches. Louvred vertical sun shades or timber battens are an option. These will reduce the amount of sun striking the window, & increase privacy, but decrease the views out the window. Shutters or awnings are an option, but probably don't look as nice. Window treatments, such as low-e glass, are a good idea too - just note reviews for some single glazed low-e glass products aren't great. Western (& eastern) glazing should certainly be low SHGC (solar heat gain coefficient). As has been mentioned, windows should also be designed for cross-ventilation. A free was way too cool your home, especially effective at night. Winter in western Sydney can be pretty cold too. In winter it's all about letting the sun in, particularly the northern sun, as the sun is in the northern portion of the sky. As has been mentioned above, northern covered alfrescos aren't a great idea. Robbing north facing living areas of daylight, & winter sunshine. At the very least add a vergola to let some sun in here. you should also consider zoning your main living area. that is, having a door that can separate it from the rest of the house. Then you can just heat this room, instead of the entire house. Otherwise the staircase will act like a giant chimney, losing heat upstairs. You'd need to reverse the direction of the staircase, to add a door between it & the kitchen/laundry area. May not be ideal, but worth considering.

To close out this conversation... we decided in the end to have a separate powder room and this is where the layout is sitting currently. No feedback needed, just thought it would be good to close the look. Thanks for all the help.

having employed an Architect and designers several times i wish that we had first had the opportunity to use the experiences of others to "talk over" different ideas before committing to the pay per hour services of a professional who is usually keen to make one suggestion and then move on to their next job..quite rightly as they're busy earning a living..maybe the professional will arrive at the best solution at the first attempt but as beginners and later as more experienced builders and renovators we didn't know what choices would suit us best and had to accept the first offer and live with the consequences...price isn't the most important consideration when employing anyone.. time to understand the options is what we needed .. the reason we see so many posting on HOUZZ second guessing their professionals' work is because sometimes we need to share our concerns with a friendly audience..so we can collect ideas that can be costed to have a realistic understanding of what can be bought for $x00K+ ..but, it's only after they've done the work that we could begin to get a feeling of which professional suits our style but then that knowledge is only useful for the next job and most people don't need or want to do this type of project too often..having a rough idea of options is a great place to start and i look forward to some extra information so that we can offer some suggestions for Jayson