Heating and cooling: I suggest insulation is a necessity. We have a log fire in our lounge room, but one has to sit quite close to it to get any benefit from it. I usually have a throw rug, plus a cat on my lap, and often one next to me. The heat rises , so your upstairs area will often be toasty warm, but the downstairs area will be cold. In Sydney, depending on if you are coastal or further inland, it may or may not be a problem. Consider something like underfloor heating, perhaps? That is what we are going to look at when we renovate. Or, you could try a ceiling fan which is designed to blow the warm air down - depending on the size of your void, you may need more than one. I have a fan, but I am not convinced it does much.

You need to have a proper analysis done on this....you have asked legitimate questions however this requires further information around context. Answers to what it will cost will be determined by the solution and the question here is what is the logical solution for you....adding upper floors to/within existing buildings will be surprisingly expensive. For what you've described overall (a typical "expansion to existing" brief) over two/split levels with alterations and additions touching the kitchen, bathrooms I'm thinking an easy $400K which then as oklouise suggested throws up the question of whether a complete new build is a logical option/alternative. It depends upon where you are, what the existing house quality is and ultimately what you want to spend.....designers/architects will vary in cost anywhere from 5-15% depending on who, what and how much service extent you engage......perhaps start with a preliminary enquiry with some local designers/architects and start the conversation/building information/advice...good luck :) PD

Freeware like QCAD can work well if you know what you are doing. It is not purpose built for architectural floor plans though.

Affordable Architectural Solutions At ISC Design Architects, we know that clients these days are generally stretched with tight budgets. So we respond to that by providing affordable design & approvals packages through council or private certifiers. We work in western Sydney where statistically the majority of building approvals occur, being a specialist for western Sydney suburbs and new housing estates. Contact ISC Design today to make an initial free consultation so we can review your site and advise the best planning, design & approval strategy. ISC DESIGN Australia Architectural, Development & Heritage Design, Documentation, Representation & Administration Architect Ibrahim Conlon Managing Director + Principal Architect Nominated Responsible Architect under NSW Architect Act 2003 M.Arch(UTS) B.AArch(UTS) ADAD(CIT) AICOMOS Chartered Architect NSW Registration No. 10042 Associate ICOMOS M: 0404459916 E: Ibrahim@iscdesign.com.au A: Auburn/ Parramatta Sydney NSW Australia 2150 W: www.iscdesign.com.au #architect #architecture #architectural #architects #ozetecture #arch #dacc #cdc #architectnsw #parramattaarchitect #auburnarchitect #westernsydneyarchitect #westernsydneyarchitecture