A few comments.

1. I am concerned that you will not get enough cross ventilation in the area around the 2nd and 3rd bedroom. This area seems to be tucked away and a long way for the main bedroom, when you have to a big loop around through the living area.

2. The WC does not work where it is. Too far from the living areas for guest to access??

3. Area around entry with linen cupboards needs work. An open bigger entry is great but this space does not seem to work.

4. Having a WIP is really cutting down on bathroom area.

5. Have you considered consulting an architect or designer?

hi Rikkisteph, This is such a major task to undertake and considering the investment you are about to undertake, a huge risk when designing yourself. There are some good ideas in your plan but the flow isn't great and there are some major flaws that need to be addressed. Have you considered using a building designer to help you realise your plans? you have the ideas, but you need to have the scale and proportions finessed - for example the linen cupboard at front entry would be approx 600mm deep but the vanity directly behind it would be less - maybe 500mm (depending on your selections) so you need to get these thing right to see if the plan really works. Also, you say orientation is not so important but I would assume being in far north QLD it would get pretty hot so having your main living areas facing West might mean some pretty uncomfortable and hot afternoons. Cross ventilation is so important, especially up north and as the plan is now, you are really limiting any air flow. Have a look at our website for some ideas and consider using a bulding designer or a draftsperson if you can't afford an Architect. www.zias.com.au

Beth

Hi rikkisteph

As Beth pointed out there are a few big issues to be resolved. A quick glance (and no knowledge of block size or neighbour proximity) suggests that your ventilation will be poor. Shading and ventilation will be the key to creating a comfortable home in FNQ. You may pick up a few pointers from this one that we did a few years ago...http://www.envirotecture.com.au/kamerunga/

Good luck

How would you propose to remedy the flow issues between the bedrooms and bathroom? we have considered putting in a small toilet adjoining the garage as an extra toilet for the house.

We would have two baths because I work in bathrooms and we genuinely love having baths. The main bathroom would more likely have a smaller bath though. This bathroom layout is totally terrible I know but don't know how to make it work into the floorplan any better.

We are very much located in FAR north queensland, so cyclone ratings are being taken into consideration. However for the most part, we kind of drew window lines in for nothing more than to be making note that we would have a window there. We have no solid window ideas/plans just yet. Want to work through the floorplan issues first.

The WIP pretty much has to stay, however can be made smaller but still must be more "walk in" than those corner pantries where the door leads to nowhere.

What changes would you all suggest to make the living areas link better to the bedrooms? We would not have a front facing master bedroom though.

As already suggested, it's worthwhile to get a professional to draw up a design based on your needs (although asking here is a good too!). An experienced designer would have seen your situation before and might have a suitable layout that you can start with.

The first thing I noticed was the toilet far from the public areas, with no room for a handbasin. I'm surprised that councils allow this, but it seems quite common in Australian houses.

It might help the budget to have the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry and any other plumbing close together.

You really need to start looking at some solid measurements - it will dictate a lot of what you can and can't do. It's time to get the tape measure out, find out the easements/set-back requirements you have and look at the size of the rooms - so that you can get a firm idea of what spaces might be too small, what might be too big and what will work as well as start reconciling taste and budget.

I think you'd really be doing yourselves and your home a great disservice by not looking at professional design assistance. To keep costs down look at some of the US houseplans for layouts - you can plug in the size of the block, view requirements, level/sloping block etc just to get an idea of what works. The Australian home plan websites are a bit cookie cutter, but these will help you look at the design vernacular as well.

Hi rikkisteph

Well you have a good brief done, now you have to draw to scale to look at space issue, ventilation, scale and form (what the Building will look like)

What you could do if you are seeking to be cost effective with your design is;

1. Collect as much information about your site that you can, a copy of title plan to show north point and site size of the land that you own including any easement, copy of the real estate drawings if you have them, copy of a sewer plan, and a measured up drawing if there were previous renovations done.

2. Talk to a Building designer and do the design online maybe staging in small steps so that joy do not become to financially committed. Say do an initial Sketch Plan to scale for an agreed fee to start with.

3. Determine who would do the running around at Council if you have planning issues. (Any authority representation is always costly - this you could do if required)

4. In consultation with your Building Designer determine the level of documentation required. (you may do just Building Permit minimum requirements to start)

All this will save you money and if you do some of the running around for any authority submissions it may save you more money for the documents, if you approach the right Building Designer.

I have done a number of consultations using this method and there seem to be a financial advantage for the client.

I have a number of designs shown om my website if you care to have a look, happy to give you some time free to discuss any proposal

http://www.newhomedesign.com.au/

Be interested to know more about your proposal and location

Michael Manias mm407p@gmail.com

Manias Associates

Building Designers

At the moment, we haven't gotten to the point of having any council things, simply want to have our floor plan as close to ideal as we can before we go to these people. The site is almost theoretical at this moment in time, because the two we are looking at are identical and down the road from each other.

If we were to take our design brief to a designer or floor plan draftsman, would he/she be able to compile all of our ideas and make the ideal situation out of it all even if we haven't completely decided on our block yet? Or would they be expecting for a block to draw it onto first?

You'd be wasting your money and a designer/architects time if you cant give them something solid like you've actually purchased the block of land and have the actual details of it in terms of size, council info (easements/setbacks etc). Get the info on size and boundary requirements (ie easements - can you build right up to the boundary lines, building height restrictions etc). Get the block that offers the most pro's and/or the least restrictions (the bigger block may actually not work as well if it has more restrictions on it). Until you do this any plan is the equivalent to navel gazing - it's not moving you forward.

There are a few obvious issues with this initial design, even without knowing the site address, north, views, etc., etc.

The major one's I see is that could be problems with trying to get acceptable cross ventilation, the West facing living areas and the internally positioned bathroom and WC.

Even with skylights to bathroom and wc these will be pretty average areas to spend even a small amount of time. They could well be stuffy, uncomfortable, mould growing areas. Avoid internal rooms as much as possible (in any dwelling anywhere)!

If there are views to the west then these must be considered so some screening would be a good starting point such as something adjustable for the afternoons.

Cross ventilation is very important in all houses. Look at clerestory louvres up high and louvres down low to floor level as a starting point.

Landscaping should be equally considered. Shady trees and plants, perhaps ponds or pools that have a gentle breeze flowing over the top then funnelled to low set windows will help 'cool' the house. (A small water fountain aerating the water may work well, bit like a 'misting fan'.) Avoid hardspaces that will act as a heat soak.

You said you're on a budget but never said what it was. Even if you're spending $2 million you're on a budget.....

Get a designer on board before going to far.

Could be an architect, building designer or a draftsman. They all should know council regulations, local micro climates, budgets, the lot!

They're probably also going to be the cheapest professional you'll ever have during the project but the most valuable!!

Hi rikkisteph,

Um ..... no site determined as yet you say, or two that are close by and similar, well I would not go much further before you determine a site and a budget.

The reason for this is that you may become set on a design you cannot achieve because of site/planning/budget limitations.

Then you can become despondent by the amount of work you have already put in - or other stakeholders that might also have a say in this development might become annoyed by your approach.

So if you take your design at the moment as a "brief" and then make a list of the items you think you have achieved and those that you might still be grappling with - you will have a pretty good document to talk to a Building Designer to draw up some Sketch Plans to scale - so that you can get some idea of where you are going.

But buy the site first - then see a Building Designer.

Be interested to know more about your proposal and location

Michael Manias mm407p@gmail.com

Manias Associates

Building Designers

Having had two houses built in the last ten years, my advice is, listen to the pros. A floor plan is just a floor plan - it's the site that brings it to life (or kills it dead). Orientation matters - where the prevailing winds come from, where the sun is at different times of the day, and whether there's a slope, however small, on your lot. Our last house was absolutely dependent on the cross breezes, and was designed to be so. Saved a motza in a/c costs, and made all sides of the house liveable. Views are important, but not everything.

In addition to the excellent advice above, try to have your living and outside entertaining areas facing North. These sites can tend to be snapped up quickly, so you need to be the early bird.

It's all very well saying there is no point designing without the block BUT you say you are on a very tight budget. Having been through this twice and having to sell our dream block because we couldn't afford to actually build what we wanted on it I would have this advice.

Its VERY hard to get your absolute ideal house on a tight budget so be prepared for compromise. Work out what is most important and prioritise from the start.

Work out what you want and go to a builder and get an idea of what it will cost, if you don't have a huge amount of funds to play with i think its really important to do this FIRST as it will dictate how much you can spend on the land. Also if you are going to go down the architect path get quotes from them at this stage too... they can be very expensive! Then when you find prospective blocks you can check in with them and see how much the features of that block will affect the cost of the build. First time around we bought the block first... then didn't have enough left to build what we really wanted, so decided to sell and try again. This time around we research and picked a builder first. Then got a price for what we wanted to build. We then had our budget for the land, once found we tweaked the design to makethemost of it

We are building in always hot and sunny North Queensland, so orientation isn't a huge worry. Orientation may not be a huge worry to you, but designing your home so that it does not need to rely on air conditioning to stay comfortable certainly should be. You need to be thinking about orientation and how it relates to the sizing and placement of eaves, and also about cross ventilation. At the moment, your plan faces NW, which seems about the worst possible orientation you could choose, and there is little opportunity for through breezes. Google "passive solar design for hot climates" to learn more.

Views are to the rear of the house and therefore the master suite is ideally needing to be rear facing. Again, how comfortable will it be to sleep in a bedroom which faces west? If you want the view, there are certainly ways to achieve this, but I'd recommend you get expert advice, otherwise your bedroom may be an oven by the end of the day!

Kitchen shape and layout is my ideal kitchen, due to how I go about my day. The best way to choose a layout, well done! Just don't get so stuck on a single layout that you end up making huge compromises elsewhere to make it fit.

Bit unsure about the laundry, don't want it to feel like a prison. It seems odd that your laundry is right beside the entrance; surely it should be closer to an external door leading to an outdoor washing line in the back garden?

Bathroom layout of the main bathroom has also boggled me but room walls must remain the same. If you end up sticking with this general layout, I'd consider shifting the door, as it doesn't work at all where it is. However, I think you need to rethink the positioning of all the wet areas, as your laundry and toilet are also in pretty odd places, and all the internal rooms and hallways mean your house won't get a lot of cross ventilation.

We are on a budget and therefore want to keep our wall lines as straight as possible to allow for a normal roof and no over budget expenses up there. Smart move, but if you design a house with carefully dimensioned eaves, you can keep a simple gable or hip roof over the whole house and have a few walls 'bumped out' underneath (or conversely cut nooks into the basic shape).

As others have said, you need to design a house to fit a site so, until you have a section, you can't really plan your house design too much. Whatever you do, take the time to get the design right; a house is a huge investment and you don't want to end up with a house that isn't comfortable or doesn't suit the way you live. Good luck!

I would always check Google reviews as an indicator as well. I would never use soneone without some knowledge of their professionalism and charging of hidden extras. Ask around.

Building Designers can be accredited, see the link below from their Industry body; Building Designers Association of Australia.

http://www.bdaa.com.au/index.php/accreditation

As with all professions there can be rogues. Appropriate qualifications, education, accreditation and membership of an appropriate professional peer group are usually good indicators of professionalism and competence although no such thing as a sure-thing.

Hi spmm,

"I agree about getting help but be aware that building designers have NO
accreditation in Australia and can be appalling practitioners and very
expensive. i speak from recent experience in regional NSW.
Architects may appear to be more expensive but are capable of delivering a better result."

That is an appalling description of an Association that is registered on every state in Australia and has an Australian representative Association in Canberra, based on your personal experience - unless its based on self interest.

To the best of my knowledge all Building Designers that do Working Drawings must have Professional Indemnity insurance to provide working drawings for a building Permits, which is the only accreditation in my opinion that carries some worth for the clients, and like all organization they can be included and expelled from their respective associations and are accredited by their organizations.

As for them being "very expensive", generally I would say that the buying public is no fool and people that do not deliver are generally out the game very quickly .

You might like to inform yourself a bit further on this by contacting any of the Building Designers Association in your state or the Australian body, some are included underneath:

Australia: http://www.nabd.com.au/

Australia: http://www.bdaa.com.au/

Victoria: https://www.bdav.org.au/  (may include Tasmania)

Queensland: https://www.bdaq.com.au/

South Australia: http://www.bdasa.com.au/

Western Australia: http://bdawa.com.au/

Northern Territory: http://www.bdant.org.au/

Michael Manias - mm407p@gmail.com

Manias Associates

Building Designers

bigreader, do you have any links to these? i can never seem to find them!

definitely get an architect or a good designer..it's all about the breeze in a hot climate..or u will cook!

just consider openess of a house. you want to go into ahouse and usually go iinto a front room, kittchen or living room and have lots of free open room

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