Yes, when you have kids ..two living areas is a must..but then won't you make up for it with the Master suite upstairs ? complete with a retreat ? We are in an apartment roughly 150m2 not counting our deck and we have 4 bedrooms , 2 bathrooms 2 living areas. If not for the two areas I'd go crazy

Hi Bella, I think it is smart to be strategic in how you approach council. My suggested process as follows: 1. Talk to your neighbours, show them what you have in mind. The goal being to keep them on your side. Ask for their honest opinion- better they give it now, than tell council about it during DA. Objections can be a major issue (even just 1). 2. Engage a private Town Planner for 1 hr. Show them your sketches. Ask them to review how compliant it is. There are many layers to this, some depending on what part of Marrickville you are in- heritage, flood, etc. Then all the typical for inner west- shadowing (the biggest issue for 2-storey alts&adds), FSR, tree conservation, on-site water management, build form/bulk and scale....the list goes on. Town Planners are around $200/hr and it may be the best $200 you spend during DA. Many architects will consult TP's after the DA goes in. This has never worked well for us. You can save yourself the $200 if you want to wade through councils many volumes of DCP's and LEP's. Frankly they hurt my head! My honest advice would be to submit the most compliant plan possible. This may mean some big compromises from you.....BUT.....the end goal is to get an approval. A DA rejection is $$$ lost and time lost. Once you have your approval, you can go back Oliver Twist-style and ask for more (eg: the compromises you made) with a Section 96. If they reject a s96- it's no major $$ or time lose. You can still appeal a 96 rejection to council or court. There is less to review,meaning less expense to you. Do a Pre-DA meeting with council. You will know straight up where they are going to nit-pick you. Make the adjustments for DA, then try again in s96 if you are that committed to it. I've not commented on when you engage an architect. Probably after 2 though. Always use local professionals. They know how to manage the council. Good luck!

im also in adelaide and trying to work out what exactl defines ”semi-detached”. is the roof shared between two dwellings or do they look like two separate houses with just a shared wall? also, does the shared wall go all the way along rhe entire length of the house or do they just share the wall between garages?

watchedpoppy, here's something about heat pumps designed for cold temperatures. Note, these are reverse cycled air conditioners (air-to-air), not pool heat pumps (air-to-water). I don't know how heat pumps stack up. It's an American site, so FYI -13F equals -25C. http://www.mitsubishicomfort.com/benefits/hyper-heating On a side note, temperature is just the product of the motion of atoms & molecules (kinetic energy). These are in motion all the way down to zero Kelvin (-273C). So although it may feel cold outside, there's still energy available in the site, although heat pumps do become much less efficient when it's cold (the difference in input & output temperatures is important). One thing that has made heat pumps very inefficient in the past is that the condensing coil would ice up at around zero C. This would have to be thawed out with a plain old electric element (COP of 1). Greatly reducing the overall COP in temperatures around our below zero C. But the modern heat pumps, which use the CO2 compressors Luxury Home Heating has talked about don't have an electric element to thaw them out, greatly increasing their efficiency. As for the noise issues. Some modern heat pumps (but not all) are very quiet. So just pay close attention to the decibels they produce, listed on their spec sheets. FYI, here's a good read. Though it doesn't mention solar PV, which would be advantageous for a heat pump. https://www.pooledenergy.com/blog/choosing-a-pool-heater-what-are-the-relative-performances-of-solar-gas-electric-pool-heaters/