Hi Complete Kitchens....Yes, I realise that 20k could get a good standard kitchen (our own one recently done was about 26k including scullery), I'm more talking about the ones that talk about doing kitchen, bathroom, painting and even moving some walls on 20k. What my point was, is its great when people like you actually give an idea of a cost of a project - it's easy to get fired up with inspiration and then get thoroughly dissapointed when reality hits! Things are expensive these days and I think for some who may not have done any renovations to their house for years, they don't really have a lot of idea of the costs involved.

Hi Doug Sorry, but my first question is why are you commencing construction without the engineering a) resolved and b) approved? If it has been approved then it is a variation and you are quite within your rights to question the engineer as to why the changes are now being put forward compared to the original approved drawings and what are the alternatives. If he has made a change to the original approved design then there needs to be a very good reason he hasn't issued revised drawings to both you and the drafty before sending anything to the fabricators. If he has sent revised drawings then I would be asking some very hard questions of my drafty. If it has not been approved and is being done on the fly then this method of construction is fraught with danger both from an approval and $$$$ perspective by proceeding without a fully resolved design. Your draftsman should be integrating the engineering into their drawings and discovering any clashes BEFORE final drawings are released for approval by the local authority and working around any issues. If there is an approval in place then there has to be engineering drawings around. Additionally, I certainly wouldn't be sending any drawings from an engineer direct to fabricators without them having correlated with the architecturals and without the drafty being in the loop. There is a breakdown somewhere that needs to be fixed otherwise it is going to cost. If i recall correctly, this is a floating concrete cantilevered floor? I would be surprised if anyone on here is going to be able to offer an engineering solution without seeing the whole design and/or loads. In truth, I would be having a chat with your engineer and see why the change or engage him to find a solution to what you now have. I would also be putting aside the design priority and focusing on what is going to work from the engineering perspective. That is the priority for this type of build. There are always ways to accommodate protrusions by making them a feature or covering them with a false facade/beam. Would need to see elevations to offer suggestions. As to the height I would suggest you post some sections of the whole room with elevations. Cheers

These are 2 designs of modular sofas from Berkowitz I've been considering. Any other suggestions? What about Fanuli - anyone had an experience with this brand?

Pavilions are popular in Australia because they create breezeways which are a passive cooling technique and also because we have outdoor living 9 months+ of the year in almost all states. It makes no sense to live mainly indoors when outdoor rooms are very usuable in this country. The concepts comes from the tropics where courtyards and pavilions were the main way that cooling was done prior to electricity and refrigeration. I think they are a very suitable idea in our climate. Certainly much better than the enclosed box built boundary to boundary requiring reverse cycle air conditioning to make them livable. I'd place the laundry in a euro-laundry cupboard on one of the decks. No reason at all to have the washing machine inside in Australia. It needs to be remembered a lot of idea's about laundries being accessible to bedrooms or kitchens come from cold weather countries where the ability to dry clothes outside isn't an option much of the year so having access to things like driers from inside where it is warm is more important.