Bit of a circle thing, the engineer will have trouble commenting on what you plan to do without drawings of the existing and proposed. Never met an engineer who could not work their magic on any structure, but there will be simple and cheaper methods and then there can be some super expensive ones. Builders and engineers should be communicating as well. If i were you, i would have identified a builder, get a good architect to work with you, your budget, the builder and engineer, and town planner if this requires DA approval. Overshadowing is the shadow your structure casts on the neighbors property. Overlooking is when they can see into your property, some councils have means to prevent this and the last to build normally has to screen their windows to prevent overlooking, some require only high windows, not all councils and not all property sizes will be affected. If the architect draws in a 3D package it is a simple matter to show you where the shadows land at any time and day of the year, based on you address. If allowed to build that top story, they can show you if you shade your pool. This is a big investment from you, most likely you would be living with the results for years, i would imagine that you would want the best outcome for your family, and to engage professionals would be the way to achieve those outcomes. Thoughts and ideas from forums like this are great, but sometimes they are not aware of the outcomes of comments which might affect your whole project, and councils around the country all have different requirements. Check and check again. What is allowed in Brisbane with height and upper floor window sizes on smaller blocks, will not be allowed in Melbourne, or Sydney councils. Shadowing while really not an issue in Brisbane, will be a huge issue in Melbourne, so get a local team. Ros

Even though I love the look of a container and they have a lot going for them, the dollar's just didn't add up for them to be a cost effective solution when compared to standard building practice's. They are just a bit to narrow which is where the main issue stemmed from. Joining two together work's but again paying a metal shop to do it bumped up the cost's with structural steelwork, engineering detailing/shop drawing's, etc. I used to be a boilermaker welder many year's ago so know what was needed....... Shame they didn't work out cost wise as I can see the attraction. Nevertheless, I would investigate both option's of using a container as the starting point, then compare it to if you used standard building processes of timber frame and cladding with the same dimension's......

yes, lots of glass..a couple of suggestions to the south side, change double glass doors to timber, matching the garage door, keeping the sidelight windows. Landscaping will definitely help, perhaps a timber screen could be used as well. I think if you stick with the original design, and enhance it with double glazing will work wonders. The sunroom can be extended out to give more space, make a side door to access the courtyard, and possibly another side door to access the patio behind the garage. I wouldn't mess with trying to turn the courtyard into living space, can gym equipment be setup in the garage? Not sure the rules about doors opening onto a spa in the courtyard either..it could be subject to restrictions.

Like others , I absolutely love the colours , the rounded cabinet and mirrored wall unit , but the square tiles and subways meeting in that corner distracts from the beauty of the niche . You say the client fell in love with the square tiles -- I can understand that , but I'd suggest doing a row or two of them around those 2 walls ( maybe just below the height of the niche ) would have made it look like it was planned -- right now it basically looks like someone under-ordered tiles , so had to do the next wall in a different one . In fact , it's slightly worse than that , because one goes to the floor , the other stops 600mm above it and is white below , and us OCD people don't like that haha !