Hi Kate108, The layout looks good to me. My only suggestion is, is it possible to somehow switch the stairs and the powder room / linen / laundry to improve the flow from the family area at the back - where most people will spend their time - rather than off the lounge room? If you had windows instead of French doors leading out to the atrium, how would you access that space? And would you need to access it on a regular basis. French doors do look great, but if you're concern is that they take up space, then could you go for a sliding door instead?

I love that the house forms a u-shape around what could be courtyard garden / recreational zone, a pool or all of these things. This spatial arrangement will allow the space to be viewed from every room of the house. This could be a great space to reconnect with the natural environment, family members while providing passive surveillance to children or pets.

Don't worry our loft & study area was closed off to control noise, at the bottom of the stairs there was a bathroom, Laundry, rear door and a door opening into the family kitchen area. our stair case was installed next to the bathroom which was approx 2 meters wide, the stairs were doglegged so this put the stairs close to one side of the house which opened up both the downstairs and upstairs spaces. At the moment the stairs are in the middle of your house which I think breaks up the spaces, stair cases always make good storage spaces. Not sure what over head space you have in the desk area, as don't know what the roof pitch is, to over come ceiling height and to max the space our long wide desk was built into the shallow part of the ceiling with the large Pivoting Velux window above it, these windows also allow more head space and when sitting at the desk you have a lovely view. We also grabbed more space in both bedrooms by building storage into the lower part of the ridge, so the bedrooms both had QB's with Bedside tables and storage both ends of the room. I would try to get a laundry with external door, I quite like the idea of pantry,laundry sharing the same floor space, similar to where in bathrooms the bath and shower share the same floor spaces when working with small spaces. Attaching a plan of an Architect renovated house in Melbourne it's bigger than yours but I think you might like to consider some of these ideas, just to confuse you more but hey this is the time to do it. I like the kitchen with the island they flow better plus laundry and master. cheers

Hi Erin, Some very good points made by everyone. First, I'll start by recommending that your have a read of the government's Your Home website. Tonnes & tonnes of information about designing a comfortable, energy efficient home. I'll link to the orientation section, as that's what I'll discuss, but recommend that you read more. http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation A western frontage with no northern neighbour is a great block. This has allowed you to locate the garage on the SW corner, blocking the very hot afternoon summer sun, which is brilliant. But the western facing master bedroom is a major concern. Western sunshine (& eastern to some degree) is very difficult to shade, as eaves are ineffective when the sun is low in the sky. So usually it's a good idea to minimise western windows & place rarely used rooms, like bathrooms, laundries (along with the garage) facing west. But this becomes difficult for west facing houses, as you don't want to negatively effect street appeal. So I'll start by asking, do you envisage using all of your bedrooms, all the time? Or will one or the bedrooms be a guest bedroom, that will be rarely used? If one of the bedrooms is a spare bedroom, is recommend moving it to the front of the house, so that it bares the brunt of the hot afternoon sun. I'd then move the master to the SE corner, so it has an outlook to the backyard. If this can't be done is recommend following the above designs, moving either the ensuite or WIR to the W frontage, while still trying to maintain an attractive western facade. Pity you don't have access from the north. A northern entrance could have limited the length of the hallway, & brightened it up. One option I like a lot for this type of block orientation is designing a split skillion roof, with north facing clerestory (highlight) windows running down the spine of the build. These windows will greatly brighten the hallway, & also the kitchen which will be quite dark otherwise. These high level windows can also be great in summer, purging the house of heat in the evenings & throughout the night. Just make sure they have appropriate eaves, so they receive no sunshine in the warmer months. Next question. You explained a little of what's to your north. But how is the outlook. Generally it is a good idea to face your living areas, & a large portion of your windows north. If you will have a nice outlook to the north you may consider more north facing glazing. Though, do your research, as I'm not too sure of your actual climate, & you wouldn't want to overglaze. Also, orientating your glazing for cooling summer breezes is important, particularly in hot QLD. Which direction do your breezes come from, throughout the year, & throughout the day. I'd recommend finding this out by looking for the local "wind roses" on the BOM, Bureau of Meteorology. That's it for now, phone battery's about to die. Good luck