After I had finished my Archi Masters I was working for an architecture firm who also did a small amount of work for a volume builder. They were actually a pretty good quality builder and at least got the orientation of their 'pre-designed' plans correct. We had the ability to make minor changes to every job and it pained me to see so many simple to implement passive options not being incorporated. Had most of their clients known that they would be saving MONEY over the longterm by making a few minor changes to suit their site, they all would have done it. The problem is unless someone can sell this idea to them as a financial/lifestyle choice, many just think it is about saving the world. It is a no-brainer if you have in interest in it, but for those who don't know, there is no-one there selling it to them, especially on the lower end of the market.

This is very similar to our floor plan (yet to start building) ... same as you we have our backyard to the north, kitchen to the east, dining table in the middle, lounge to the west. And we had the exact same dilemma where to put the couches. We decided on position 1 but in an L shape with a couch along the west wall and north wall. And we will have two arm chairs or ottomans in your couch position 2. We decided on this because it feels more open and didn’t want the TV to be a main focal point. Don’t necessarily want to see the back of the couch either.

There are certain "standardised" specifications and construction details that if executed by a volume builder can be achieved extremely cost effectively. Once you stray from these "rules" however, with things such as higher ceilings, skillion roof forms, high level windows or whatever, it immediately enters "custom build" territory, that will of course equate to higher cost. The "reasonableness" of this however needs to be rationalised from project to project, from builder to builder. Additional $90/m2 for skillion roof stick framed vs standardised truss construction is probably actually quite reasonable, if it involved reasonable spans, and it takes far more time/labour to properly pitch a roof from scratch (with a raked internal ceiling) in comparison to just throwing up pre-fabricated trusses, that involve barely any tools other than a nail gun. I'd suggest as a general comment, rather than rule out options at such an early stage, it's better to develop a vision and see how close you can get to it, get the design/plan sorted first, and then see where it's sitting and what opportunities there are to have raised ceilings or whatever it is and then methodically and logically work through prioritised spec adjustments if budget is becoming pushed with the scale/quality balance of the design. Be careful not to just make big design decisions because someone tells you it's cheaper or better or not or whatever one way or the other. Yes budget is always important, but don't allow fear of blow-outs potentially hamstringing/compromising the design process/journey and automatically ruling out opportunity. With the right designer you may come to find that with more efficient planning you actually can afford some of the interesting/custom features that appeal as well as all the function you require for your family.

Hello Bianca, I thought that the site plan above was Azam's! I thought beauty: now I can get this plan right for him and the site at last. it has been going back fwd up down for ages! So I sat here and scribbled away as I love to do and blow me down! I am looking at your site dims and directions instead!! So here is a plan suggestion for your site with no idea where you are, what you are wanting, what you like but a few of Azam's requirements! Have a look: it will use your northerly aspect far better than the outline on above: There is more space to the north and west..... much better for passive solar design: read much lower power bills..... Cheers Margot