Budget for construction? Also is finance already arranged (in an account not just a verbal from bank) as I've had a few come through recently having difficulty with banks lending as much as earlier this year..... sort it first if at all possible.

instead of a 4m flat ceiling in the extension i'm wondering if a simple skillion roof extension with raked ceiling would allow for the highest part of the new ceiling to be above doorway height from the new living area with steps down to the new family room with minimum height ceiling of 2.4 m at the kitchen sink and i think your original ideas, despite necessary compromises, has much better connection to the garden for a young family.. my only variation would be to use the walkway through the old kitchen as a study nook with a modest laundry, retain the existing dining room wall and keep all fixtures away from window... including a rearrangement for the family bathroom to, hopefully have enough space to retain the old outside laundry door for external access to a toilet instead of squeezing an extra toilet into the central laundry space ... the extra cavity sliding doors between rooms can be useful to zone noise and heating and also consider rearranging the old wardrobes for more comfortable bedroom spaces

if you ever have to configure a "traverse" set-up through a main living area it's recommened that the path is as straight as possibly and any out of line or diagonal pathway between the room entries is avoided...I agree with Retro in that it's pushing the envelope spatially with the extension it's tight and the scaling will be out of balance with the overall residence......you may be better here to consider separating the dining/kitchen from the main living (general concept to what you've started with, possibly still having these connected but on different levels - it will free it up and possibly more flexibility in regards to function. You may be better also to pull the laundry out of the middle and have it zoned with the kitchen for better external access. We've done plenty of designs with laundry set-ups kind of doubling like a butlers (when space is tight)

Good luck! Cheers PD:)

glad you like my copy of your plans...i did try alternate positions for the laundry but this compromise gives every day better access to the garden from all the living areas in return for an occasional longer walk with groceries and washing basket and the walk thru study and living area ...what's the condition of the old deck? is the old deck good enough to salvage and rebuild off the living area and around to the old laundry steps? and what's the shape of the original house and old extension roofs, what are the walls and roof built out of and how many steps from the old deck to ground level??

Whatever you do, DON’T have your builder design this......sure keep them involved primarily for the purpose of cost control, but advise you seek pro design assistance- you’ll get the best balance and value outcome for your spend - the risk you have here is a higgledy piggledy tack on extension unless the form is carefully managed. Costs won’t necessarily correlate exactly to size on these jobs - a fair bit for you to work through here

good design is the foundation of every renovation and new build but having been sadly disappointed with several architects and designers we always include the builder in the decisions before finalising any design or submitting any DAs to make sure that the design can be constructed without expensive mistakes

I'm curious oklouise - it appears you have had several poor experiences with design professionals that has (understandably) affected your trust/opinion on our part of the industry. What exactly "expensive mistakes" are you referring to? I'd have to say with a thorough process and proper understanding of context, regs and costs, and of course proper communication making sure that the client understands clearly what and why certain decisions have been made and what the end result will be..........disappointment in this game generally can be pegged to mismanagement of expectations in various ways as a result of lack of competency somewhere along the way.......it's a tricky area, made even harder when people are once bitten twice shy or "spooked" by horror stories and consequently choose to bypass critical design investment.....ultimately ALL projects will be defined by the quality of the design - it's the core/essence that any project outcome (whether poor or brilliant) can be traced back to..... and as I always say there are two fundamental things that are critical to the professional relationships we operate with and they are 1. Trust and 2. Money.....

Possibly what we do is a much more thorough service than the average because I've had to say we have NEVER had a client walk away disappointed with the "design" outcome, more often than not their expectations are far surpassed as a result of what we do....and any disappointment which may occur along the way (and of course it happens - it's building!) typically comes down to a construction execution issue or people not accepting that compromise is part of the design process...... which is why as a professional I'll say with certainty we understand most intricately how to manage/negotiate the inevitable series of compromises to achieve the best outcomes....but of course its a bit of a two way street and involves the client inherently trusting in the design process and allowing us to help guide them through it all......

without too much long winded detail...a short list of complaints with design professionals on personal projects include roof designed so the ceiling ended up too low in a bathoom, another with the laundry space too small to open a door, roof angles not matching existing building, floor heights not matching, extra concrete piers needed for slabs on slopes, not enough headroom to have continuous floor for an extension that resulted in an unexpected step when the design was specifically intended for wheelchair use, another roof designed so we needed an extra structural beam and last minute changes to the size of highlight windows, plans drawn and paid for and then being told by council that DA application and extra fees were not required..Our problem has never been with overblown expectation of getting what we paid for but having trusted and paid professionals to make proper structurally sound and legally correct designs we are wary of committing to a final design without first consulting with the authorities, builders and tradesmen and my suggestions are always offered as ideas with which HOUZZERS can approach their own professionals who may be able to offer the sort of risk free service that you suggest

wow....it's beyond disappointing when you're let down such as how you have described......very much highlights the challenges and inconsistencies associated with the industry......I met with people just last week who had described a similar issue with a previous architect completely stuffing up the roof pitch on paper...it happens, and the human error risk is high, and it's a fine line between a smooth ride and something that completely unravels.........

We put high emphasis and value of informed decision-making at all points of the process - what I think is confusing for people with this stuff is that it's (a) not that simple and (b) there are responsibilities required of BOTH the client and the designer. From our observations over the years we've been doing what we do, it's clear that at times the right information is not being dealt with or being sought or is missing or underestimated, and there's a lack of understanding and clarity as to the extent of who's responsibility is what on both sides and how the whole process is most effectively pursued and tied together in order to minimise various risks along the way. There's a whole lot of person/company "A" relying on information/advice from person/company "B"....I suppose as a designer we see ourselves (for the projects we service/take on) as somewhat as a "general manager" to the whole process to help direct and work towards specific outcomes for clients.......but it requires careful attention to detail and a thorough approach that ultimately translates to time and cost - and this is why it's so hard to compare professionals and weigh up value/costs because you're not necessarily comparing apples and apples.......we believe there's actually only one way to do it, and that involves proper investment in competent professional service.....any Pro design service that seems cheap/low is probably arguably not worth it at all......however you invest properly in a thorough service, with a well matched operator (for the project/client) with proven results, well it's by far the best way to protect your project investment.....

But i can totally understand your healthy caution in how you go about things and I think it's about understanding these projects involve a great deal of collaboration and the level of communication and working relationships will very much influence the outcome one way or the other

while appreciating the discussion we shouldn't use Bhg's post for other stories and should focus on the specific options for their home and, after reading that a little more floor area is possible, another option could be to include the laundry with the new kitchen, allowing a better "out of the way" space for the stairs and use the old kitchen for a wiw for the new master bedroom and the central powder room as originally requested

.....not at all meaning to stray, but rather endeavouring to provide professionally grounded advice.....I suppose this is where from our position our view is that specific layout/options are only considered valid when developed with comprehensive understanding of the context and constraints involved.....because without being properly grounded design strategies will have the rug pulled from under them and result in issues and/or missed opportunities, and so coming back to my advice, which I consider 100% relevant, is first get the critical info/data sorted, and then work towards a solution. Where we observe people getting it wrong on these types of reno/extenion hybrids is around decisions one way or the other on cost effectiveness with program distribution, and understanding decisions on what to keep or not and whether it's false economy to change something one way or another beyond a certain point......

This one has a certain degree of difficultly with the site fall - it's not a simple flat extension. But design options are a plenty and an exciting opportunity..... I'd be potentially looking at how to better "feather' and graduate the level differences creatively/cleverly so it's not so agressive spatial splits and underpinning the whole thing should be how best to connect the internal spaces better with the external level and minimise the level differences.........specific room layouts (should) come secondary to resolving this, and it's why zoning, flow, movement, stairs and steps are the first thing to sort, THEN you build the all other stuff around/integrated with it........how many times do we see the post "Help, I can;t work out the stairs".....just a few thoughts...Bhg hope our comments are considered helpful Cheers PD:)

you're very welcome. now you need to enlist the aid of professionals who can help identify all the challenges in your project but don't forget that the family is the most important part of your home so be patient with each other during the process

just in case you're lucky enough to have a lottery win..another options would be to add a two storey extension with a new bathroom in the old dining area and keep the old laundry with the toilet and shower and the old skinny bedroom retained or converted to a kids lounge but this variation would probably need a whole new roof over the old family room to alter the run off for rain but could be worth considering

Hi there, at last!!, For me I don't like the idea of having to walk through the house and then down to a lower level to kitchen Dining family.

I think you could expand the current kitchen adding a dining, family and deck across the width of the house.

Seeing that you will be adding a new ensuite I have also moved the family bathroom next to it, shared plumbing and the new laundry opposite them.

The new kitchen will use existing plumbing.

The family bathroom has been done Japanese style with bath and shower next to each other, this allows for both ensuite and family bathrooms to have an external window for fresh air light and ventilation.

I have moved the 3rd bedroom across to where the old bathroom was to allow for extending the kitchen family across the width of the building as you can't have a bedroom without an external window.

Now in it's place is a Study and Laundry, I have them both opening from the family and passageway but that's up to you, I kind of like pocket doors both ends.

You could still add a Rumpus room on the lower level with hip height wall between the kitchen dining overlooking this. cheers