@oklouise, please see update floorplan and first floor here.

How do you feel about taking dirty washing through the pantry? I've seen it on plans before so obviously it doesn't bother everyone, but I hate it.

One wow factor I'd like to see more of is freestanding bathtubs that are freestanding. I don't think trendy freestanding bath tubs pushed up against a wall look good plus there is the ease of cleaning problem. I'm not sure how far out from the wall you are able to put your bath tubs? Do you really want one in the en suite too? The whole layout seems inconvenient and there's only one basin.

if you get some furniture on the plan and then we'll be able to provide more accurate comments....at a glance there are some inconsistencies and that random support post in the middle of the living/dining is an obvious cheap way or resolving the structure/space that is inconsistent with getting your "wow" factor

@Paul Di Stefano Design , Thanks for your feedback

I am not sure how i can get the furniture to the plan. Hopefully my draft person will be able to help.

Just to describe, I am thinking of keeping L shaped sofa opposite to the TV cabinetry. TV cabinetry will be on the wall parallel to dining area.

Front formal living area, one side sofa and other side chair, sofa will be facing internal courtyard.

I did not realize that there would be a pole between Family and living area structural support. I have to check with my drafts person. I think the pole spoils the look and feel of opening living space?

Do you think void over dining looks good? and 3m ceiling height to Family area adds anything or spoils?

the void and 3m ceiling doesn't add anything useful to the rooms and there's some basic furniture options in my suggestions

Where are you, what's the climate? As already said, voids and high ceilings affect heating/cooling. I think they are still fashionable now but sometime in the future they will come to be seen as mostly impractical and wasteful. Have you given any thought to the northern windows?

Voids can be impressive and and we regularly use them, exploiting/highlighting the vertical aspect to inject a sense of space....but they need to be designed/configured in a balanced way - the way it's been done on your place is offset and out of scale and not necessarily best positioned to achieve the effect that you would want considering how much they cost to achieve.....

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Get some properly scaled furniture on the plan to help you visualise better how the space will be used and whether the rooms work properly...this is great way to work out window placements and ultimately (as I've said before) furniture should be one of the first things designers put on the drawing in order to design a house properly

macymacmaples, i am building in Sydney northwest. For Northern windows in living area, i am thinking 2 or 2.4m height windows lining up to Alfresco door height being 2.4m.

Window in the living considering full length (may 4.5m wide?) , something like below photo and the plan

Paul Di Stefano Design, thanks for your input on the void. Do you suggest any alternative void for my plan at all or better not to go with void for this plan.

Personally i like voids but not sure how that turn out to be for my current plan. I would rather prefer to give up void than spoil the look and feel of it, if it is not at the correct place. Highly appreciate your help.

Thanks
Satyam

It was a somewhat rhetorical question. :-) Has your draftsperson shown you how far the sun will penetrate in different seasons and discussed making use of that in winter and protecting against it in summer? That should include furniture placement (as we found out with the annoying glare at certain times of the day on the television screen, I'd have given that more thought if I'd known).

Oklouise very kindly did a floor plan for you which shows furniture which should give you some idea of what can fit. The following house "Toorak" by MEB Architects WB is a good example of an open staircase instead of a void.

Just be aware - drafters "draft", designers "design" - they are completely different types of service. but commonly confused/assumed to be versions of the same thing just because they both use CAD.............to answer your question re the void, it depends on the priorities for the space/house and the answer one way or the other is resolved/clarified in a design process......as I said voids can be great "wow factors", but they will be more effective if configured to achieve something specific such as a central spatial element, or say a long slot that pulls light down from above in a narrow area that you cannot get a window into..... it's always worth getting some professional design advice - advice that deals with the EXPERIENCE of your home, and not just mechanical drawing up the walls and doors etc so that you can get a permit to build it.......the fact that your drafty hasn't got furniture on the plan says it all - there is little consideration in the here as to how exactly YOU are going to be living and experiencing your home.......

What sort of project brief was this design derived from? Was it just a broad "4 bedrooms, 2 living a garage" etc....? Or was it more detailed with specific information about what size furniture each space should be configured to accommodate? There are a lot of inconsistencies - like the 2 baths, which is luxurious, but the undersized laundry that you have to walk through the kitchen then the pantry to access....honestly, the void is the least of your issues really.......

If you are interested in how professional design services can benefit your build happy to provide further information if you want to contact us directly - we can offer remote and ad-hoc design advice,.......ultimately at the end of the day, your home will be defined by the quality of the design

Hope this provides some food for thought

Cheers PD

www.pauldistefanodesign.com

I’d avoid voids between two living areas as noise between the two can be annoying. Upstairs if you can make sure the living area can be closed off for the bedrooms. A couple of extra doors, even if left open most of the time, can help with sleeping whilst others are still up.

Laundry think about how washing is taken downstairs and back upstairs. I’m all for a dumb waiter, do they still exist?, a chute only goes down. Love oklouise bathrooms. Master needs double vanity needed. Open shower on short side and extend vanity and centre window over,

oklouise, Highly appreciate your feedback and special thanks for your floor plan. Wish i was be able to see the measurements, especially those in bathrooms, not very clear from the photo you posted.

As part of draft1 changes, I have sketched below floor plan for first floor. Mainly changed the layout of en suite. I did this few days back but, i may have to consider some of your suggestions.

I liked your idea of WIW and balcony in master. I need to check if that impacts my Facade. I preferred contemporary facade (yet to receive it from draft person).

I will reduce the hallway on first floor, but on the ground floor i wanted the grand entrance that is why i kept 2m at entrance and as you walk it reduces to 1.5m parallel to staircase. Do you think that will be too much space (1.5 hallway + 1m under-staircase = 2.5m) right under staircase where it reaches first floor? May be, i can incorporate any decorative elements (where you placed a single chair in your plan)?

3m ceiling height in family is only to get bit of grand feeling and i can get recessed ceiling with LED strip lighting, that was original thing behind it. - Keen to know your thought on this.

Kitchen - my spouse wants the bench top facing family and dining area, i have also kitchen (cook-top) in alfresco. the current layout will help with easy access to outdoor kitchen from main kitchen?. That was the thought process, open for suggestions.

In second draft, i asked to extend the outdoor kitchen (bench top) out by half a meter (towards west fencing) so that outdoor kitchen is kind of ducted out and not visible from hallway. May be , i am think too much here??

Laundry - i liked your idea and seriously consider this.

Fixed window next to staircase - you have put 2 narrow long windows? i was originally thinking, similar wide window that you have put in family area? Which one do you think will appeal more as it in the hallway?

Keen to hear from you.

Thanks in advance

SS

I'm disappointed that things like orientation and heating costs don't have a place in this grand design.

your references to grand entry, facade and wow factor are good for showing visitors but my suggestions are all aimed at comfort, ease of use and better value for the family living in the home every day...the extra wide entry will not be much help when the garage is too small for opening the cars doors or carrying groceries from car into the house but I suggest that you focus on one area at a time.starting with upstairs...

you will see in the master suite that there is 13m of WIW storage wall and the wiw is more comfortable size for a dressing area, there's space beside the bed for side tables, a private toilet, twin handbasins and double shower in the ens and room on the balcony for outdoor furniture...all this extra space has been provided by reducing the central hallways which are still super generous ...check these details and then i would be happy to explain other areas but focus on the floor plan before the facade

macyjean the rear of the house faces north is being built in north west Sydney so the orientation should be ok but could use more options for closing separate areas for zoning heat and sound

macyjean, as oklouise mentioned that the rear of the house faces north. The winter sun covers the family living area, and for summer sun, I will consider appropriate eaves so that I summer sunlight is blocked adequately.

Please let me know your thought, curious to understand what made you think that it is poor orientation. I specifically picked this block because it has the north rear aspect.

the orientation isn't too bad - nor is the zoning - it's more in the articulation, scaling and configuration of certain aspects of the floor plan where the issues lie....re voids/mezzanines etc - ultimately it's personal preference about whether you prioritise openness/spaciousness over separation.....something that would teased out early in the design process.........I agree though that the plan could be more spatially efficient........rather than think of rooms by specific size, spaces are better considered by means of function and how exactly they are to be used - only then are you designing properly to requirements, and of course you need to have these requirements be defined before you can then resolve the design to achieve them....

oklouise, the more I read your plan for master ensuite the more I am convinced now. reducing the hallway and balcony really make sense. 1.8m for the hallway is decent enough for this size house. Anyway, I am planning to use a single door for entrance, so 1.8m hallway should be decent enough. I like the idea because it allows increasing storage space in mutiple areas including garage, bedroom.

now check every room and plan how you will use each space and decide if that room will be used regularly or could you combine some functions eg living and media rooms? This will be a very generous sized home with a very generous price tag and reduction of overall size would allow more outdoor space and garden and perhaps you could focus more on quality finish and, if Mrs Sadhu has other preferences for the kitchen i can redraw them to suit .

I've created a complimentary interactive 3D model of your original design to help you understand the space better. Hope it helps ;)

https://order.planto3d.com/view/CC090B43

it's the little things that make the big differences in the house living experience.........generally the layout/zoning is OK, but its in the resolution of certain details and the scaling where it's falling short......for example the laundry for a house this size shouldn't be configured like a small/tight site house - it deserves it's own independent entry (like as suggested by oklouise in her plan) and a better scaling.....the lower floor bedroom is not very pleasant access right next to the garage - it would be better to say have the laundry/utility with etc garage and the bedroom moved away from the garage.....

Also the stair - the issue here is that squeezing down the corridor/transition from entry into main living with a long run stair gives the feeling that space is tight and that your in a town house or terrace.......to get a sense of space you always pull stairs out of the line of sight and draw your eye out through to the long view - you walk into a space looking under neath a stair - it screams "run out of space" when in this case you have actually enough room to swing 20 cats.....

My opinion is that you could potentially reduce 20% of wasted space out of the floor plan, still maintain the desired function and actually make it feel 50% bigger with a higher quality design resolution....but it requires a proper front end design process

There's also a whole lot more you could do with something like this where you could play with mezzanine/voids but scale/position them effectively so you actually get the benefit of experiencing them as you move through the house....also the master suite on something like this could integrate a proper retreat/library to give the feel of luxury...

The issue here is that you've gone big, but not necessarily that great.....bigger is not always better, and to achieve well balanced spatial proportion to the human scale, we are dealing with developing both a sense of intimacy/cosiness with openness & spaciousness in different areas.......this is what makes living spaces both functional and appealing

Your plan unfortunately doesn't have this balance quality, but it will still cost a fair amount of money due to its size.....and hence arguably not that great value for money

Instead of an up stairs balcony off the master why not use a Glass Juliet balcony which brings that space back into the bedroom and can be opened when you want the feeling of sitting on deck, you would need to add a window for ventilation cheers

oklouise, when we originally starting sketching, we thought about
how we are going use each space and multiple uses of each space. We wanted a reasonable family living area having access to both-side courtyards so that
kids and adults have options. I personally i feel that we spend
most of the time at home in family area/kitchen that’s why opted for generous sizes of living
and dining areas and proportionate kitchen. Remaining rooms/zones had some purpose and use in mind.

Kitchen – when we visited few display homes we liked houses
with kitchens (island bench) facing living and dining not so much of kitchen
facing alfresco. We use cooktop in alfresco regularly, especially over
weekends.

Originally, My wife liked to have access to laundry from pantry, for some reason.

We have few restriction for pooja room (prayer room), it cannot
be next to toilets/laundry, under the staircase or right under toilet on first
floor. In my original plan I placed the pooja room in the same place where you place
in your plan. But later thought I can use study desk either as study nook or
mini bar? That’s why I have swapped it, I remember now.

Do you think hallway transition parallel to staircase – is it
too small and narrow? I was thinking to use wide fixed window next to staircase
that would bring in brightness and open feeling to the hallway.

If you could help with kitchen re-draw will be grateful. Appreciate your comments again.

Cheers

SS

I have enlarged the garage, it can be bigger and moved the stairway across to the other side to open up the internal (walled off from the neighbours) courtyard and let more light into the internal part of the house. In it's new position the staircase will be hidden from the front entrance.

The Pooja has been moved and trying to stay within your conditions, ie: not next to toilet laundry, so I have sectioned the new laundry into two parts just in case, Laundry and linen room but if it's not a problem just have it as one room. You have access from the kitchen via the pantry to the laundry and out doors for rubbish bins and cloths drying.

I have moved the fridge for better access to the Alfresco, and have added narrow cabinets where the fridge was, this would be good for food storage and easy access, I have also moved the desk so that you are not sitting in the passage way.

This would mean changing some of the first floor layout. cheers

The new staircase would be dependent on which ceiling height you decide on but that can be easily resolved.

Following up with moving the stairs away from the internal courtyard to open it u to the house instead of currently blocking the courtyard. My suggestions for the first floor, cheers

re the balcony/terrace - these can be quite expensive to achieve over the top of a lower building - if you extend just say open decking as a purely external structure then you're not dealing with waterproofing/drainage detailing to the lower floor...arguably we only do an upper terrace when/if the budget permits and you can really justify the the function/benefit

the other issue that's being missed on this one is the likely non- compliance of the upper level building side setback...which then if you pull the line back adds further complexity to the structure...

Whilst both oklouise's and siriuskey's layouts have some well considered layout improvements, as a custom build this home is likely going to cost a lot, and I'm guessing going to blow the budget.......which is why we are constantly pushing the point/ recommending/suggesting that people use design professionals to design the home.........This "new way to design your home" business is not a bypass/replacement for professional industry knowledge and experience in regards to the practicalities, regulation and costs of construction - but it's easily mistaken that it a potential cost saving strategy..........

It's relatively easy to "cut & paste" elements of off the shelf plans design to suit a set of requirements with disregard to context and budget........., but it's a completely different thing and (balancing) process to successfully design to project brief compliantly within context and within budget limitation.......and that involves a certain upfront cost and investment for the project appropriately

I would recommend not having a balcony just a juliet style window/door done in glass as friends have. This allows for more much used interior space and negating the extra expense of the balcony, cheers

siriuskey, thanks of the layout for first and ground floor. The reason i have staircase next to courtyard is i would have nice courtyard view while going up and down. I will have 3m wide and 2.4m high fixed glass window (ground floor one first floor one) which would provide good lighting. Do you agree? I have entrance 2m/1.8m and reduces to 1.5m where i use floating staircase that gives open space feeling while walking into inside house.

Also staircase going up from family area not from entrance. I liked your ideas around using space for library and study etc in the first floor. Do you think Library in front of master bedroom/entrance void is good? I liked it, but playing devil's advocate here, i guess.

Through out the ground floor, ceiling height is 2.7m and only family living area (next to void - dining) will be 3m which i use as recessed ceiling (led strip light in the recess). Do you think that looks ok?

Thanks

SS

With the internal courtyard why do you need a void above the dining area, the courtyard will be double story.? The staircase against the glass window, is OK if you don't have another choice, if you move it across the passage you will open up the whole window and view/light. Love the lights, it's your house and you should decorate it how you will enjoy it.

For me the library reading area is perfect outside the bedrooms and also receives natural light. cheers

dreamer, siriuskey, below are few photos where i got my design ideas. i visited these houses and really liked them. Hoping to achieve a similar look and feel. these two different plans, the first photo has a void over a dining but no access to the courtyard dining. Second and third photo from another plan, similar layout but have access to the courtyard but no void. How do you compare these?

attached kitchen and laundry as requested but you'll see a red line across the kitchen and family room that shows where the upstairs rooms end and the potential 3m ceiling could start...your plan will not allow the 3m ceilings over the whole kitchen and family room ...there is a void at the front door and the two storey void for the stairwell and courtyard but a 3m ceiling halfway across the kitchen and family room don't make any sense...the 2.7m ceilings through all of downstairs with extra ceiling height panels of glass above all the major windows and external doors could be excellent but attempting 3 m ceilings in half a room would look like a mistake and the whole plan would need to change

oklouise, Thanks for the updated plan. May i know what is the line across dining opposite to the staircase??

I get your point now about the 3m ceiling height. Do you think if I have a 3m ceiling height in the family area excluding the hallway that leads to alfresco? The idea of 3m height is only creat volume of space so that room looks bigger, but I am not sure if that is sounding okay or relevant in the context of my floor plan. What do you say? In the above photos, there is recessed ceiling, i am hoping to achieve something simial, i guess

the red lines across the plan shows where the upstairs room fit and you can't raise the ceiling in half the family room unless you want bed 4, the leisure room and bathrooms to be at a different floor height to the master and other bedrooms ....you can only have the taller ceiling heights in places where there is no rooms above...the plan needs to change so that the upstairs rooms end before the 3m rooms start...teh best way of making the spaces look bigger and better is uncluttered design that will be so much easier if you could sit down with a professional designer who can show you how your ideas can be translated into reality...based on the expected cost of your home a professional designer will be a very worthwhile investment

siriuskey, Yes, the courtyard is open to the sky (no roof over it), I assume this is what you mean by double story.

Ref. below photos, I would love to get this look, especially the first and last photo, where you can see family living space from the first floor. I can't achieve this in my plan as it eats a lot of floor space upstairs. The referred plan (photos) has a very big void combining staircase, hallway and dining area. I know it is not easy with cooling and heating when you have such a big void. So, I explored a few ideas (with my limited knowledge on this topic) before achieving the current floorplan.

I have also thought about, in my current plan, extending the void on the staircase to the dining area (it is more like L shape) but i wasn't sure if that makes any difference. keen to hear your thoughts.

dreamer, totally agree with you. these things come with extra costs. Just trying to strike the right balance between cost, comfort and looks to the possible extent. Realised, it is not that easy ;0

if you didn't need the upstairs living area and 4th bedroom it may be possible to rearrange the rooms to allow the 3m ceiling over the family dining rooms and kitchen ...

oklouise, now this made think, if it is really worth to have 3m height at the cost of upstair living + 4th bedroom?

now you're thinking!!...as i said before you need to plan exactly how the spaces will be used and then IF suitable you can add some decorative features but the 3m ceiling is wasteful and doesn't improve the house

Looking at the photos that you posted above with the full height windows on the courtyard wall next to the dining table, you could still do this but with a narrower void of approx 1 m !!, this would still give you a good effect.

This ground floor plan showing the "L" shaped void by joining the stair case 1m to the 1m above the dining.