@Lynne: thank you for your thoughts and comments. This house was built with some feng shui in mind, thus these roof lines - and roof orientation. We are aware that those columns are in the way. At a first glance, the one in front of that two panel door is not load bearing, this could be removed (seriously-who on earth places a pillar in front of a sliding door?!?!?!). The other one on must remain while both on the balcony are required; although we're planning on redesigning the balcony, thus can remove/ change the location on those columns/pillars can be reinforced and then moved. We're using a 3D software (sketch up or Revit) to play with potential designs to get a feel for the look (as we don't want to waste the time of a drafts person) before commissioning someone. Although I believe we will require a designer/ assistance of where items such as the BBQ could be build (kitchen faces the SE side of the house) to ensure a good flow inside out of the house... Thanks again! Much appreciated ;-)

One thing I have always quite fancied is a servery window from the kitchen to an outdoor area. I think from a practical point of view having the alfresco area adjacent to the kitchen makes sense, taking food out and bringing dirty dishes in. As the pool will need to be fenced, it makes sense to have it beyond the alfresco area and then you can see the munchkins in the pool from your seat. My neighbours have a 12m lap pool with a swim out area, which is lovely and great for splashy games.

Thank you very much for your suggestions. I do like the idea of the indoor flowing out to the outdoor so not sure a separate alfresco would suit. Something a bit off center towards the western end may work. I am also loving the idea of skylights in the house roof. Also considering keeping the main roof structure as is and adding a flyover roof for the alfresco that is quite high and slopes up to the north... I thought if not enough sun gets into the house in winter I could put a couple of skylights or translucent strips near the house end of the flyover.

Can your architect model the light coming in with different angles of the sun throughout the year? Also want to avoid heat build up and light damaging furniture and art. We had light coming in from high windows onto the dining table and it was really annoying and had to put shutters on.