the lower section of the higher roof would look better without the flat parapet and the windows look out of proportion for such a substantial home...but windows should be designed from inside out..a floor plan showing direction of north and any views would help understand the building better but taller shorter and /or wider double hung or awning windows could improve the side view and the window above the sliding door looks too small...consider something like this

Thank you Oklouise for your advices. I like your ideas of changing the window sizes. I've attached the floor plan. Upstairs is the master bedroom. The side windows at ground floor are another two bedrooms. Where the corner of the porch is south facing, hence not much lighting (in Australia). I like the ideas of using sliding down ceiling also for the lower part of the house. This area is only about 3 meters (lower side) compare to 5 meters on the higher side. Do you think the sliding ceilings will look proportionally from the front? Thank you.

Thank you Dr Retro for your valuable feedback. There is a 7.5 meters setback from the street. This is not a house in Vaucluse, rather in an ordinary suburbs in Sydney and there is no view to look at to the street. I agree with what you said. I feel the architect is not being practical. Do you have any suggestion or examples for a better look? Thank you.

if the front porch corner is facing south then the front windows of the living area and master bedroom face west and are likely to overheat in hot weather and lose heat during cold...ask your designer to rethink the windows to better suit the orientation with smaller vertical windows to the east and west, a solid front door with side light and also swop the toilet and laundry to avoid a direct view of the toilet from the living area and, i can't see any advantage to the 7m height open ceiling which feels like an amazing waste of expensive space much more suitable to a public building than a private home? is there a garage below the kitchen...please post the plan of the garage floor level

Here is the plan for garage floor level and the north elevation. The raked ceiling is about 4-5meters only above the kitchen area. Due to council rules, I'm not allowed to have another level directly above the kitchen. Any other idea to make it better? I'm also concerned the big picture windows at the front are not practical due to the orientation as you mentioned.

the windows should be placed to suit the orientation and outlook from inside and i think the roof needs to be much simpler..ask the designer about a simple asymmetrical gable roofs sloping towards the front with highlights high on the north and potential for an upstairs storage area next to the stair well.. leave out the useless deck off the master bedroom, make the wiw big enough to dress in and allowing space next to the bed for side tables and doors into the wiw...downstairs has a flat ceiling under the upstairs rooms and low raked ceiling for the other downstairs rooms and only a super high section over the stairwell

this is great opportunity.....but a real shame, and massive missed opportunity for more functional/areas on upper level - just to go up for a master bedroom + robe/ensuite is a whole lotta structure (money) for not a whole lotta function...

fair enough if you're equalising with some other benefits such as some cathedral ceiling action on the lower level, but overall this seems generally a less that ideally balanced design that could better align with the natural topography....there's also other stuff like having bedroom come straight of a main living - not ideal

Sorry but this feels like it's out of whack and could be done so much better - and the glass factor/facade resolution is the least of the issues at this stage....form should follow function, and something custom like this could be better balanced on a number of levels

Thank you oklouise for your drawing and valuable feedback. I'm not sure what you mean by "low raked ceiling ( 4-5 meters?) for the other downstairs rooms and only a super high section (6-7 meters?) over the stairwell". Do you mean the raking ceiling sliding down from the stairwell towards the Alfresco? What should be on top of the kitchen area?

Thank you Paul for your feedback. Council doesn't allow to have 3 levels at any cross section, and I need to have a separate bedroom below the ground floor, hence the MBD is only section on top. The site is sloping away from the street. I agree, it can be done much better. Do you have any examples of a better design could suit for this site?

Hi Jessica,

All sites and scenarios have their inherent challenges. I'm sorry but it's not as simple or a case of plucking a design from somewhere and then hey presto - sorted! Aside of the potential issues/risks of IP/copyright, it's more about (for you) having a competent designer or architect on board who can properly absorb/understand your particular requirements for your home and then translate/accommodate them via means of resolve a customised solution/design that that simultaneously manoeuvres and negotiates the various contextual and regulatory constraints and conditions. The issue with yours is that the form is clunky and so is the management of the planning/functional of the spatial aspects.

If you are interested in a better solution the only way that we could properly assist is in a professional capacity so that we would be properly understanding the context and your needs, and accordingly working through a design process and the right steps. A DIY or off the shelf approach to design is not how we believe the best results are achieved for arguably what is one of the the biggest investments people make.

We know how to help people properly with this process better than most. Feel free to contact us directly if you are interested in what we do and how we do it

Cheers PD :)

Paul Di Stefano Design

Further to previous request, whilst not a design suitable for you specific scenario, a couple of conceptual sketches of a design that negotiates tight site and a plethora of contextual & planning constraints, but still achieves balance, quality, high function and a sense of generosity but all pulled together in an elegant, unique streamlined and appropriately scaled (to immediate context) design solution. This is the difference between design that cares about the detail and digs deep to achieve excellence, and that which is to be blunt (& I'm sorry) is clunky and poorly executed. It's chalk & cheese.

Of course, everything comes down to budget, but whatever you do make sure you don't cut corners with the design, and if your instinct is saying something is not right, then trust it.....that fact you're questioning the design you have currently on the table is a step in etc right direction ;) PD

Theres a few noticeable issues with the current plan.

First ones are the door to bed positioning in bedrooms, certainly bedrooms 2, 3 and 4. I actually don't know where they'd be placed to provide privacy to those rooms. Just clunky design even though the sizes are quite ok. Door and window location affects the whole room. WC location to living area isn't great design, could have easily been swapped over to Laundry side instead.....

The entry area at garage level isn't ideal as the entry door opens directly to bottom of staircase, not a good circulation area at all.

As noted previously with glass in living areas, just too much. Actually I even doubt it would meet any thermal standards using high performance glazing systems. The little balcony off main bedroom is unusable at 800mm so is better to be removed altogether.

Theres quite a few other issues with the design even though some of the sizes of the spaces are quite acceptable. While I understand the site has constraints, all projects have constraints in one way or another.

I would recommend you engage another designer and compare concept outcomes. Then choose which way from there whether to run with the new one and their design or stick with the original design and work with it. Design is cheap, way too cheap in most cases so don't be concerned at spending money on a few designs to get one that works. Its a drop in the ocean compared to building costs.

such a relief for you to have some more professional advice to help resolve some of the issues..you asked about my suggestion for the ceiling over the kitchen...i can't see any worthwhile reason for the ceiling to be any higher than the ceiling over the living area which is already 3m but a shallow sloping ceiling to match the shape of a low angled roof could add some internal interest and reduce the volume of the building from outside and, as Paul says, form should follow function and the ceiling only needs to be higher over the stairs to reach the master bedroom but there's no useful reason for the ceiling to be 7m high over the rest of the downstairs rooms ...there has to be a much better design...i don't have the sophisticated software to demonstrate the best roof shape but this poor image from the west view has a circular windows to show the stairwell with the extra high ceiling, the low roof and ceiling over the kitchen/dining area with the double doors, the stacked windows in the living area and the porch projecting over the front door...the lower roof over the kitchen allows for windows on the north side of the master bedroom and wiw