This is mad!! Well done Status Living. Love that you guys totally met the brief and respected the original building. Wish there were more renovations like this rather then knock downs and cheap average rebuilds! Bravo Chadwick Designs team

No house is ever perfect to a buyer. Ripping out a staircase I may not like isn't half as devaluing as an unusable room. Do you think a basement with internal access is more or less valuable than a basement with external access? Those are the choices, not whether or not the staircase is pretty.

Base on your requirements, this plan would work and requires the least amount of structural alteration. It actually gives you a decent size kitchen. I have to say that oklouiese's plan is more common in new houses and is preferred by a lot of people. That said, new builds usually have a second lounge upstairs. If your measurements are correct, the kitchen against the back wall where the cooktop and fridge is going to be is 4079mm. Assuming you'll have a double door fridge, and a 600mm wide pantry. you still have decent bench space on each side of the cooktop. Assuming you need 1m walk way between each bench. Your island will be 2480mm x 1200mm which is PLENTY. (1.2m walk way is recommended but it comes down to personal preference and what is the most important to you.) Since the family room is not huge. If you want to use the laundry as extra pantry space it's really not that difficult to get to.

This is so lovely. The photos are amazing. Am not a fan of spiral staircases but sometimes it is all that space will allow.