Which way is North?
Do you have kids? I’d find the Fridge in the pantry annoying for others to access while I was cooking.

I would look at combining the WIL and Laundry to include a Mudroom with access from the garage into it instead of the entrance

Why is the pantry wider than the distance between kitchen cabinets to Island?

Pretty perfect.
Agree access to garage should be via laundry not direct to hall. It helps keep car fumes out of house. Swap WIL and laundry.
I assume pantry has sliding door to alfresco, great idea.
I would make kitchen peninsula into an island. It will make access to fridge easier as well as setting table etc.
the WIR next to en-suite is a waste of space. Could be better as a standard cupboard and giving space to the study at front. Even if it is a deeper cupboard space that you can stand in behind sliding doors. But it’s your house so if you prefer this

Yes great idea to change the garage entrance into the WIL/laundry. I had also thought of changing the second WIR to a normal robe to store things that take up more room and make the study bigger.
North is to the side of the house where the bedrooms are. Yes I know, not ideal, but we thought it will keep the living area cooler in summer.
The pantry is wider because of the original design we took from a display.

Also the pantry does have a sliding door to outside, which is why we can’t reduce the size between the cupboards and bench.

the house appears to be about 25m long without the expected deep front setback...what is the maximum length of the house? please confirm the length and width of the block and the size of setbacks needed for all boundaries..and please describe your climate and the location of the property as it would be very unusual for a well designed home with such good northern aspect along the length of the building to be too hot anywhere in Australia

could you flip the plan on the block to take advantage of the North, do you need a sliding door in the pantry why not just a glass hinged door

That picture is cropped so it doesn’t show the boundaries at the front and back. The dotted lines are the building envelopes. It is set back 5m from the front

Can’t flip the block because of the crossover for the driveway

Maybe flip the back half of the house, so that the living areas face north.

Oh please flip bedrooms to south side. Particularly at west end. Bedrooms need to be cool to sleep and more difficult to get a cross breeze. On contrast you want the northern sun in winter to shine into main living areas

Whilst I love your plans I also agree with others, I would definitely be taking advantage of the northern aspect and would do a plan refigure if you can’t move the garage.
Lack of light is a deal breaker for me

some variations to consider pending ideas for taking more advantage of the northern aspect

Wow that’s great oklouise, I’m not sure our builder would be happy with so many changes haha. I also realised our block is 35m long not 25!!

I’d also love to pay for a new crossover but on the right side of the block there is a drop where there will be a retaining wall, so unfortunately can’t put a driveway there

a rough version of plans with north facing living areas, alfesco, master suite and some northern gardens

Hi Mel, really hoping it's not too late to flip your plan as shown by Oklouise.

Oklouise sorry to mess with your rough plan but I'am a bit short of time and just wanted to make a couple of suggestions. I still think the kitchen is pushed too far into the corner of the whole space and to break up that long passage way adding another doorway for better access and a bonus of more light

Thanks for all your suggestions @oklouise and @siriuskey.

I do understand the benefit of flipping the back of the house, however, my concern is when doing this it creates a huge dead side to the house behind the garage. The reason we had left it the other way is so we can make the most of the backyard all on one side, if this makes sense?

@siriuskey we need to keep the wall space behind bedroom 2, as we have a 6ft fish tank going along that wall :)

I do love your mud room/laundry idea!

Just a couple things to consider, bath at front of house facing street with window.

While obviously you'll have obscure glass is this something you'd be happy with.

I see many project display homes doing this now and many have clear glass with an internal shutter. They do this for a nice facade but in reality I doubt this is ideal.

Having obscure glass to me would look out of place across the facade with the rest of glazing being clear, more so being a new build it could be designed out.

You're doing a custom designed home so why design it so it looks so much like a project home. Some subdivision covenants dictate what you have to do but a good designer should be able to come up something more individual.

You could potentially choose a project home from a volume builder and save on build costs if you're savvy with your product choices.

The others have mentioned flipping the plan for north facing living and I agree. However you should be able to keep the front part of house (study, theatre, main bedroom, garage) where it is. Just flip the kids bedrooms and living areas.

You could move the cross over/site entry but this may affect things we don't know about such as utility connections or other infrastructure. Probably better to design around it.

How much rear yard access is required? Once flipped over but keeping garage, etc. where it is, the area behind the garage on the south could be a 'courtyard' for clothes drying with direct access from laundry, parking a box trailer there out of the way, etc..

Thanks @MB Design & Drafting

The ensuite window is definitely something we thought about. At the front, on the right side of the block where this window is, we have a drop from the street, where we will have to put in a retaining wall and sloping garden etc, so the window will be mostly covered by this.

We are building with a volume builder to reduce costs. When I say 'custom' this design is a few different layouts from different house plans put together.

Unfortunately, we can't move the crossover, as I mentioned the drop on the right side it's not practical to put the driveway on that side.

I'm really unsure about flipping the back (I know, north facing etc.) but I think we will basically reduce the backyard space as it will be split over two sides of the house and create an unusable space behind the garage. Yes storage etc but, maximising the backyard space is really important to us.

Yes, my idea would be to have the flipped area along the south boundary with around 1200-1500 setback, effectively keeping a big yard.

Get it all costed before signing anything, you may be surprised what it all adds up to be.

Project homes and volume builders are very competitive if you don't change their plans.

Keep us posted.

for those interested in flipping the plan for north exposure to the living areas, it's not as simple as a straight flip of the rear section and keeping the garages to the south as everything still has to line up inside and with the triple drive through garage the best i can do is about 3.5m of garden on the south side and about 5m on the north and best orientation depends on local climate and restriction of the site

could the fish tank be repositioned to the laundry wall to allow better use if that space

OP, I agree with everybody's comment about having north facing living areas.

Have a VERY good read of the Your Home website. A brilliant Aussie government website about efficient home design.

As the sun is higher in the sky in summer north facing windows will be shaded by eaves in summer. So north facing rooms aren't a worry, it's west facing rooms that are difficult to shade & get the hottest in summer.

South facing rooms are dark, & cool, so perfect for bedrooms.

Could you bring the kitchen living and dining to the front of the house (shown in black) and move the private bedrooms and bathrooms to the back. Perhaps the study could remain at the front too. You might be able to keep the laundry/mud room in the middle as a transitional space to get to the hallway for the bedrooms.

Forgot to post the link to the Your Home website,

http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation

Definitely worth a read, & not just the section on orientation.

@rachelen I don’t think it would be practical to have the living room and kitchen at the front of the house?

Does anyone think it would be worth adding in a skylight above the kitchen?

Also we have upgraded insulation and double glazed windows.

Thanks @ddarroch

the very deep alfresco on the south west will probably keep inside rooms dark until late afternoon so a generous skylight in the centre of the inside rooms would be good and also consider panels of transluscent roofing over the alfresco and depending on your climate, consider ventilating skylights and smaller solar skylights along the hallways