Thank you for the feedback, I have done this plan thru a friend of mine who is an architect. We did not want a narrow hallway but if you think we can be creative in the design we can consider it. The width of the block is 15.24 and lenght is 33.15. The set back from the front is 7.5 Mtrs and easement at the back for 2.5 Mtrs. Hope this makes sense.

dimensions would help as I can't see how you get access into the shower in the guest bathroom, also wondering why you need a second cooktop in the pantry, are you exotic cooks. Your double garage is small 5.5 x 6

As oklouise has asked, which way is north? Where are you located, ie. what climate zone?

Living rooms should face north in the southern hemisphere (as the sun is in the northern sky). This will make living areas lighter & warmer in winter. Western windows should be minimised, western bedrooms are definitely a bad idea.

You can learn more about orientating a home correctly & passive solar design at this brilliant government website,

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

That’s a lot of bathrooms. How many people will be living here? I second that the garage is quite tight.

I don't like the layout of the 2 bedrooms that shard a bathroom. If someone is soaking in the bath or showering, a person from the other bedroom has to walk through to access the toilet. I would prefer a 3 way bathroom layout.

I agree with me me. I would remove the doors from bedrooms. This is a privacy issue thing. You have to double check that doors are locked before showering, bathing. I would swap WIR and toilet. Making the toilet into a powder room. This gives access to all occupants, without going through bedrooms/bathroom. I would reduce WIR on left hand side bedroom to a BIR, therefore allowing bathroom to be increased in size to have a decent shower, the bath and double vanity. Bathroom accessible by one door only.

Sketch of thoughts

Hi. I think your study location is depressing.
I know because I have been thru the same thing. Its not good and stressful. Laundry behind and Living in front of you. You will be so distracted by everything.

Here is my idea. Swap everything from Lounge to Study front to back. Study where the Lounge is, then Guest, bathroom and ldy, then make Lounge and Living closer with removable wall.

Agree with dreamer. I would used some of the space next to stair for a better layout.
Downstairs guest would be better sharing powder room to achieve a bigger bathroom.
Living at rear seems huge. Add a furniture layout to see if you can get space for bigger study. The living is long. May be able to put study at end of living with some rework.

I don’t like access to garage direct into pantry due to fumes from garage.

See attached. Also the stair works better as standard U shaped. Just need to sacrifice a bit of the MBR foyer upstairs for this stair void.

@ siriuskey - I dont have the measurements as it is a concept plan and we havent finalised the designs yet. We prefer having the second cooktop.

@ddarroch north is on the entrance, thanks for your ideas.

@3DA Design Drafting and 3D Visuals Thanks for your feedbacks much appreciated.

Thank you all for your inputs.

Some changes for downstairs. Key points:
Turn garage door to open into foyer as otherwise will impinge on car space, add a window or peep holes to those doors. Important.

Take 1m width off guest and add to study, if you are in study more during day than front lounge then swap them for better sunlight.

Rotate island bench and widen alfresco into dining space as well as into lounge. I note you need to look at transfer of load down from roof to ground floor which I haven’t been able to do. Where I have deleted kitchen bench I have added narrow shelving /cabinets for crockery, books, bar etc that you don’t want in the kitchen space. This would also hide structural columns.

I also note that fridges are deeper than standard benches. Also may want bigger or second fridge in pantry for large family house. Really look at this in your design if building in fridge along bench.

pending more information my suggestions include stealing space off the oversized central hallways, straightening the stairs and swapping the laundry to create more space for the study, a mudroom access from the garage and keep traffic out of the pantry ... i've swapped the study and guest bedroom so the outside entry is closer to the street and the guest bedroom can have more uses as a downstairs daytime bedroom for small or sick children or playroom for older kids or MPS... rotating the kitchen gives better connection to the pantry and alfresco and the bigger dining area would be ideal for entertaining...upstairs has one less bathroom and the childrens' bedrooms are grouped together with a compartmented bathroom accessed separately from each bedroom and the toilet can be used by anyone using the theatre without going through any bedrooms and theer are generous BIW and storage cupboards and a giant WIW and generous ENS.. although some of the rooms have been enlarged this floorplan is smaller than the original and the distance from the back of the living room to the rear fence is bigger but there are many places that could be reduced without spoiling the overall design

great to see the work of someone who understands floorplans, once again OK great work, love it.

Amazing!

( upstairs, shouldn't the east and west ' words' be swapped So it's the same as downstairs ?)

I know some people like to have access from the garage to the pantry for ease of bringing in the groceries, but I'm with Kate about that, yuk to car fumes. Plus what about the times you're coming in the house with wet weather clothes, sports gear, etc? I don't see the value of turning your food storage area into a permanent thoroughfare for an intermittent minor convenience.

I hope you didn't buy the block because it was advertised as north-facing? I've seen too many real estate ads which emphasise that 'selling point' without understanding how it works.

thanks kiwimills, of course it should, now fixed, glad someone noticed..

Garage should be minimum 6 x 6 for a double. You can trim back on the entry area without impacting it too much.

I would use doors with acoustic seals or similar for exhaust fumes and noise, whether its going to a pantry or not it should be sealed.

Study ok just depends on how much space you need.

Guest bedroom door location, where is bed going as this will determine the door location.

Alfresco area bigger. Will always be lacking natural light being on the south so perhaps a couple skylights/clear roof sheet.

I would go with 2 ensuite instead of the shared bathroom.

Move the bedroom 2 door along so its not encroaching into the room.

A couple skylights into the upstairs area for the stair well/circulation area.

On one hand we can see 'wasted space' but the flip side this is also the generosity of space.

This house can easily end up being a bland box so have the architect come up with nice facades and detailing.

As much as I like Oklouise's plan, its losing the nice upper level symmetry of the original design, which will look good.

Great work okl

A northern frontage. Alright, then I'd move the garage to the NW corner, to take the brunt of the summer sun. I probably wouldn't flip the plan, I'd redesign, as you want rarely used rooms in the west, not your living areas. If you'll be working from home, predominantly in the study, I think a lot of thought should be put into it's location, among other things. I certainly wouldn't want it facing west! I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on which direction is best for studies. I've heard some people say north facing studies are not great due to the refection on computer screens from the all-day sunlight. If that's the case I'd locate the study on the east to get morning sun, to start the day in a good mood. Possibly in the SE corner, for dual-aspect, if the study should take pride of place. I'd have OPEN planned living on the eastern side, running north to south, so that all these rooms can gain northern light.

So to the west. Garage, guest bedroom (if it's rarely used), laundry, bathrooms, maybe lounge (with a predominantly south window, not west).

Upstairs, have corner bedroom windows face mainly north & south, smaller windows east, & none facing west.

As I mentioned, have a good read of the Your Home website. Your architect friend should read it all, & know this stuff! Orientation & passive design is critical for creating a comfortable efficient home, & should be the first thing a decent architect or building designer thinks about when designing a home.

ideally all the main rooms should have northerly aspect but in such a big home on a narrow lot with the standard double garage often restricted to half the frontage this is just not possible and one standard doesn't apply to every situation.. depending on climate a building without south, east and west windows can also be cold and stuffy so each home should be designed to maximise the best aspects of the site and minimise problems and that's where yourhome.gov and BASIX can help suggest window size and shape, specific types of double glazing, eaves overhang and external shading to improve any home...every block has northern orientation and a one room home would have no challenges for passive solar design but most of us need more

A real estate agent once explained to me that orientation means where the street frontage is. The problem with northern orientation in that use of the term is that, as oklouise said, the double garage wastes a large part of it. I presume you'll be having double glazing? I wish it had been more common and affordable when we built. We have upgraded one southern window and it makes a significant difference. External shading is hugely valuable on the western side.

Orientation means street frontage, yes.

But what you really want to know is where your backyard orientation is. This is where it counts.

North aspect backyard is what all of us after.

I work from home and my office with a large sliding door faces south west. The balcony above gives good shade. You don't want a room full of natural light as this creates issues when viewing the screen as you'll aways have the curtains pulled/blinds down, etc.

Also note that Europe is now using passive designed home principles not solar passive. Australia is just starting with passive design......