Are you looking at putting in an irrigation system in or are you looking for drought tolerant plants?

General, unprofessional comments: - Is there a need for the "living" to be fully enclosed? If there is a sliding door which separates the "family" from the hallway, it's not clear to me why the living needs to be an enclosed space. If it was opened up, the hallway wouldn't feel as long and narrow. - I would reconsider the double doors into the main bedroom. Unless that's a design feature you really love. - Is 5.7m wide enough for a double garage? Is there a reason for the small "room" in the back, right corner of the garage? - Do you want to always be entering your house through the pantry from the garage? Or is the pantry actually some kind of mud room for storing shoes, bags, etc? - I would try to have a separate toilet in the ensuite for visual and aural privacy. - Do you need the wall with the fridge to be a wall? Could you move the fridge and simply return the bench or have a half-height wall? That may also help to open up the hallway. - What will be on the wall between the family and the second hallway and between the family and bed 4? Whatever is there will be viewed from the front door. It looks like your TV, etc will need to go on one of those walls, so you may want to think about the view from the front door. - I would try to get rid of the linen cupboard in the second hallway so you don't have a "S" shaped hallway and to make it wider. - Depending upon the total existing or planned number of occupants, you may wish to consider turning the main bathroom into a three way bathroom, perhaps by pinching some space from the laundry. - I would consider adding second windows in beds 3 and 4, although the additional window in bed 4 should be high enough to retain privacy from the alfresco area. - I would try to reposition the door to bed 3 and maybe the BIR in bed 3. The angled door looks really out of place and I'm not sure how it would function when "open". Good luck!

Hi lisap1983 Certainly is a great opportunity to have such a good block to design your dream home, its a good size and a variety of solutions are possible. The most important consideration is how you (this means all the stakeholders that will make use of the property) want to feel in your house when its built and what you need/want in terms of amenities. This will be the main driver of the design, (the brief) and it includes such items as; 1. Do you want an "inside outside feeling", with east or north light flooding the living areas at a particular time of day. 2. Which living areas are to be combined for family living and what areas are secluded "parents retreat area/s" 3. An "atrium" i.e. internal courtyard sounds like a good idea - drainage can sometime be an issue but certainly solvable, sometimes a couple of internal courtyards can combine to produce a lovely feeling of relaxation. 4. Which bedrooms will have an ensuite and which will be served by a common bathroom. 5. Whether you will combine a pool (internally or externally) as part of the design, and external living areas and the extent of landscape design. 6. The number of cars that form part of your family (basically to determine whether you need a two or three etc. garage size. (These are high visual items and do need considerable space) 7. Indicating a preferred style, is sometimes a help, as at least your designer might come up something that you can relate to, rather than something that you have to become used to in accepting. 8. An indication of budget is always a good inclusion. 9. A description of the site (Site analysis) whether the site is on a slope, existing trees, noise due to traffic, views, the position of adjoining buildings (especially existing openings) will help your designer in coming up with something palatable to your requirements. 10. Realising that the method of coming up with a design is a process of editing, the first design solution might miss the mark by quite a large margin but if you have chosen a designer that you can communicate with the solution will be achieved and improved as the design process. 11. Allow a degree of time, if you consider your other large purchases like your best suit, or your car, and think how much time you spent in researching and deciding on these items which say for an ordinary car of $25,000 might have taken you a few weeks to decide multiply by 10 and you will get some idea of time. (For a build of $250,000) 12. Maintain a separation of consultant, your Building Designer should not also be the Builder, or the structural engineer or you energy consultant. Let your Building designer choose the rest of the consultants (with your consultation) and this would mean that you keep control of your consultants costs and you can choose any Builder to price your job without any concerns of copyright issues. I'm sure that this is only an overview of the process, the most important issue is your relationship with your Building Designer, it should be someone you can communicate with, and can understand your requirement. After all the house should be designed for you (all stakeholders), if it is a fantastic award winning architectural masterpiece and it does not meet your perception you will not be happy, you know when you have the right design, and then you can go ahead and do some construction drawings and hopefully have a successful solution. A good solution is achieved by good communications by all stakeholders. I would be happy to continue the discussion. Regards Michael Manias

I'd probably echo a lot of the other comments. The bathroom seems quite large and could be smaller or even split into two smaller bathrooms (ensuite and main bathroom). I'd also consider just including the laundry in the main bathroom. I don't see the need for a separate laundry sink provided you have a decent sized bathroom sink (although your needs may vary) and it would potentially be a much more efficient use of the space. The kitchen seems particularly big to me. I don't really see in the value in having such a large return with bar stools, etc. Surely in such a space, it would be easy enough to move to the dining table to eat, socialise, etc. I think it would be better to place the kitchen along the length of the wall (scrapping the "corner" bifolds, but maybe utilising a window splashback to retain natural light) to really open up the living area. I don't think a bench is necessary. If you position the dining table appropriately, it could double as workspace if necessary, but a long, linear kitchen should provide you with plenty of workspace (and, at one end, potentially room for a built-in study nook which would probably be valuable for a growing family). Ultimately, I'd do a lot of research. Houzz has a bunch of great examples about terraces, for example: [https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/6-inner-city-terrace-renovations-that-conquer-common-problems-stsetivw-vs~52479198[(https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/6-inner-city-terrace-renovations-that-conquer-common-problems-stsetivw-vs~52479198) [https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/my-houzz-a-renovated-victorian-terrace-with-lofty-appeal-stsetivw-vs~69162741[(https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/my-houzz-a-renovated-victorian-terrace-with-lofty-appeal-stsetivw-vs~69162741) [https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/my-houzz-a-modest-terrace-impresses-with-a-bright-cheery-interior-stsetivw-vs~74631928[(https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/my-houzz-a-modest-terrace-impresses-with-a-bright-cheery-interior-stsetivw-vs~74631928) [https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/houzz-tour-bondi-terrace-reno-captures-light-stsetivw-vs~26541297[(https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/houzz-tour-bondi-terrace-reno-captures-light-stsetivw-vs~26541297) [https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/5-city-terrace-houses-that-surprise-inside-and-out-stsetivw-vs~27642618[(https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/5-city-terrace-houses-that-surprise-inside-and-out-stsetivw-vs~27642618)