My parents have a covered south facing alfresco in Perth. It's great in summer. In winter, they use a paved and pergolaed (with deciduous vines) area further from the house that gets full sun. Consider losing the bay windows. They will be unbearable in summer. Or push the eaves out, or plant some deciduous trees in the front. I would shift the rumpus room to where the laundry is. Give it a view. Also, it's probably where you'll end up sitting on hot summer days, as your formal lounge will still get a lot of heat. Consider shifting the master to the righthand side of the plan. You could get a lovely triple aspect (north, east and south) bedroom. You could have double doors that open onto a private seating area too. Put the laundry where the master is.

I was just thinking of making more of a substantial open living space, in terms of the extra floor space to the east, as I can see it being the part of the house that we would be in all the time. In terms of the north side, we are on a corner block and so there is a 4 metre setback on that side, which we are already at. I don't know much about these things, but I assume that wouldn't be able to be changed. I am planning a nice garden on that side of the house anyway, which I am excited about, and we like to have the space all around the house (i.e. no fences close to any of our windows, giving the feeling of privacy and space in a modest suburban block). The other thing I think of a lot is regarding passive solar design principles, and having our house oriented the way it is (West facing), I am reluctant to do anything too major unless we can really capitalise on this. Having the bedrooms on the northern side does work really well for us at the moment, as we use them a lot - with small children napping and my husbands office being on that side. Although that will change when the kids grow up... I'm hoping we can at least add some skylights or something like that into the extension area/kitchen in order to bring in more light. Our kitchen is quite dark and cold in winter.

Thank you everyone for your replies. @dreamer – I agree with what you’ve said. I planned on extending the Alfresco to go down the side of the house along the Living/Kitchen down the track which would add the required shading. Now that I’ve read a few more replies maybe flipping the whole house orientation will work better, and I wear the costs of getting the crossover changed to make the most of the N/E orientation? @HU-319610855 – I will be living in the house for the next 5+ years so I guess it’s long term. It’s the first house I will own/build so there is a million things running through my head. I was told to build with the future in mind, whether it be my own family or if I sell/rent, someone else’s, but I can see how that really complicates things as I need to think in the present! I have gone with a custom builder more so for the fact that I know they are reputable and the workmanship will be top quality compared to some of the volume builders in my area, it wasn’t so much for a custom plan. As I said above, would flipping the whole house orientation work better and optimise the light coming into the Alfresco/Family/Kitchen areas? Or would it be better to rework the plans as you said and have the majority of living towards the back of the house? One of my original designs did have the Alfresco running across the whole back of the house, but it was a 3 Bedroom design which I changed to 4 to suit the estate I'm building in. @User - I thought the entry and hallways were standard sizing, 1.5m entrance and 1m for hallways? The house will have 2.7m ceilings throughout so that adds a bit more space. The reason for the divide between the family and bedrooms as I like to have the spaces separate to create more privacy for the bedrooms/bathroom/toilet. I wouldn’t want them visible from the living area.

Hi Rifay, With the NW to SE orientation, as others have said, you will need to be really careful with your window and internal door placements to maximise summer air flow for cooling. Consider having some high level opening saches to get rid of the heat as it rises and also avoid mid afternoon sun. Just to upset the apple cart a bit, can I ask if you have considered putting the master suite at the rear of the house and the other bedrooms nearer the front? Being the owners, I would allocate the best morning location to you by allowing external access to the yard where you can sit and have a morning coffee or a snipet of evening sun with a glass of something once the kids are in bed. As long as you have good security on the front gate/door, kids adjust to where they sleep pretty well but it makes for a much better day if you get out of bed feeling great. I would put the master suite where you have B4, the laundry and B3. Move the K,D & family down next to this and put everything else up front. I would add a tall window on the small step out north wall of the family room that is not under the alfresco roof, to get some winter sun in the middle of the day into the family room area. Put the laundry between the ensuite and kitchen scullery with a door out to the west for rear yard access. That would cluster a lot of your plumbing and keep it away from bedroom walls for quietness. Leave the office and garage where you have them with a back door out of the garage for easy access for maintenance or rubbish bin location. Is the activity room for the kids? I assume so as it is next to all the bedrooms. In which case I would put that next to the family room with the theatre roughly oposite it on the west. The theatre would only need high level windows for ventilation rather than views so the walls can be fully utilised for furniture placement and the screen etc. If you had sliding or folding doors to the hallway for both of these rooms, they could open up to be one big room when you have parties, for kids or adults. Consider which internal walls may need some sound insulation too but this arrangement should minimise the need for this. The activity room could also have doors out to the side yard. The bathroom and powder room could go next to the theatre with B4 behind the garage. If it works better with the powder room and/or bathroom on the NE side, that works too. B2 & B3 could go between the office and activity room on the NE. I agree with comments above about having a basin in the powder room and issues with wardrobes on outside walls. B2 & B3 can have 2 robes between the rooms. B4 could have the wardrobe on the hallway wall. Without knowing your thought process, that would be my take on the layout but understand if you have good reasons for having it as you have it. Good luck and hope you enjoy the process of designing your new home. C.