Hi congrats, That’s a fairly large house. I would start with a local architect. They now which way the breezes flow which is so important in Brisbane. You also need to consider landscaping to get trees providing shade from sun. Local planning controls like offsets front boundaries and heights, where services are and drainage consideration as well as access to maintain pool and water tanks all as I portent as the internal layout.
Location of clothesline, powder room to serve pool and guests, outdoor shower? Lots to consider . Often even what you don’t appreciate is a slight fall on land makes for a diff layout,
So create your wish list, mark your absolute must haves. Look at display homes and builder plans for anything you like and consult an architect.

Congrats on having some north at the back. You have an odd shaped block - have you marked out the area you can build on? I’m assuming that you will want to be as close to the front as allowed to allow for the biggest back yard possible. You may need to tailor your house shape a bit. Where is your front door planned to be?

Thanks bigreader - yes our plan is to build as close to the front of the block as possible and make the most of the wide frontage - ignore dimensions as I’m aware I’ll need to reduce width of the rough plan I drew.

Front door on this plan is the opening in the centre of the large family room next to/east of the garage.

Just waiting to confirm council requirements for setbacks but will know this in the coming days.

The shape of the block is what is making it challenging as I’m finding it quite overwhelming looking at all the project builder floor plans.

Kate as per your advice we will definitely consult a local architect after collecting as many helpful tips as possible ☺️

before committing to a floor plan we need to understand the available space and although i can't read the precise dimensions it feels like the proposed floor plan is too wide to fit the block

my variation shows how the basic plan could be arranged to fit (with a guestimated 6m setback) although the roof would be challenging and compromises could be made by adding biw under the eaves to the kids bedrooms to avoid the angled setbacks and assume that you would include a pool house/alfresco and keep the pool visible from the family room and kitchen but suggest that the MPR doesn't have direct access to the pool

Wow, that is incredible - thank you so much oklouise. That is definitely in line with the total sq m/size I was thinking in order to fit all the spaces on our bucket list. 6m set back is in line with our council requirements. I will certainly look at adding the biw under the eaves.

Yes we would like to include a small alfresco, do you have any thoughts on the best location for this to still allow the most light in as the rear is to the north?

Again thank you it’s much appreciated 😊

depends on the size of the proposed pool and size and location of clothesline and anything else you would like to have in the back yard and keeping some clear play areas for the kids and a view of the pool from inside...there's about 20m from the house to the back fence so i would be inclined to have a modest back verandah only about 2m deep across the family and MPR, then a generous area of lawn and then add a separate alfresco and pool house next to the pool but what sized pool do you plan to have?

2m deep verandah would work for us and lovely if it could stretch across both areas.

The size of the pool we hope to have is 6m long x 2.5m wide. Thank you again for such helpful advice.

with such a generous back yard something like this with separate zones could be suitable (and note that i've made the western pathway wider for more comfortable access from laundry to clothesline) but imagine the design that could be achieved by a design professional with all the local knowledge but these ideas may help you better understand what you like and hope you share the design that you finally choose.. best of luck with your new home

okay so I had a bit of a fiddle with your layout, i didn't change a lot, I think I'd be avoiding having plumbing all over the place for costs and move the ens next to the laundry. I expanded the hall so there's room for a study nook/computer when they're older, and i would have the bath accessible from the pool so you don't have wet kids and guests wandering around the lounge.
BUT.... I think you're a step ahead of yourself. I think you need to start with the feel and look of the exterior and design the layout later. look at some mags and websites for recent architectural builds and see whatstyle you like, cut out pictures of what appeals to you and note why. It's too soon to plan the layout in detail. For the good orientation, breezy, cool house your describing I would go for white timber modern style inspired by queenslanders. I would have connected pavilions with big overhanging eaves with different sections for living/dining, master suite, kids suite. the pavilion style maximises air flow. your design has closed in areas, and it's kind of big, and its hard to get the air to flow. Seriously think about hiring a designer... the money spent will be saved elsewhere in efficient layout, minimising footprint, quality build... remember they can work to your budget! Money can be saved using modest materials and good design. Find someone whose work you like rather than trying to get them to fit you. No matter how hard they try they will still have their own style. Your building your own house from scratch, not many people get that chance, so make it something special!

somewhere to start looking
https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/so-you-live-in-a-pavilion-style-house-stsetivw-vs~28070791
houzz features some great qld architects and designers. do some searches

That design would be lovely oklouise particularly with lots of accessible space remaining for the boys to run around on the lawn.

This process has given us some good ideas to think about but yes we will definitely be engaging a local designer to ensure its a smart design that works with the block. I will certainly share where we land in the end 😃

Thanks siriuskey I like this option also, it has everything on our bucket list - it has definitely got us thinking. Appreciate everyone’s ideas 😊

Hi all, we finally have a first draft to review. I have already identified a few changes and definitely need to increase space in the main living/kitchen/meals. However if anyone has any feedback or ideas I’d really appreciate it ☺️

the kitchen/meals area could be increased by reducing the huge pantry.

How is the north sun going to get into the living areas? Currently the master suite is in the way. And the master suite has no windows on the north side. I can see this home being a dark home in winter.

Look at cross ventilation for bedrooms, privacy for bedrooms either hall or close up family from main hall with door. This is needed for sound control in any event. Also put furniture on plan and make sure it is to scale for what you want. This is critical. You may want to rotate island etc

Please see my very rough sketch below. It changes the master suite to be on the east side. Put your bathroom and WIR on the family room wall, and have a north facing window out into the yard. You could have a small alcove for entry into the master suite from the entry hall.

Extend the kitchen dining living in a big rectangle, towards the north, with the wonderful gabled ceiling that you spoke about in your original post. extend this gable out onto the alfresco, with the pool on the north side, which will have sun all year round.

You had also said in your original post: " Id love a courtyard/garden/outdoor access to the north side of the Master so have included that on the plan."

In this new design, this is not included and you dont have any access to the north from your master bedroom. By moving the master to the east this will give you north access.

You have also said. "particularly with lots of accessible space remaining for the boys to run around on the lawn."

In this new designer plan. How can you see the kids running around the lawn if you cant see any of the lawn area from the living areas, nor master.

Thanks so much Dreamer. You’ve picked up on all the same issues and more that we had with this plan. Thank you for your sketch, we are definitely considering relocating the Master to the East but hasn’t drawn this, so it’s great to see it.
I will come back to you with what our 2nd draft looks like with a number of changes.

Kate, thanks for your suggestion re bedrooms, we will definitely be adding a hallway as we need to enclose the 2nd living. I will ask about adding furniture to the plans also. Really appreciate it.

Locating the Master to the East will also block morning sun into the kitchen Family

Thanks Siriuskey. That’s a good point. It may have to be towards the middle of the house with all main living areas to the rear, we just really wanted a bit of privacy. I will post another plan which still has master at the rear but allows more norther light in so get your thoughts.

A very rough idea of version 2, please excuse all the hand written changes but it helps to see what else we are thinking of currently.

The back half is a plan we have viewed in a display which has the exact same orientation as us and there was light flooding into the main living areas as well as into the master. It allows for a patio/deck off the master also.

The morning sun can still come into the rectangle kitchen dining living, with windows placed on the eastern side at the end.

Privacy with children is wonderful rare thing. Sometimes all you need is a closed door and a alcove for the entrance of the bedroom.

please advise the maximum length and width of the house that you can fit on to the block as it's difficult to estimate with the angled shape of the block

as @Kate mentioned previously, what about cross breezes. Which direction does the cooling breeze come from? Does the design allow for these breezes to flow through the home?

This should have posted after my last comment??

Create a Bedroom wing and even consider making the laundry the family bathroom and pushing that into the new kitchen family space

This is a basic idea, but can't read dimensions, Easterly morning sun can also be brought into the kitchen family if you have a Skillion roof over this part of the house instead of the raked ceiling you were after

Thanks so much Siriuskey, interesting plan and one to think about. Again I’m just thinking about the privacy we wanted from the family room/rumpus which may be used for the kids. Will definitely give it some thought though as can see how the room would have access to such lovely light.

You can still have your courtyard for privacy and light., trying to come up with something