I like the flipped but with both really concerned about the hidden front door for the 2br. This may be a safety issue and is not a great design.

If it was me I'd try and make the 4 bedroom place 2 storey place with most bedrooms upstairs and living downstairs. It's a lot floorplan for the block

And the bathroom are too far from bedroom in 2br.

Doesn’t matter where or how many air conditioners there are. The west sun has to stop hitting the windows in the first place. So agree with @macyjean, Plant shading plants along west boundary, install roll down blinds on outside of windows. Etc etc.

Is it possible to put a highlight window in bed 2 on the wall where tank is, so they can capture some winter north sun. (In two bedroom home)
Or find another place for the tank.

Also bedroom 1 in the two bedroom home, will be cold, can they also have an extra highlight window installed on east wall. Or put small rectangle vertical window on south side, then a decent window on the east wall.

Example of thoughts

These roof to fence blinds would fix the west sun issue. Run them along the entire west side.

https://allaboutshade.com.au/outdoor-blinds/roof-to-fence/

,

What’s on your western boundary? How close are the neighbours? Will their house provide any shade? I have a bedroom (and the lounge) on the Western boundary but the neighbours house is slightly higher and shades the windows and part of the roof. There are days we need air conditioning but I only had installed 2 years ago and we survived a lot of hot days before that.

Thanks everyone for so many wonderful suggestions and advice! I really appreciate it.

This has given me a lot to think about. The consensus seems to be to stop the sun reaching the windows in the first place, and it looks like mixed responses on whether to flip the plan.

If anyone stumbles across any additional ideas I would love to hear them. :)

Bigreader, no neighbours on west side. Mentions no shading from a house in first post.

Apart from flipping the orientation, is the plan locked in or is there scope to make other changes?

Hi Liz, we have scope to make other changes - not just the orientation.

Any advice is very welcomed!

Cheers

Is there a basin in the toilet? Pop one in for better family flexibility.

1. problems with western sun can be resolved with external blinds but there are some inconsistencies that need to be resolved eg the double garage is shown as 7m x 5.6m and even including the toilet and laundry this doesn't fit the space shown and there is no door to the master bedroom and, unless you need bed 4 for a stay home work space, three bedrooms could be more spacious than the four small bedrooms shown..do you have plans showing dimensions of every room including the single garage and showing location of all bathroom and kitchen fixtures?

I'm no expert but just my thoughts if it was my house -
The bedrooms are on the small side, so perhaps think about how they will be used - do your children need space to play or do homework in their rooms? Is the 4th bedroom for guests or will it be used as a home office?
In bedrooms 2 and 3 the beds are below the window - are the windows high enough to allow a bedhead/to not lay down with your head against the window?
What will be in the main bathroom - shower, bath, single/double vanity? What are you thinking layout wise?
I'm confused by the kitchen, especially the pantry access given the corners are blocked by other benches - is it meant to be a walk in pantry or just normal cupboards?
The hall is long and narrow and you need to go past all the bedrooms before you get to the living space. Not sure how well this will work, but I've only lived in places where the entry is adjacent to living space.
Love the idea of having a separate self contained space for your parents - as others have said bathroom is too far from either bedroom, and the entry near bedroom could be an issue.

I can’t see that you are going to get any breezes in the living areas of the 4 bedder , flipped or not ! Can the position of bedrooms be changed to allow the living areas towards the North East .