After I had finished my Archi Masters I was working for an architecture firm who also did a small amount of work for a volume builder. They were actually a pretty good quality builder and at least got the orientation of their 'pre-designed' plans correct. We had the ability to make minor changes to every job and it pained me to see so many simple to implement passive options not being incorporated. Had most of their clients known that they would be saving MONEY over the longterm by making a few minor changes to suit their site, they all would have done it. The problem is unless someone can sell this idea to them as a financial/lifestyle choice, many just think it is about saving the world. It is a no-brainer if you have in interest in it, but for those who don't know, there is no-one there selling it to them, especially on the lower end of the market.

What about an angled deck running the boards on the diagonal to a straight corner on the fence side with two tall posts next to the fence to support a feature wall (water feature, climbing plant, garden art, light etc. Then widen it at the house side to the left and right & plant the angles with taller plants against the fence & lower feature plants towards the house.

Hi there - a few things stand out to me... yes keep bedroom sizes no less than 3000mm wide, offset the door to the laundry so you can't see the toilet from the front door - yuk! Minimise/simplify number of piers by turning front porch 90º. Keep the footprint as simple as possible. With oklouise's plan, which i think makes more sense, cut 300mm into each of the bedrooms and push out towards the left into the deck. Much better use of space. If west is to the left put a whole wall of cupboards along in bed 1 and get rid of the others, and add door out to deck on the (new) north wall. Do you really need a bath? Living in country they are wasteful of water even if it goes back onto your land. Alternatively have a combined shower/bath? Babies and toddlers wash quite well in the laundry tub then learn to shower with you or on their own quite happily. I'd make the shower a big bigger (and the cupboard on the hall side) and get rid of the bath. Make sure you have excellent insulation in walls, ceiling and under floor. Consider hebel panels as flooring (also, the reinforced ones span great distances) and walls for both fire safety and insulation value. If possible look for ramp potential in case of disability and also for getting furniture into house. If you're in a fire zone make sure all windows and doors comply with your zone rating. And if you are building high up on piers make the external cladding is something that never needs painting and is minimal maintenance.

Hi oklouise, Thanks for your input again, and the recommendation of yourhome.gov.au. I had viewed this website some time ago, and the information on there is now much more comprehensive. A lot of articles I had read about housing in the tropics were coming out of India and other Asian countries. I really like how you've offset the two wings, and I think this will help with cross ventilation and directing breeze through the house. With the offset, the living wing would be able to look into the backyard, but could also have a view of the front gate (an idea advised by siriuskey). I'm liking the idea of a ground floor entryway and internal stairs, but I think I would locate it on the bottom of the living wing. I think we would park under the bedroom wing (carport, not garage), and then walk under cover of the deck to the entry. Internal stairs on the left-most side of the living wing, will lead up to the living wing in a kitchen/dining/living configuration (maybe similar to your previous plan). Cheers, Adnan