Are you a tidy family with the office/library? Nothing worse than having a messy room on display from the entry. Even if you are tidy, an office/ study/ library space usually requires quiet time, so I would not open onto entry way, and I would make share there are good sliding doors to close off completely from living/kitchen area.

Would it be possible to flip the plan back to normal, so we can read the measurements forwards not backwards?

I assume the orientation is because of views. However it does leave all the bedrooms on the west, hot side of the home. Are you in a hot climate, are you planning to put external shading either structural or trees in front of windows?

Thank you for your feedback! Really appreciate it!

I've put another copy up which has some of the major measurements in it.

For the home office/library, we would have two double cavity sliders between lounge/library and entry/library. Most of our work is computer work so it should be a relatively neat space.

The orientation is so that we maximise the north east aspect of the living areas. In our current house, the living space is mostly south east and I find the light problematic. Also it will have good views as the majority of the garden is to the north/north east.

Using that as office would be fine if your not needing it for another living room. I wouldn’t go too high on the entry ceiling compared with the rest of the house as it may look odd. I take to the room that you can access from garage is laundry ? If it is I think the placement is wrong, it’s not showing any direct access to the outside, how do you hang out washing ?

Hi

The house all over is 2.7m ceilings. So with coffered ceilings to the entry it would be 2.9, however, I don't know if that is too low for a pendant. I could possibly see how much it costs to raise ceilings everywhere to 2.8 with 3m in the entry?

Access to outside from the laundry is through the garage. There is enough space for an internal clothes rack (which is what we usually use now) so we won't actually going outside with laundry too often.

That is a lot of cost to raise all the ceilings to 2.8 just to add a pendant light in the entry space. Just raise the entry to 3m or 2.9m. Think logically. If ceilings are 2.9 metres, then realistically you could have 900mm for pendant to hang. Unless you know people that are taller than 6 foot 5 inches, then raise entry ceiling to 3metres.

You are land locking your back yard by building with house corners on boundaries. I suspect local rugs won’t allow it anyway, close theatre from living for noise control, maybe a swing door at one end and open larger door to entry. Unless you have massive parties, glass wall will be fine u

Thanks Dreamer. I think you are right. I'm just going to do a coffered ceiling to the entry which will give 2.9m.

Thanks for the feedback Kate. We will definitely be putting in a cavity slider door between the living and what will be the library/office(currently labelled as Theatre). As for land locking the backyard, the actual block is 2.5 acres - it's just the building envelope that is 32x25.

Just remember sliding doors aren’t as effective at noise control as hinged single doors

The nw windows to bed 4 and activity room will get the worst son with little protection. I’d have window on the sw side of bed under the verandah and may a high windows on end walls only if wanted

Hi Kim,

A couple of things that I can see that might be worth considering.

Firstly, the ceiling in the entry, if you bring the front door inwards a bit, you should be able to raise the ceiling to 3m without any other changes. That should accommodate most pendant fittings if you don't go too crazy. I agree with the comment made that you shouldn't make it too different to the rest of the house but 3m & 2.7m should be fine. 200mm difference might be too little to have much impact.

Depending on where you live, bedroom 2 & 3 will not get any significant sun in winter. Would you consider putting the bathroom on the west and one of the bedrooms on the east? That would also take the bathroom window away from the outdoor entertaining side of the house.

Re the access to the office from the entry, this could be good if you have clients or even deliveries coming to the house as they don't need to come all the way into the house, unless you invite them in further. More doors in the office though means less wall space for storage and furniture placement.

Spaces are really generous and should be lovely to live in.

Enjoy.

Christine.

After a close look at your plans, I would say the orientation of the house will mean it will be very hot inside in summer and cold in winter, this will largely effect your bedrooms as they are on the west side taking a direct hit from evening sun in summer.

Even with your section orientation there is a missed opportunity to gain free winter heat by having more surface and larger windows facing north.

Also I noticed a very complex wall layout on your east and western exterior walls.

Keeping these straight will massively reduce labour hours when it comes to installing your cladding drywall etc.

I would also just keep the house parallel with one of your boundary lines, houses at random angles with the street can make the street look messy.

@john Magon. The house it situated on 2.5 acres, not a surburban size block. What is shown is the building envelope.

If you have the space then I highly recommend having the length of the house running West to East with bedrooms and living areas facing north,

Laundry garage and other utility areas can be on the cold side.

I would also look at getting your bathrooms ensuite and kitchen closer together, this reduces the waiting time for hot water, unless you plan on having more than one water heater.

Sorry if I come across harsh, I work in HVAC industry and visit to many new houses that are power pigs, we often need to install extra large air conditioning and heating systems due to poor orientation.

I also have to abandon my whole upstairs living and bedroom area during summer in my poorly oriented 70s house due to the heat, even after putting high R value insulation in the walls and roof space, I'm just lucky I have a cylinder block basement I can retreat to.

What is the climate where you are building? It makes a huge difference to the design. Your design with west facing bedrooms would be okay in cooler climates which do not experience hot prolonged summers. But where I live in Perth, the bedrooms would be unbearable in summer.

Hi Kim,

Re other comments that have been made on the northern orientation of the house, this does seriously benefit the performance of the dwelling and energy savings no matter what climate you are in. If your preferred aspect is north east, you can still acheive this by stepping the plan rather than angling it. See my rough sketch below. Laundry and office could be interchangeable but with the laundry as I have shown it, you will have outdoor access to an area that is away from the front door. If you can keep your plumbing together, that helps with keeping the cost down but this is not fully aceivable with having separate wings to the house. I'm assuming you want to keep the kids play room as far away as possible so keep that on the north west corner. You can get some afternoon light into the living space via the kitchen or a skylight if you want that. You could swap the dressing area and ensuite in the master bedroom to give sound privacy and allow a bigger window into the ensuite that is not onto the outdoor living area. Also, that could give access to the ensuite from both sides of the bed but keep the plumbing off the bedhead wall. The toilet could be nearer the room entry too for quick access when needed.

If you are in a hot climate, for bed 4 have the main window facing south but west if in a cool climate. Alternatively, a corner window might work.

Put larger overhangs to the north that suit the sun angle to allow sun in for the cooler months and keep it out in the warm months. East and west, control the sun with window sizing and placement and screens if desired.

Good luck.

Christine.