Follow the path of the sun over a day, & throughout the year. When the sun is to the E & the W it is low in the sky. This means eaves become less effective, & other shading techniques must also be used, such as vertical awnings, external shutters, low-e glazing or trees. Also the sunlight at this time is nearly perpendicular to the window area. This means the sunlight is more intense & also that more of it passes through the window, & less is reflected. You're right in saying that generally W glazing is the worst, & should be minimized or eliminated. This is because the sun strikes W windows in the afternoon, at the hottest time of the day. Making it difficult to cool a home in the evening. E windows face the exact same problems, with regards to the sun being low in the sky, & perpendicular to the window surface. But this occurs in the morning, when it is generally cooler, & still gives the occupants some time to try to cool the house by cross ventilation. However, it's obviously better to minimize this heat build up through E windows in the first place. Conversely, N glazing will be shaded by eaves in summer, when the sun is high in the sky, while admitting winter sunlight, when the sun is lower in the sky. Northern eave length can be adjusted to suit a particular climate. In Brisbane the eave length should be somewhat larger, so north windows are also shaded in the shoulder seasons of spring & autumn, admitting winter sunlight. Even without eaves, in summer N sunlight is from very high in the sky, striking windows far from perpendicular to the window surface. So much more of that sunlight is reflected off the window surface, with less being transmitted through the window into the home. Though of course, I wouldn't recommend having no eaves. But as you say, limiting E glazing may come at the expense of limiting cross ventilation. So it's a balancing act, with different glazing solutions for different climate zones, local conditions, individual homes. But generally, the highest proportion of glazing should face N, as it can warm the house in winter, but not in summer. E glazing (which warms the house in summer) & S glazing (which cools the house in winter) should be incorporated for cross ventilation & daylighting purposes, but at a lower proportion than N glazing. W glazing should be minimized or eliminated, as it is very detrimental in summer. These optimum glazing proportions will differ, depending on your local conditions, & the building design. Generally living areas should be positioned to the north. As this side of the house will be lighter (from northern sunlight) & warmer in winter. Yes, some E or even W aspect is OK. But you don't want to use E aspect for living areas if it pushes the bedrooms to the W, as this is the absolute worst location for bedrooms. You do have a northern frontage, but it's quite wide, & the block is quite large. So luckily you should be able to design a house where northern light isn't too influenced by the garage out front. With that block size, as OKLouise had suggested, you may be able to come up with an interesting design that incorporates courtyards or even pavilions, to help with cross ventilation. Getting northern light inside your home, while also maintaining privacy. Good luck with the design process, & the build.

What are your goals for your new home? The answers (on various levels) to this question will determine the appropriate direction/solution for you. It will be about balancing these goals against a specified budget within your particular context. You have great potential to maximise the natural (steep) topography and there are always creative ways to connect with this and make the most of it. What kind of living experience to you seek? If you cannot answer that question you need either invest time researching this or invest in advice from a professional that can get you thinking about the important things. As I always explain, I'll never tell people how they should live or what they should spend, but I will help them work out the best balance between the two, and whether reno or new build, high or low budget there are ALWAYS compromises involved, and that's where good design comes into play.......my advice is whatever you do, (and this actually applies to anyone entertaining the notion of a project) understand that your best investment in the project above and beyond anything else will be in (a) establishing/rationalising/clarifying and prioritising the project goals - ie YOUR specific decisions/requirements (not your friends/family/neighbours/random ideas - and this is easier said than done!) and (b) engaging professional assistance/advice/services as early as possible to assist resolving a solution/design that expertly manages, addresses and achieves a viable and balanced solution for your home in context, particularly on a site like this.........yes there will be off the shelf options that could work but more often than not the cost you think you may save will be tipped back in dealing with with (a) potential "hidden" site costs such as retaining etc and (b) arguably less value achieved than potentially if the solution is "standardised" or forced inappropriately in context........My instinct is that you have great potential for a split level design that works to the site topography/captures views etc but maximises the unique experience of living on this particular property....... bets of luck with it :) PD

If you design your house along passive house principles you'll build a rectangular house (long sides facing north & South), close to your southern boundary, & your outlook from your living areas will face north. However I'm not sure if I agree with Ed Ed or not. I'd always take into consideration privacy issues & where the neighbours will build. But which is better, your living areas facing 3 backyards, or one home? Note that building setbacks usually have rear setbacks (& front setbacks), which are much larger than side setbacks. So for block 256 you'll be adjacent to 3 backyards, but these 3 homes will be quite far away, due to the large rear setbacks. While for block 245, you'll only have the one northern neighbour, but they could build close to your boundary (due to the smaller side setbacks). Do you know what will be built on these neighbouring blocks? Have you investigated the rules for setbacks? Luckily these are all large blocks, so hopefully you won't have a large double storey close to your boundary. It's a tough choice. But I'd prefer to look towards 3 backyards than a double storey house. Also, as someone else asked. It's block 256 dual frontage? I'd prefer to build the garage facing west, to protect the house from western sun, but I'm not sure if I'd want dual frontage or not.

depends on how you like to live, local climate, ages of people living in the house, how many separate rooms you need (eg the study would be big enough for a small single bedroom but a bit too cramped for a double guest room and it's useful to work out how you would use every room..eg the bedroom next to the laundry is big enough for a double bedroom or playroom but not a very good room during the day for small kids away from supervision and that corner might be better for the private master suite and keep the lounge study at the front to enjoy the northern aspect and some people prefer the master bedroom grouped with the children's rooms but there you would have size and budget restriction and raked ceiling and clerestory windows are more complicated in this shaped house and would add lots of extra expense...what do you mean by open up the courtyard??...maybe the house could be closer to the south fence and have the "backyard" along the east...more of an L shape rather than a U??