The floor plan is good. Well set out and similar to many home designs. My questions are: The outside covered area in the backyard, what roofing are you having? Since the area is facing north/north east, you don’t want a solid flat roof, this will block out the winter sun. I would suggest a gable roof over outdoor area. The house is big, make sure you include in the budget, internal finishing of floor coverings, window treatments, painting, WIR cabinetry? There seems to be a continuous amount of people who build a home, and run out of money to finish it.

Hi @dreamer thank you for your reply. I was looking at either motorized louvered pergola or a classic timber pergola with deciduous plants. I had not considered a gable roof over the outdoor area; that's interesting and I assume would allow for more low angled light to penetrate the interiors. Thank you for the idea.

I agree it's a big house and we are open to looking at good ways to reduce the footprint.

what is the length of the block and are you planning on a drive through garage or side driveway, what is the distance from house to all four boundaries and what is the expected total floor area of your plan?

Regarding the size of the home. Do you need three living areas? Can the two front bedrooms upstairs be reduced in size, maybe to 4000mm x 4000mm.? Do you need the office upstairs and the down stairs office. Could the down stairs guest room office, be smaller in size, if only used occasionally for guests? Lots of ways to make a smaller footprint, and then the cost of internal floor covering etc will be less. A smaller footprint will also benefit when heating and cooling property.

Regarding outside covered area. A louvred pergola is a good idea, however, if it is raining you want the louvres closed, therefore in winter, the natural light coming into home would be compromised. A gable end solid patio roof cover would allow the lower winter sun into the home, and give weather protection. With the gable facing north east, the roof structure will stop the hot morning sun coming from the east in summer. Which where I am in WA, would be a benefit also. But first thing is to reduce the footprint of the home.

Hi @oklouise the length of the block is 33m. There is a native gum 9m from the rear building footprint (or 4m from the rear fence) and 5m from the right fence with a 10m radius tree protection zone, and this limits the building footprint. The side setbacks to fence of the current plan is 1.5m on the left and 1.5m on the right. The front setback from the side access handle edge (it's a battle axe block) to the Guest / Theatre front facade is 7m.

I'm planning a drive-through garage. The maximum building footprint allowed for this block / council is 380m2, and the current plan is approximately 370m2 (excluding patio).

Hi @dreamer,

Thanks a lot for your questions.

>>> Regarding the size of the home. Do you need three living areas?

Definitely not a requirement, but nice to have. I see Theatre and Activity quite different; theater in the dark / cold downstairs / can be closed and more noisy as it backs on to garage, whereas Activity upstairs has lots of sun access, is open without door, backs on to bedrooms. The downstairs Living to rear is the more social / adult of the three.

>>> Can the two front bedrooms upstairs be reduced in size, maybe to 4000mm x 4000mm.?

This would require Bed 2 width to be pulled in and not sit completely over the Theatre. Not sure how that will look to balance the facade. Likewise for the Main bedroom. We previously had a very oversized Bed 2, and have sought to address this by setting it back behind the Theatre boundary (it current plan by 0.6m). Perhaps it should be setback more?

>>> Do you need the office upstairs and the down stairs office. Could the down stairs guest room office, be smaller in size, if only used occasionally for guests?

My partner and I both work from home regularly, currently share a room in our current accomodation, and would really appreciate separate working rooms. Could be smaller, but was thinking having a permanently setup queen bed in addition to the office desk it that room for regular (up to weekly) weekend guests, so I thought the additional size would be helpful for that. Also thought the width of that room was dictated by the width of its ensuite + the Powder, and the Main bed that sits on top of it.

>>> Errrata

I previously mentioned to the block is NNE to rear, but it's actually NNW.

Thank you for your replies. Agree about having good individual work from home offices. However I question the combined office/guest room, as you have said you have regular guests. So, how do you have two work from home offices, when one is regularly occupied by other people? Obviously reducing rooms sizes would affect other rooms. Design the home from inside out, with the correct rooms and revised sizes. Then work on the facade.

How many people will be full time residents of the home?

Look at flipping the stairs. You could potentially access the garage from under the stairs. And upstairs open up the stairs to living or tap into storage better

You don’t have to flip the stairs. You can gain access to under the flat landing by installing a access door in the garage. And have the internal full door access as shown on the plans. We have this set up. And it is easier/more convenient to access under the full height of stairs from inside the home.

>>> So, how do you have two work from home offices, when one is regularly occupied by other people?

We think it's more likely for the guest bedroom to be used as bedroom during weekends and used as office during the week. For midweek guests, there would be some coordination required, but could align with work from office days. As not full time work from home, prefer the room to be dual use.

>>> How many people will be full time residents of the home?

Excellent oklouise. Rooms are now a good practical size. I especially like the turning of the ground floor powder room, the entrance is now private instead of having the toilet door in the entry hall.

83mick, if there are only four full time occupants, could the spare bedroom upstairs be the second office. This will leave the ground floor bedroom for guests. This avoids having to put away personal business paperwork/computers each time guests are staying. Have you also thought about putting the master bedroom downstairs, and having only one larger living area, and three bedrooms upstairs. This will then future proof the home for when the older members of the household can no longer comfortably climb the stairs. And for when the youngest occupants (now) are young adults with partners, and can have the top level as their private space.

@oklouise thank you so much for your floor plan. Where do I start? So many good ideas. Like @dreamer I really like the entry way powder room; I didn't like the high number of doors along the hallway in my plan and your solution tucks it away from view. I also like the small changes as well like reorienting the study so that the desk is against the outer wall rather the Bed 3 wall; It gives better separation to Bed 3 and looks better as you go up the staircase; the only concern I have is light from the north striking the study screens more directly so probably more glare. I will follow with a more detailed response soon going over all aspects.

In the meantime, what struck me first was the size of the staircase and the number of steps. I count 23 steps on yours with 130mm riser and 290mm going. Is that roughly correct? I note in the NCC that the min/max for riser and going is 115/190mm and 240/355mm respectively. In my drawing, I used 180mm riser and 250mm going. Your stairway gradient angle is 24 degrees whereas mine is 36 degrees. For my design, which I didn't previously mention, I have 2.7m ceilings downstairs and 0.3m subfloor to 1st floor so stairs need to scale 3m height overall. I've read around and I see that https://www.stepform.com.au/as1657-2018/stairs.html for example recommends a gradient between 30° and 38° and https://upsideinnovations.com/blog/optimal-stair-angle/#:~:text=Ergonomic%20Efficiency%3A%20At%2037%20degrees,and%20comfortable%20ascent%20and%20descent. mentions 37 degrees as the safest / most comfortable gradient. I guess the only impact really is the length of the stairs and how much space into the garage it uses up, so maybe not so critical in the end. But curious to understand.

83mick, regarding your stair tread question. I have included info below of my staircase, ceiling heights, concrete slab measurements, and photo of my stairs. We would of preferred a flat landing, but step 1 would of encroached into our hallway, so we agreed on a one step landing. The stairs are a very easy climb and good width for movement. 16 steps in total.

my suggestion for the upstairs study was to create more privacy for both the study and bed 3 with the small foyer, storage (or kids' computer nook?) and study door...screen glare can be controlled with blinds and for the stairs... first, do not believe the number of stairs shown in my Ancient CAD program... those stairs are purely for illustrative purposes and you are correct that a better rise is around 180 and going about 240 but with a total floor area of about 3.5m x 2m there should be more than enough for comfortable stairs without compromising garage space and using the 3.5m width also saved space in the media and upstairs and allows for a 6m wide garage and potential side drive way OR you could add extra 50cm space back through the whole house and still keep within allowed total size but precise dimensions will depend on structural decisions and any "leftover" space can be decided after the dimensions of stairs are confirmed but keeping in mind that you said the floor of the stairs is 1m above the floor of the garage, i think access to the kitchen is better located as shown but happy to explore other ideas

Hi @oklouise thanks again for your suggestions. Over the last 2 weeks I've been deeply considering everything. I will simply just start by listing the aspects that we are having issues / problems / don't prefer with your suggestion so that I can be clear as possible (no disrespect):

Ground floor

• Guest: desk with back facing the door. Desk seems a bit small / shadowy for a 4 day a week office.
• Media: corner TV position, no sofas facing straight to TV
• Powder: need to go through 2 doors to access
• Kitchen: Fridge facing the open plan living
• Kitchen: Garage access door flush with fridge but not flush / same depth as slider door to pantry
• Kitchen: losing the fridge from the rear wall seems like a bit of wasted space, but on the other hand at least it's not a working area so there is clear pathway to garage?
• Open plan living: concerned the width might be a bit tight at approximately 10m wide overall (Living + Dining + Kitchen) with not a large amount of clearance between each of the areas.
• Laundry: window over sink, hinged door.

1st floor

• Master: access to right side by the tub chair is a bit tight. The tub chair blocks access to the credenza drawers.
• Master: we don't think there is enough (comfortable) space for king bed (~ 2m frame width) and side tables (~ 60cm each) plus a walkway to the WIW. We think for that we need say 2m + 2x0.76m (side table) + walkway (~0.9m?) = 4.4m or so. Current drawing shows 3.8m. Not sure if my measurements are wrong.
• Bed 2: door opens into a wardrobe; prefer flush if possible, or if not, a door swing walkway that goes by the BIW, but I realize this might be overly nitpicking.
• Bathroom (main): no natural light to sink (unless shower room left open / but still occluded somewhat by walls)
• Study: feels a bit poky / small to have a slider wall and might feel claustrophobic

Facade

• We are not sure about the corner window placements and how that would look with the style we are going for which is hamptons / country home / modern hamptons / homestead or some in between style like that, rather than a modern style design.

Let me be more clear about what I do like:

Ground floor

• Guest: clean lines, BIW not jutting out. It is clean with the desk.

1st floor

• Master: large WIW and efficient space
• Ensuite: large shower, double vanity, perfect size (no bathtub)
• Bed 2: smaller / better size
• Bath: keeping separate WC.
• Bed 3 & 4: door swing

Layout

• I like the clean aspects with no jut outs and the Bed 3 sits perfectly over the Pantry.

Another part about the site. It is down a steep accessway. There is a house to the left overlooking the house. So privacy / fewest windows on the left side is preferred, especially for the 1st floor as the house living area will be looking directly at the left side (Bed 4 in particular) wall.

I'm having a bit of difficulty visualizing the resulting facade from the single gable roof line that you drew. Are you able to depict or generate a facade concept from your floor plan (and window placement)?

A few more questions: Is it in general better to have the entrance walk way go through the the living/dining area (as my concept has) rather than kitchen/dining. I've seen a lot of plans and the preference seems to be to have the hallway and ground floor stairs go in to the kitchen/dining. This seems to make sense as that's the busiest area, and it also helps seclude / separate the more relaxed living/lounge area away from the busy entrance, and be more of a "final destination" type layout. Am I overthinking this, or do you agree? Based on this, I've seriously been considering dropping the Garage to Kitchen/Pantry straight access and horizonatally flipping the Pantry + Kitchen + Dining + Living so that the hallway goes through to the kitchen + dining area. This would require a garage to ground floor stairs access solution; I've reconsidered a straight staircase for ground to 1st to minimize front/back floor space consumption, and then a staircase next to it behind the media, but everytime I consider 17 step single flight of stairs, I realize why I never wanted it, and then look for U-shape/switchback solution. So keeping U-shape stairs, and having an additional stairs access from garage is possible but might make the Media small (unless the media is pushed 1 metre forward of the garage front line?). Based on the above considering a classic laundry with door straight to rear, then pantry behind it (less sunlight to pantry, maybe a good thing). But we realize there's a lot of changes that this would impact and could have a (large) ripple effect not only for ground floor but 1st floor. Interested to hear your thoughts nevertheless. Below is a rough idea, and not fully thought out / solved. It shows the staight staircase (which we don't like). Also, it has the straight staircase landing on the very right side of the 1st floor, which would cause the overall house to get bigger again, which is not what we want. Just sharing this to better explain what I'm considering.

we need accurate dimensions of all rooms both upstairs and downstairs including halls, bathroom, pwdr, laundry and stairs shown in mm not sqm to consider your last plan as one space can't be changed without considering the impact on the whole house and we also need to know who owns your plans and have you already discussed with a builder and local designer as even a basic redraw of the new plan would take many hours and i'm not able to provide a comprehensive response to your questions or 3D views as i have other commitments atm

I have looked at your comments, and know this was attentioned to OKlouise, but these are a few of my thoughts. In brackets.
Guest: desk with back facing the door. Desk seems a bit small / shadowy for a 4 day a week office. (You can have the desk on the other wall if you feel that is better for you, and at any size, but ensure you can hide/store all office computer/paperwork when your guests are using the room)
• Media: corner TV position, no sofas facing straight to TV. (Again, a layout can be changed, a door entrance size can be reduced.)
• Powder: need to go through 2 doors to access (you can keep the cavity sliding door open all the time. But it is a guest toilet, and maybe they would like the privacy with having two doors, also odours would be reduced into entry with two doors)
• Kitchen: Fridge facing the open plan living ( and that it a problem….why?)
• Kitchen: Garage access door flush with fridge but not flush / same depth as slider door to pantry (if you had the door flush with the pantry door, it would be opening over the stairs. Unless it opened into the hallway from garage)

You asked for the overall Sqm to be reduced, it seems you haven’t given yourself this advice. And rooms with mm measurements are better to comment on that sqm. Eg: 20 sqm can be made up of many measurements.

all your new requests require much more floor area as these new variation total about 375sqm but you'll need to wait for any more detailed explanation