In my opinion, the powder room placement does not work. People in lounge/dining room and theatre will hear private toilet business, which could be embarrassing for users. Pool users will have to travel through the home to use toilet. I would look at positioning the powder room in the laundry area. This is then accessible to quick toilet access when arriving home, using the pool and will be out of the public living areas.

Regarding the entry, it is a hallway to other parts of the home, that is it’s purpose. You could create an alcove using the theatre room wall for artwork, buffet etc.

Is there a reason why the stairs need to face the living areas? Could the stairs be on the outside wall of the home, giving natural light into stairwell . Once the toilet is moved to a less public area. With the entrance to stairs parallel to living and dining. You could then create a beverage area in the theatre room, or storage cupboard. Changing the stairs position will change upstairs, so sharing the upstairs plan would be helpful.

A rough sketch of thoughts.

Thank you so much for your thoughts! I agree with a lot of your points and appreciate your time!

Another thought. Items that need washing 95% of the time come from the bedrooms and bathrooms. Clothes, sheets, towels etc. the laundry would be better accessed closer to where those rooms are, which is the stairwell. I would not like to have to walk all dirty washing through the public living areas and kitchen to get to the washing machine. You might find you start using a short cut through the garage.

Yeah another good point. I was looking at putting a Laundry shoot in but we haven’t done an upstairs plan yet.

the hallway between media and family room looks extra wide?? but it's very difficult to design the downstairs without planning upstairs and best placement for stairs at the same time...are you working with an existing plan that can only be modified a little or can the rooms be rearranged to suit yourself...please advise width and length or your block, direction of north, local climate and what rooms do you want to have upstairs?

Hi, this is a custom design so are flexible with moving rooms. Block is 16m wide X 30m and we are trying to maintain as much backyard as possible. It’s an east rear facing block. northern NSW. Upstairs will be 4 bedrooms, lounge & bathroom. Thanks 😀

What’s your thinking in having the theatre entry the way it is? It may flow better to have it open from the hallway/entry so you don’t need to add another hallway. And itit may open up the entry. would give a more open view fr

Flipping the stairs will prob work better upstairs. Media room would be best accessed from front hall

Yes agreed that opening up the media from the entry will solve the issue with the front entry. That was my thought too but then the hall into the powder seams pointless and should be moved around.

Flip the stairs 90degrees and move them over to run along the theatre wall. And have the powder room open off the hall also (way better for privacy) or as suggested above rework the laundry area to have a powder room in the back corner accessible from the pool.

If the rear is facing east, then you need more windows on the north side to let the winter sun in. You could have a solid wall with a small vertical window in the front media room, and have big windows on the north (as per below photo). You have obviously looked at where your television is going in the rear living room, but I would prioritise north windows over television position, or at least make the north windows bigger.

This house, which is actually built, blocks west summer sun, but keeps your curves on the facade.

Thanks so much. The builders don’t seam to give much thought to orientation so now you have mentioned all this I will certainly do some more research.

attempting an upstairs floorplan suggests an alternate staircase with double height void and generous entry, more private powder room and bonus MPR and there's also some ideas for more kitchen counter with servery to alfresco and, omitting the extra doors through pantry and laundry, allows for more storage and an extra fridge and there's also a laundry chute and optional upstairs balcony

Thanks so much, this is a much better flow and allows for a study. Your time is much appreciated!

@Kay J ...." we haven’t done an upstairs plan yet....."

You really need to be considering the whole layout simultaneously in the design process....

picking up the thread, you say you want 4 bedrooms, assuming ensuite for master and a 2nd living.......when you look at okouise's plan, which is relatively tightly packed/efficient planning, how much space you will need for all these spaces and this particular zoning/program distribution version will be relatively "top heavy" and likely larger in area than the lower level, likely pushing side setback regulation limits...usually we try and do the opposite for a more grounded and overall balanced building form

Stair position and configuration will greatly determine the upper level planning and so setting the stair to a particular lower level plan and then trying to work out the upper will limit the design potetial...

I'd suggest you first think about your house in terms of broad zoning, assuming a growing family scenario, that is main living, master suite and secondary bedrooms/2nd living and then other requirements.. and then compare different configurations of these basic zonings for instance what does it look like with a Master suite on the ground level and secondary/kids zone upstairs....do you need a dedicated home office as a room or a study nook.....think about separation/control of sound from competing internal activities and if you have a floor plan configured with a central stair with a 2nd living unable to be closed off this is not ideal/inflexible for growing families when kids turn into teenagers......

Having option of a bedroom on a ground level arguably provides more flexibility in older age and better appeal for potential re-sale.....

No, builder's won;t give any consideration to design specifics such as orientation and efficiency as it's not their area of expertise.....best to engage a designer who knows what they're doing and can best assist you to get the most out of your block and your home

Maybe something like this? Northern light through stairs into upper storey and curved void over would tie in back with curved facade?