You're right PDS Design, it is a volume budget, hence we've decided to go with a volume builder but using a custom plan. It may be that we have to come up with a new floor plan, hence my appeal for help on Houzz.

What exactly is your concern about the public footpath? I agree that putting the garage on that side is wasting solar access and I wonder if there are ways to address your concerns? For example double glazing should reduce noise?

thanks so much for doing that, I was just trying to bring it up again without success, interested parties should be able to make that out

Hi Yvonne, Dreamer has very kindly uploaded it and is able to be read.

You can contact me direct via my houzz page which we should be able to receive the PDF through and I will share cheers

I only have my old HTC and the camera is no longer working very well, looking forward to any upated plans you might be able to send directly to me so I can share. Continue writing your list of must haves and haves

Thanks Siriusky, I've updated my list of must haves, I actually have an appointment with a volume builder very soon, so will post more later!

Another completely different approach trying to open the living space to the side and rear garden to take advantage of the aspect. Fireplace on end wall with large windows on each side Room sizes can be changed to suit

I should add that I was thinking clerestory windows on the wall above the kitchen letting light into the kitchen family dining and then again above the living room wall letting light into the entrance and Gallery. Our house has a similar aspect to yours and was designed by the Architect with clerestory windows

Thanks very much Siriusky :) I do love how you and OkLouise were able to incorporate the laundry and drop zones into the plan. I really appreciate your time and effort in coming up with different styles, it’s definitely made me realise different styles that can still hit the brief of what I want. Out of interest, the plan below was given to me by a lovely talented designer below

This is the best I can do, sorry!

Thanks again everyone! I think we're going back to the drawing board and starting a new plan from the beginning, I'll be sure to update once we've settled on a new plan. I really appreciate the input and opinions from all, another reason why I love the Houzz community :)

Looking forward to seeing the new plan soon, I belive it will be very beautiful.

I should add that I was thinking clerestory windows on the wall above the kitchen letting light into the kitchen family dining and then again above the living room wall letting light into the entrance and Gallery. Our house has a similar aspect to yours and was designed 1980 by the Architect with clerestory windows . The entrance doors have been changed and the timber trims match it, the pink was the original colour which I didn't mind, but he hated it.

Thanks Yvonne it is a lovely light filled house, which is very important to me.

Update: I’ve engaged a designer to work on a new floorplan, we seem to be on the same wave-length so fingers-crossed it will work out well. After looking at the plan, I have decided to flip the front half of the house so the garage is on the south side and master bedroom on the north side. The designer also suggested having the study where the formal lounge is (west facing) and having the formal lounge north facing. It’s hard to picture right now and we are working on the kitchen design (most important room!) but I’ll update once we’re finished :)

Yvonne you might want to look at the Green Homes Australia website as they have some good ideas when trying to maximize Northerly aspect.

Thanks CP, I’ll check it out :)

Looking forward to seeing your new floor plan

Thank you for the interest. The designer also suggested having the alfresco on the eastern side of the block to avoid hindering the northern light and having large windows on the kitchen which will be on the south side of the block. The will also be a 3m corridor in the south side of the block for veggies and our laundry line.

I am a little nervous about large windows in the kitchen though as I don’t want curtains in the kitchen since it easily collects grease over time even if it’s not near the stove top. But she assures me there will be good soft lighting from the south and I think I’ll have windows like this for privacy.

https://www.houzz.com.au/photos/living-modern-living-room-brisbane-phvw-vp~116608585

I’ll also have appropriate plantings around the garden - deciduous trees in the north, veggies in the south and a mixture of permanents in the east and west. We’ll engage a landscaper for this since I’m pretty much a newbie at this!

I read that you’re concerned about not getting northern light into some rooms. What about a saw tooth roof With celestory windows, faced to get northern light? They’re a great way to get light into parts of the house that would otherwise miss out. Whoops, just scrolled up and see it has already been suggested! Well, I will leave it in anyway. Much easier than messing up your floor plan, just change the roof!

Thanks Lurchmum, the living and dining rooms will be facing north in the new plan and the kitchen will be flipped to the south, but my designer believes that having large windows in the kitchen facing south is required to bring more natural light in. I’m just not sure about it because of the heat loss in winter to the south from inside the home.

Looks like I'm late to the party here :)

I'll start by saying I'm no expert. But I agree that the original location of the garage, in the NW corner, was a waste of northern light. So it's good you've moved it to the SW corner.

I'd have reservations about moving the master to the NW corner though. If it has a large western window or could get stifling got on summer evenings. There are things to mitigate this somewhat, but it's much better to put the master in a better location.

Before I say anymore, I'd recommend you have a VERY good read of the Your Home website. A government website, encouraging energy efficient house design.

http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design

The most important term you'll learn from there is "passive solar design". Which is what everyone has been alluding to. Using the sun to heat a home in winter, while protecting the home from the sun in summer.

Pretty easy to do actually. The sun is low in the northern sky in winter, so you can get sunshine into the home through your northern windows at this time of year. In summer the sun is high in sky, so your northern windows will be shaded by (appropriate length) eaves.

So it's best to locate the rooms that need heating in winter (your living areas), on the north. Your bedrooms can be cooler & darker, so are fine to be on the southern side.

It's difficult to shade the sun when it's in the east & west, as it's low in the sky in these directions. Western sunshine is the most detrimental in summer, as the sun is in this direction in got summer afternoons. So it's advisable to locate rarely used rooms to the west, & minimise or eliminate western windows. The garage, bathrooms & laundry. It is considered a bad idea to have bedrooms facing west. These can get very hot on summer evenings!

House shape plays a big part of comfort & energy efficiency. The most efficient houses are rectangular, with the long faces facing north & south. The northern face can get abundant sunshine in winter, & be shaded by eaves in summer. Smaller eastern & western faces won't be quite so badly effected by summer sun.

For these reasons, as I'd mentioned earlier, I'd reconsider having the master bedroom at the front, in the NW corner. I'd consider putting the lounge room or office (if it's not regularly used) here. Making sure that this room has a door, so can be separated from the living areas when it's hot.

I'd look at having all the bedrooms in the south, as you were looking at. Maybe having the master in the SW corner, overlooking the backyard. If all the bedrooms won't fit on the south I'd consider the master in the NE, as as it won't be anywhere near as badly effected by the summer sun as it would in the NW. Maybe the covered alfresco somewhere in the NE, so it doesn't shade your living areas in winter.

You're plan of having most of the living areas in the north & the kitchen in the south I'd a good line. The kitchen's location will help with cross-ventilation of summer breezes your living areas.

Depending on your location, you should consider the direction of summer wind, the Fremantle Doctor. If I'm not wrong, I believe is starts out from the W/SW, turning more south later. This could be great at cooling your southerly bedrooms, & the southern kitchen will help cool the rest of your open plan living area.

Reading through some of your most recent posts it looks like you're on the right track.

Sorry the post is so long, & best of luck with the build.

Oh, sorry for any typos. I'm using a swype keyboard, & can't edit my post on the Houzz app. I hope my post makes sense :)

Oh, also, after reading the first few posts I was thinking that some north facing clerestory (highlight) windows would be perfect for you. Maintaining privacy from the neighbouring walkway, while still being access to northern light & sunshine. Looks like others have the same idea.

A skillion roof design may be a good option if you'd like clerestory windows.

Thanks for the comments above ddaroch, I appreciate your input :) The Master bedroom has to go somewhere, separated from the minor bedrooms and keeping privacy in mind, it will mostly likely remain on the northwest side of the block. I think my designer plans to have the bedroom windows facing north instead of west to avoid the western sun ☀️

I would love to have celestory windows but it’s our of our budget. The reason it costs so much is because of a metal railing that has to be inserted above your glass exterior doors and then again with the celestory windows. I was told it is cheaper to just have large glass exterior doors and high ceilings so I’m going with that.

Dido with skillion roofs. I was quoted an extra $90 m2 if I wanted a skillion roof by a volume builder, which is ridiculous. And the only reason is because roof carpenters are supposedly used to doing a normal pitched roof so anything unusual would cost more!!

Anyways, rant over, I’ll check out the site you mentioned, cheers!

Yvonne definitely go for higher celings, then you can consider some high line windows which aren't as expensive as clerestory.

Thanks CP - I’m looking at 31 course throughout the house plus extra in the common area (living and dining) the high ceilings is because I’m installing ceiling fans throughout the house.

it's interesting to read that you plan to have high ceilings throughout the house because you have been told a skillion roof was too expensive...i have difficulty believing that raising the height of the walls through the whole house will be cheaper than a well planned skillion roof with raked ceilings and we've found one way to increase headroom is not to raise all the walls but to have standard height gable or skillion roof on the outside with a raked ceiling inside major rooms and keep the standard flat ceiling heights in minor rooms... in this way the lower part of the ceiling stays at the more economical 2400mm but the centre or one side of a raked ceiling can be higher with scissor trusses creating enough space for proper insulation and ceiling fans...a raked ceiling with one side as little as 30cms higher can give a wonderful feeling of spaciousness with little extra cost but as usual best result will be obtained with careful planning

Thanks Oklouise, I’ll mention what you’ve said to my designer. It makes sense to have high ceilings throughout for ourselves because of the ceiling fans and yes I would love a raked ceiling, but it comes down to our budget. We’re still at the initial stage of design but I would rather err on the side of budget.

Also, in answer to your question about costs of higher ceilings vs skillion roofs, I was told that it is cheaper to employ a young brickie to put mortar and brockets together than having a skilled roof carpenter to put a skillion roof.

There are certain "standardised" specifications and construction details that if executed by a volume builder can be achieved extremely cost effectively. Once you stray from these "rules" however, with things such as higher ceilings, skillion roof forms, high level windows or whatever, it immediately enters "custom build" territory, that will of course equate to higher cost. The "reasonableness" of this however needs to be rationalised from project to project, from builder to builder. Additional $90/m2 for skillion roof stick framed vs standardised truss construction is probably actually quite reasonable, if it involved reasonable spans, and it takes far more time/labour to properly pitch a roof from scratch (with a raked internal ceiling) in comparison to just throwing up pre-fabricated trusses, that involve barely any tools other than a nail gun. I'd suggest as a general comment, rather than rule out options at such an early stage, it's better to develop a vision and see how close you can get to it, get the design/plan sorted first, and then see where it's sitting and what opportunities there are to have raised ceilings or whatever it is and then methodically and logically work through prioritised spec adjustments if budget is becoming pushed with the scale/quality balance of the design. Be careful not to just make big design decisions because someone tells you it's cheaper or better or not or whatever one way or the other. Yes budget is always important, but don't allow fear of blow-outs potentially hamstringing/compromising the design process/journey and automatically ruling out opportunity. With the right designer you may come to find that with more efficient planning you actually can afford some of the interesting/custom features that appeal as well as all the function you require for your family.

Hello Yvonne,

I am very late to this discussion but I will put in my ore for what it is worth!

I like your first plan, can see this looking beautifully sleek Just a few comments...(of course!!)

Looking at first plan here. Put robes into study.

I love the window … outlook at the end of the hall.

A pwd room internal AND a toilet???? so close?

Kitchen on south side would be better. especially in Perth where it is hot all the time!!

What about the sitting/family rooms together so you can open them into one area for party time? It wont be long b4 you have 16th, 18th & 21 parties....especially if you cook!!

The very practical tangle of rooms between garage & kitchen, I'm sure can be resolved, with kitchen on other side of home.

For bedroom privacy, hinge door on the other side, so when it is open one looks at the wall not into the room.

Love to see what you have come up with now....

Cheers

Margot

congratulations Yvonne, you must be thrilled and relieved after all your careful planning ...it's so good to hear about a designer who listened to what you wanted...best of luck with your new home

Thanks for your last advice Oklouise, I really appreciated your time and thought into the layout :)

Hi Yvonne,

The plan sounds wonderful and if it is just what you want it is even better. Your description of room placement sound great and to my mind it will be a very beautiful, comfortable, forever home. Best of luck with it all.

Cheers Margot