Floor plan help - what do you think?

Hi all, we are building in south east Melbourne and have received two floor plans from our builders. We love some aspects of each floor plan but not all (it’s hard I know!) and would like to know what people think of them.




The living and kitchen/pantry etc is exactly what we wanted. However dislike the void at the front as it looks like a long tunnel.




We loved the side entry and voids in this floor plan however didn’t like the layout of the kitchen and a small pantry.

Given our block is slightly sloppy on one side we could not combine both floor plans together to make it how we like.

The whole focus of this floor plan is on getting the northern sun hence the long and narrow open plan living and dining. Building cost so far is around $4000 per msq.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome 🤗

I prefer second one too with the side entry, it is special.

I actually think that the kitchen layout in the second one is better than that in the first one. In the first kitchen, there is a large wasted space in front of the island.

The living dining in the second one look fine, not seem narrow.

For the pantry in the second plan, you can close off that walk-through to the outside, maybe that would give you an extra wall to add bench and shelve.

Thank you so much for your reply.
We liked the side entry too however the overall house is smaller (358sqm vs 392sqm in the first floor plan) and they cost the same. We were told because they could build the first plan more “efficiently”.

I actually didn’t mind the space in front of kitchen island in the first plan - I have young children and they could play there instead of in the playroom which is on the other side of the house.

I have also attached the upstairs of the above two plans (I just realised I forgot to attach them in my OP). Again feedbacks are welcome. It feels much better talking to another person rather than just all in my head 😆


First floor plan. The rooms and rumpus can be swapped around.




Second floor plan. We didn’t like this as much because the master bedroom is at the back of the house facing west

i also prefer the side entry and using approximate dimensions i've made a few more suggestion to consider... a dedicated play space and future study nook away from foot traffic in the dining area, living area focussed towards the garden instead of the tv wall, bigger laundry with external access, mudroom with access to under stair storage, bigger pantry with potential deep under stairs storage and easier access from the garage ....omitting biw from the downstairs playroom in favour of free standing storage allows for more flexible furniture arrangement, a sit down bench (for opening luggage) and more storage in the guest room and small linen storage... the alfresco has direct access from the kitchen and the narrow open pergola allows for more northern sunlight and western sunshine is desirable in cold weather but the western pergola could have suitable vertical screening to keep the western external door in the living room and i've added a tall narrow window on the south west corner of the living room to improve hot weather ventilation...upstairs has less spaces wasted on hallways with north facing master suite, with bigger ens, wiw and bigger study..there is only one void over the stairs and front entry and the master suite and upstairs kids areas can have doors to zone AC and noise and the compartmented bathroom and bedrooms are more spacious and private and there's more storage throughout...and outside needs access along the north side or through the garage to bring lawn mowers and garden tools etc to the back yard

I think you should focus on the ffls, site and engineering first here
GF ffl 10.145- 10.041 = .104 Difference between 6 steps. your steps can't be 17.4mm high?
That error would surely affect the splits in the slab levels?


At $4K/m2 I would expect precise levels and drawings
Otherwise when they pick that mistake up later, they'll be adding another $2k/m2
If you are not sure visually how levels and engineering work, try 3D Engineering Bim
Slab and formwork Costs

Cheers
Chris

Hi,
Thank you very much for sharing your ideas and modified floor plan. It’s good to have another pair of fresh eyes and your ideas were brilliant.

I do like the idea of having bigger laundry and pantry; just don’t know if that will work as we have a slight drop from the back to front (around 0.5-0.8m) and from left to right (around 0.8-1m) I was told. I will definitely check with the builder and architect to see if we could have that done.

We do plan to increase the overall floor size, probably have the budget for another 15 to 20smq. So we have been thinking of making the bathroom downstairs an ensuite for the guest bedroom and add an additional powder room. We feel the additional powder room important especially during the days of lockdown and isolation.

I also prefer to have the kitchen facing north. Agree that there’ll be wasted space in front of kitchen island; but I dislike my stovetop to go against the wall of staircase. We have always wanted to have a minibar there (see plan 1) so I feel like we will lose that if we went with plan 2 (one with side entry).

The architect proposed to have alfresco/bbq at the same place as you did, as you mentioned direct access from kitchen. However told us that it is a bad idea to have the alfresco covered as it will block the northern sunlight. We just feel that that space will not get used if it is not covered given the unpredictable weather in Melbourne.

Thank you very much for listening and brainstorming it with me. I probably should rethink why am I paying an architect to design my home when I am asking for advice on an online forum

Thank you for picking that up. Would you mind the elaborate a bit more on the GF ffls issue? I’m aware that there are 6 steps and was told they aren’t very high (0.8-1m drop max).

We did engage an architect for this build however we are a novice in building and do not understand any of the technical terms. Will try the link you attached and see if I could understand it a bit better 🙃

I figured that out without you telling me
Pity the 6 step drop/rise which = approx 12 bricks =1029mm
Doesn't match the AHD finished floor levels that your architect has used, who knows where he got those figures from?
The correct ADH should be on your licensed survey or there are online tools, markers, GIS
Your site plan should show AHD contours, a datum point and reduced levels, balance point, etc this will also enable you to cross check all the data, optimise the design, minimise site works and costs.
BTW, if you have 3D contour model with FFls.. it is a bonus, without these even so called architects plans make costly mistake that builders will take advantage of. OT, I don't model AHD what's the use of your house sitting 101m above mean sea level?
Cheers
Chris