Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Apr 07, 2015 12:56 am Not sure if I'm posting in the right place here, but here goes: We are looking at purchasing the following block - Lot 157 on the attached pic of the subdivision to build the house with the attached floor plan. I am terrible at understanding house orientations and need help with this. Am I reading the subdivision properly by saying that lot 157 is a West facing property which is not good? Considering we want a pool in the backyard, I'm assuming that we would get sun in the yard in the morning and early afternoon and then the pool would be in shade for the rest of the day which would not be ideal. We haven't got as far as playing with the house plan/layout etc, the yard and pool area are very important to us, so before we even purchase the block, I would like to understand more about its orientation. That is where you experts come in! HELP! Help with Orientation 2Apr 07, 2015 7:27 am All is not lost, I personally think this block has an OK aspect (better than north to front at least!) You want north to be on your longest boundary, so therefore you would flip the house so the garage, theatre, family etc is on the side that faces north. You are right that it would be more morning sun but in the middle of summer the shade would be a welcome addition! However, two things you should consider, you have a drainage easement on the south boundary, ideally you'd want to position your house as close to that as possible to maximise exposure to the northern sun. You would also have to be mindful of what your northern neighbours could build, without dimensions of the land its hard to know what sort of meterage you have to play with. Re: Help with Orientation 3Apr 07, 2015 6:49 pm I'd agree with everything FantasticFour said. Personally, a western frontage is probably my second favourite orientation (after a southern frontage, with north facing backyard). This is because in most areas of Australia we have to be mindful of summer heat, which is particularly bad from western afternoon sun. A western frontage will mean your double garage will block much of that afternoon heat. One problem with western frontages (& eastern frontages) is you may have overshadowing problems from your northern neighbour. So as FantasticFour says, you want to be mindful of what could be built to your north. I'd usually only recommend western or eastern blocks with wide frontages, as this will minimise overshadowing issues. I'd also recommend building close to your southern boundary, but as FantasticFour says, that drainage easement may make this impossible. So if the block is quite narrow, or if the easement is quite large, I might reconsider purchasing this block. The other option to minimise overshadowing of living areas is to build an "upside down" house, with living area upstairs, & bedrooms downstairs. Though some people don't like this kind of design. As for orientating your house correctly on your block, you want your living areas to face north. This way they will recieve winter sunshine, but will be shaded from summer sun. Read more here, http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation ps. If my memory serves me correctly, I think there's a section in there about selecting a block. Here it is, http://www.yourhome.gov.au/you-begin/choosing-site 0 622 Hi there, long-time lurker but first time posting. I've bought a house 2 and a bit years ago and last year we had some major water damage on a converted pergola area… 0 7935 Yes, unless you are in a low intensity rainfall area or the area is protected from rain. Do you have access to NCC Part 2 or can you download it? I can email you a copy… 10 12523 |