Browse Forums General Discussion Floor Plan Judgement 7Nov 11, 2016 9:14 am Owner Builders in boot-shaped Yorke Peninsula : viewtopic.php?f=38&t=80264& Re: Floor Plan Judgement 13Nov 14, 2016 8:54 am Thanks everyone so far for the comments, I will try my best to take the advice on board as there are a few things I had not considered. This forum is proving to be a great platform for building ideas! To address the passive heating, we are using a mid-tone tiled floor as we are closer to Brisbane than Sydney (we are building in Northern NSW - Ballina, near Byron Bay). We don't want to generate too much thermal mass as we may well cook. Aircons are planned for the lounge and dining/family areas but I predict it will be used mostly in the east facing lounge, especially mid morning. We have two small children, 6 years and 18 months. There are currently no houses or units next to our block, as it's not even got title yet. So it's going to be a lucky dip as to what we get next to us. Both blocks beside us are designated as possible duplex developments. It's unlikely we will have our backyard overshadowed by a structure as the covenants require setbacks of at least 4m from the rear boundary and the building envelope restrictions ensure solar access to adjoining lots. Won't stop trees being planted next door though... The laundry will have an exhaust fan and we will run this periodically to reduce any moisture buildup. I have looked at the your home government website quite a lot and the solar access issue is at the top of my mind with this build, as well as overall home size being smaller along with our mortgage. We want to have money to live life with while we are still young! Presently it's killing us. I feel so passionately about living with a smaller physical, financial and environmental footprint however when you see a really small home, it's clear we still have a very spacious home. The local council requires a home (excluding garage) to be a minimum of 140sqm. Well if you take our garage off, the home is around 150sqm, so we just get over the line. So many design principles pulling at each other have made it very hard to design this home at this size and still maintain a feeling of spaciousness. All the suggestions are great, especially the large entrance hall. Our current home has a very nice entry under a portico but this was quickly minimised in the new design to save costs and enable a more efficient layout. I'll have another close look at this plan and hopefully I can squeeze some improvements that have been suggested in and lose a few more brain cells in the process! Re: Floor Plan Judgement 14Nov 14, 2016 11:22 am As a parent myself, with two young kids, having those bedrooms directly opening out onto the main living area could definitely be a problem - especially in a couple of years time, noise constraints might mean that you effectively can't use that area - especially the kitchen - while the kids are asleep (or, probably more significantly, supposed to be going to sleep). It would also mean that the TV would also possibly be best positioned away from those bedrooms (in the lounge room in that plan) - would that work for you? I'd strongly suggest that you consider some separation between those bedrooms and at least the kitchen, if not that whole living area. You haven't mentioned how long you imagine living in this house, so I'll assume it's for at least a decade. Have you considered how you'd live as a family when the kids are teenagers? Is the plan to 'nudge' them out of their bedrooms and into the living areas? Bedroom sizes can be a key part of this 'behavioural suggestion' - how did you arrive at the bedroom sizes in your plan? Even with encouragement to be more often in the common areas, teenagers often do require some separation and privacy - do you think that this plan would be sufficient for that? What about when *you* might want to be away from *them* for a bit? As a family, I repeat what's been said above - you'll definitely want some more storage space. Also, the lighting in the laundry will be an issue, especially with it also being the corridor to the bathroom, quite apart from ventilation issues. A skylight, perhaps? i thought the flipped plan initially but bec i want narrow pathway from entry to dining (dont like bend), also cannot fit the… 7 17172 Hi, Seeking volume or semi-custom builder in victoria(east), which have existing double story wide floor plans. Seeking 18-20m wide homes with depth of 12-15m long. Or… 0 25049 Hi there! Absolutely agree on the wasted space. We have no desire for the master to be that oversized, but it occurred when we increased the depth of the garage. We have… 4 12391 |