Please review our first custom floorplan

Hi all.
After purchasing a block in Gisborne we are finally beginning the daunting task of getting a floorplan together and finding a builder.

Our key items for the floorplan are:
1. Minimal wasted/unnecessary space.
2. Orientation to maximize solar efficiency.
3. Separate kids/master/guest zones.

We have attached our first shot at a floorplan (go easy we drew it up ourselves and we aren't architects haha!)
Are there any obvious architectural red flags here? Or areas for improvement?

Also, after shopping around a few builders we are liking the look of Keogh Homes. Does anyone have any experience with them?

Room dimensions might be easier to get a feel for the size of things rather than the square meterage. At a glance one of the first things i noticed was the toilet in the master ensuite seems oddly placed but im not sure where else you'd move it to if you want a bath in there.

That might be a bit more help. We plan to take our rough floorplan to a draftsman to get properly drawn up, so none of the measurements are set in stone. More of a guide.

I definitely agree with the toilet location but not sure where else it can go unless we eliminate the bath in the main ensuite.
I've also considered a dedicated room for the main toilet but not sure how to fit it in.

Is it just me or have you missed a laundry or is it 5here behind the kitchen? I think your kitchen and guest ensuite are too small.

Kitchen storage and bench space seems really limited in those measurements. The guest will be navigating the squeeze between the shower and the toilet. A guest doesn't need so much walk in robe space, so use some of that for the ensuite

Yes the laundry is between the garage and the pantry. The idea being we can enter the house from the garage, take shoes off in the laundry, and take shopping straight into the pantry.
I agree that the kitchen dining may be too narrow? We could possibly extend that northern aspect wall slightly. We could also make the benchtop longer, pushing the French doors back a bit toward the formal lounge. We plan to have café style stacker windows as a breakfast bar along the length of the northern bench (behind the sink) so there should at least be plenty of light.
The guest ensuite doesn't need to be too big, however if it's too small we can probably reduce the WIR size to accommodate it as I can't imaging needing a very big WIR in a guest room.

The guest ensuite doesn't need to be big, but It needs to be functional. You don't want it to feel cramped and have your guests shimmy sideways past the shower to be able to use the toilet. Think about any elderly guests you may host (in-laws etc).

As to the walk in robe for a guest, how long are they staying? It's a lot of space. Even if they are staying a month, they're not going to bring their entire wardrobe with them. They'll bring 1-2 weeks worth of clothes. You could easily fit that and more in a sliding robe with some shelves and drawers installed and a hanging rail.

Think of your last long stay at a hotel. Did you need a walk in? Bet you had enough room in the bathroom to do what you needed and didnt feel cramped.

Kitchens are a bit subjective. Though in my personal experience of all the houses I've built, more bench space is always welcome. Storage is always welcome. The more of it you have, the easier it will be to use and maintain cleanliness and keep organised. Make it too small and you'll be kicking yourself till you reno or build again.

Great info thanks
I definitely agree that the Guest WIR can be reduced quite a lot to extend the ensuite. And I'll see what I can do with the kitchen.
I met with Keogh homes yesterday and they are taking the design to their draftsman to be reviewed and drawn up properly.
From there I can fine tune things further.
If there's anything else anyone can think of please let me know

Last thing to considder, an additional separate WC (Or separating the one out from the main bathroom) it's useful when th3 bathroom is engaged and somone needs a pee. And considder if you want to have the ensuite WC enclosed. I can't imagine the significant other will like getting ready while the other is dropping the kids off at the pool.

Both things I've considered however I'm struggling to see how I can make it work in the current floorplan. I'll have a play with it and see what I can come up with.

Ask the draftsperson to considder something workable otherwise no biggie. Maybe the space can come from the guest room? I've noticed it's bigger that some of the main bedrooms

Okay so we've left our plan with the draftsman at Keogh Homes and will see what they come up with.
However in the meantime I'm still making my own tweaks to see where I can make improvements.
I have increased the size of the kitchen and made a few minor adjustments.
One thing I'd like to be able to do is separate the toilet from the main bathroom into its own WC. I'm just struggling how to fit this into the current floorplan.
I can't really increase the footprint of the home much more as it'll start to stretch the budget.
Any ideas on how I can fit this in? I'm also open to any other ideas for improvement.

Perhaps you could lessen the length of the study nook (looks to be 2700 long - quite a lot for its purpose.) and take a little from
the linen closet and put the stand alone loo opposite the bathroom door?

Nifty idea! Although I do like the large study nook.
I'll have a play with the floorplan and see how it looks. At the end of the day it's not a big issue to us if the toilet is in the bathroom, however I understand it's more desirable these days.

Okay so we've had a bit of back and forth with the draftsman and here is the latest concept floorplan.
I've marked a few things up in red which I plan to ask him about.
One thing we wanted was a grand entrance hall with double doors. However to accommodate this he appears to have offset the feature bulkhead further down the hall off to one side. Do you think this will look strange? Or would it look okay if we had a plant in the corner or something?

Any other feedback on this floorplan is appreciated

No point having a grand entrance that doesn’t flow all the way through the house. My view is its too long, will look impressive for visitors but form over function
Not a fan of the toilet right next to the bath in the en-suite. Imagine using it when the mrs is relaxing in the tub.

I agree with the toilet situation.
For such a large house I'd want separate toilets and a powder room.
Are you planning on having built in robes in beds 2 and 3? There is nothing marked currently.

We've never really been too concerned with having a separate room for the toilet in the ensuite, a bit more separation from the bath perhaps, but not really sure how to lay it out.
A powder room I could agree would probably be ideal, but we've struggled to find a way to make it fit. We definitely want a toilet in the kids section of the house, and we don't want to add yet another toilet just for the sake of having a powder room.
At the end of the day the house still has 3 fully functioning bathrooms to choose from.

We will also be fitting out all robes ourselves after handover so we've left them out.

Depending on what sort of cornice you are having you may need to look at providing a bulkhead or soffit where you are putting the robes. Unless you are happy not running them to the ceiling.

Main bathroom - place shower where toilet is, rotate bath 90deg with vanity adjusted to fit and then you can have toilet where shower is in a separate room.

Ensuite - rotate shower 90 deg and place toilet on wall closest to bedroom. Otherwise, do you really need 2x freestanding bathtubs in the house? Get rid of one and you have a whole lot more room to place the toilet.

Master bedroom - your door is in a poor location and allows view of bed from whole living/kitchen space. Consider straightening wall and placing door on wall inline with ensuite wall.

Laundry - do you need to entries??

Wardrobes - please consider getting the shells installed at build so they don't look like additions later. You can still plan to do the internal fit-out later