Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 24, 2009 12:08 am We have bought an irregular shaped block with a south facing rear garden section with a west facing side garden section (which is where the main living areas are). We hear that a north facing garden is prefarable but can anyone advise of the implications of the orientation above? cheers. Re: House orientation advice 2Aug 24, 2009 12:52 am The sun is overhead in summer and lower in the sky towards the equator, ie north if you are in the southern hemisphere, in winter. This is more obvious the further away from the equator you get. So a north-facing garden will be pretty sunny all year round. A south-facing garden will be shaded by the house in winter just when you most want the warming sun. A west-facing garden will get the afternoon sun which could be nice in winter but undesirable in summer when you want to sit outside in the evening in a cool shady spot. An east-facing garden will get the morning sun. Another thing about having a north-facing garden is YOU get to choose what you have in it and how it affects your north-facing windows. If those windows face a neighbour's block you could be shaded by THEIR house or trees (I think in some places there might be rules to protect your sun access from being built out). Don't forget to consider prevailing winds too. Have a look at websites about solar passive design like this one http://www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/fs45.html , they have diagrams that explain the seasonal movement of the sun. The choice of plants, whether evergreen or deciduous, and pergolas, especially ones that open and close as required or have appropriately angled slats, can help with the comfort of the outdoor living area, and the adjoining house. Re: House orientation advice 3Aug 24, 2009 6:50 pm cheers Macy that was really helpful and we'll be sure to check out the link you posted. ta. Versaloc is a mortarless besser block system that still needs a properly engineered footing. If you just do a 400x200 footing it will fail in time. At 17m long you need it… 1 17408 I posted the floorplan on Houzz.com forum and got some really good ideas and advice from people there. Then we reached out to a couple of renovation companies and one… 5 10093 Thank you so much for the effort. We will use it to talk with builder. We also had idea of building duplex instead and seeking suggest ions. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=106744 11 13832 |