Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 01, 2014 1:17 pm Hi Everyone,
I have been reading through this forum for a while with general ideas and tips for building my own house, decided to join up and get peoples thoughts. Im building my first house with Burbank, I have purchased a north facing block, with a slight lean toward the north-east. My vehicle access is on the west side as i decided I wanted the garage on the west side to take the grunt of the midday-afternoon sun. I have found a floorplan which i like, the Cornell 2400 which has the kitchen and main living areas on the same side of the garage, on the western side of the house as i wanted this space to be the brightest. All of the bedrooms are located ont he east side to get the morning sun. There is an alfresco on the south western corner, as i thought it would be better to have this area ont he west side to get the main afternoon sun rather than be in the shade after midday. Wonderign what are peoples thoughts on house placement on this block as it is very narrow (14m wide x 30m long), and very flat, as is neighbouring property which will also be developed. I live in Victoria if this makes any difference. Cheers! Siting is in my blog: Direct URL -> http://essendon33.simplesite.com/367494500 Re: North Facing Block, East or West living areas? 2Apr 01, 2014 1:33 pm you can use trees to help with the sun. I find in new areas people have forgotten about. if you look in the older areas they are pretty and cooler because of the trees. I live in perth and my house is north facing. we did plan the house or block due to where it faced. the side that getting the afternoon sun has smaller windows. the main living area is on this side too, but we are putting up a big patio to help keep the sun out. Re: North Facing Block, East or West living areas? 3Apr 01, 2014 1:40 pm Post your floor plan to get an more accurate idea. Re: North Facing Block, East or West living areas? 4Apr 01, 2014 1:59 pm Yes, too hard to picture. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: North Facing Block, East or West living areas? 5Apr 01, 2014 3:04 pm Our KDR is on a block with the street to the north of the house. The original house which we lived in for 12 years had the living areas on the western side of the house (with some north-facing windows as well). It was horrendously hot in summer and cost us a fortune in cooling. This was compounded by the fact the house next door has a flat roof so doesn't offer any shade even in the late afternoon until almost sunset and the layout made it very difficult to catch any cool breezes and get them to flow through the house when a cool change came. We also had no windows facing east at all to get any morning sun - the master faced north and the other two rooms were south. Our new plan has living areas facing south/east and north with bedrooms, etc, on the west. Unfortunately we couldn't shift the driveway crossover to have the garage on the west due to a stormwater drain - we would have preferred to do this so we could have living on the NE corner but it wasn't a deal breaker. Our alfresco will eventually be facing SE as the cool changes and rain tend to come from the SW so we will be sheltered from that to some degree. It may also depend on your own comfort levels and lifestyle - we don't like the heat at all and are happy to put on a jumper when it's cool before turning on heating. I work from home so my office is north-facing to catch the winter sun during the day when I'm home alone but with a teacher and kids in the family, we are all home during the summer and keeping cool is a higher priority for us. ~ Anne I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite sure. Eeek - We're embarking on a knockdown rebuild! Click here for our build thread Our blog: kdrhome.wordpress.com Re: North Facing Block, East or West living areas? 6Apr 01, 2014 8:08 pm Hi essendon33, I tried to access your blog but apparently I needed to login. I don't think it would give me access. I think that Slightly Random (Anne) has given you some good info there. I would be hesitant to put all the living areas on the west due to potential overheating. However it does depend as well on what is happening next door and how close the neighbouring house is. It may be able to provide some shading. If you could post your site plan here along with your floor plan, I think you will get a few more comments. Good luck with it all. Cheers, Jenny. Need hints, tips and inspiration? Join me on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ournewhomecoach Who am I? See my LinkedIn page: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jennifer-crawford/1a/429/296 Re: North Facing Block, East or West living areas? 7Apr 03, 2014 2:20 pm Hey check out this government site - http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation It may help? Re: North Facing Block, East or West living areas? 8Apr 03, 2014 4:13 pm jenathome Hi essendon33, I tried to access your blog but apparently I needed to login. I don't think it would give me access. I think that Slightly Random (Anne) has given you some good info there. I would be hesitant to put all the living areas on the west due to potential overheating. However it does depend as well on what is happening next door and how close the neighbouring house is. It may be able to provide some shading. If you could post your site plan here along with your floor plan, I think you will get a few more comments. Good luck with it all. Cheers, Jenny. Sorry about that! just updated the link at the top of the page. I have the main areas on the west side, the blocks are fairly small in the area and i expect a house of similar size on both sides of the house, my only concern is the sun glaring onto my tv in the living area , will have blinds though i guess. I changed my vehicle crossing to the west side due to these reasons. - Didnt want bedrooms in the afternoon sun - Garage on the north-west corner to insulate now thinking of a different house design to keep this space out of the afternoon sun, Family area and kitchen will have dark tiles so i wont have to worry about reflection and should keep it reasonably cool during summer. Will have evap cooling put in later. Thanks for the advice and the replys to come! Re: North Facing Block, East or West living areas? 9Apr 03, 2014 4:36 pm Don't know about dark tiles as they will soak up the heat from the afternoon sun. I would probably think fairly hard about the window sizes, and avoid full height windows/patio doors on the east and west side. (Most builders will reduce the window size as a no cost variation) There are some more thoughts about window size at this link: http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2012/02/window-size/ The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. The warning is on the sticker on the door too. Second the aluminium powdercoat 6 18101 It might be a bit darker in the mornings but the light is still light, so you should be getting it. Similar to what you see from your western windows 3 19969 Hi, can anyone recommend a custom home builder who can build in north east area? Looking to build a custom 4-br energy-efficient home with a max budget of 750k. If they… 0 22723 |