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I would appreciate all the experienced builders and home owners provide any comments (good and bad) towards my drawings.
I will be building in Brisbane. And have come up with a floor plan sketch which I passed onto a draftsman. And just got them back today.
This is a home for my family of 4......no more additions I hope. But may have parents moving in when they gets older.
Will be finding builders to provide quotes when final drawings are confirmed.
Attached some photos of my initial stages. Any comments would be great.
Which way is North (orientation can make a big difference)
Which way is North (orientation can make a big difference)
Driveway side is the north side.
Driveway can only be put on that side as that is the zero boundary side. The other side has got stormwater drainage and a tree, so driveway can not be put on the other end.
Behind my land, there is a existing house. Left and Right hand side land is currently vacant. They will be building pretty soon too I am guessing.
Heat gain is going to be a big issue through those west facing windows in Summer so I would consider reducing them.
There is no need for such big windows in a theatre room so the sills could be moved up.
I would also tend to move the small window in the front bedroom to the side wall.
Make sure you have a reflective film on all North Facing Windows.
I'm not a great fan of building right to the boundary so if possible I would move the house away from the north boundary to give more garden in front of the dining room/lounge windows.
Love the master bed, great open plan family living - awesome house!
I really like the whole concept. Timeless simple and modern
and heaps of bathrooms!
Bashworth's comments are very valid here. Having lived in a house in brisbane that wasn't designed for the heat but instead for the block, we had some very hot bedrooms. You want to make sure you have really, really good sized eaves and pay special attention to where the breezes come from so you can get good crossflow. Bedroom 4 which I assume is your master, is going to be hellishly hot if you don't get it right. I know people in brisbane tend to just rely on airconditioning but your power bill is going to thank you if you try to really limit the heat gain to begin with. Have a little bit of a look at solar passive design. It's more then worth it.
Probably the most controversial thing I would suggest is ditching the brick veneer entirely.
I suggest you read through these pages, they're very useful.
http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/thermal-masshttp://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/passive-cooling
Heat gain is going to be a big issue through those west facing windows in Summer so I would consider reducing them.
Yeah, the big problem and downside is that I have designed a lot of my bed rooms and my living areas on the WEST side of the house. (because I used one of the plans that I liked to made the modifications)
The upstairs bedrooms I would still need to give windows openings for the airflow. Probably need really good heat insulation and good tint on those West-facing windows. Or install a 5kw Solar.
Neighbour on my West side must build a Double-Story too. So would you say I wont have too much Heat-Gain on my downstairs? Neighboure's house would be at most 4 metres away I am guessing. maybe their house will cast a shadow for my downstairs Lounge and Kitchen.
There is no need for such big windows in a theatre room so the sills could be moved up.
Do you mean to make 'a' higher ? I am thinking of making the windows on Upstairs symmetrical to what I have downstairs and in-line too. so the Master bedroom window will have the fixed window on the top and then the Sliding window.
Then also that smaller window I put it in there ----- Just so that it lines up with my front main door. What do you think? too much Heat? Too much window that I can never run around naked anymore?
I'm not a great fan of building right to the boundary so if possible I would move the house away from the north boundary to give more garden in front of the dining room/lounge windows.
For this do you mean to move the house as-WEST-as-possible?
Lot is 14.2m x 37m. House will be 25m long. hence that would leave me 6m in north and south end.
House is 11.17m wide. I was thinking move the house as near West side as possible as that side of the walk-way I would use least.
ps: regarding nice gardens, at this stage, I am seriously considering putting just fake grass for the backyard. Really am a bad gardening person. But I may change if I grow 20 years older.
THANKS for your advice Bashworth. They are really helpful and give me some thinking to do.
Love the master bed, great open plan family living - awesome house!
I really like the whole concept. Timeless simple and modern
and heaps of bathrooms!
The wife is not too happy with all the bathrooms. That's 5 bathrooms + 1 powder room for her to clean and brush, and she ain't too happy about it. But I assured her that I will train the kids to do their own cleanings.
Probably the most controversial thing I would suggest is ditching the brick veneer entirely.
Thanks for the information on passive cooling. Spent some time to read through those 2 web pages you provided. That is a lot of information and technical terms in there. Wish they had worded it into something like "how to cool your house for Dummies".
What you are suggesting in NOT-USING brick veneer for the outside of the house, could you elaborate?
I have always thought that Brick is very effective in terms of blocking out Heat (less heat gain).....am I wrong about this?
here is a photo of my block.
How many years do you guys think that tree (Gum Tree) is gonna take to grow into a useful shade providing height? They usually get to about 15~20m tall. That would give me some shade on the North facing rooms.
here is a photo of my block.
How many years do you guys think that tree (Gum Tree) is gonna take to grow into a useful shade providing height? They usually get to about 15~20m tall. That would give me some shade on the North facing rooms.
20-30yrs...
are you serious~~
I will ask google...hopefully you are wrong!!
Hi, I just found the other page that has the info on brick veneer
http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/insulation"Brick veneer walls have the brick skin on the outside, which is not the ideal location for thermal mass. The bricks heat up in summer and radiate heat late into the evening, while in winter they stay cold and absorb heat from the house. Insulation is essential to protect the occupants from external temperature extremes exacerbated by the external brick skin."
Your insulation would be more efficient if you didn't use brick veneer.
edit: I just think that if you're struggling to design with good orientation on your block, you want to minimise the heat impact as much as possible. People really like the look of brick veneer but it's got really poor thermal performance and Brisbane is so hot I think it's important to prepare for it.
There is no need for such big windows in a theatre room so the sills could be moved up.
Do you mean to make 'a' higher ? I am thinking of making the windows on Upstairs symmetrical to what I have downstairs and in-line too. so the Master bedroom window will have the fixed window on the top and then the Sliding window.
Then also that smaller window I put it in there ----- Just so that it lines up with my front main door. What do you think? too much Heat? Too much window that I can never run around naked anymore?
I meant doing away with the window between a and b