Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 26, 2014 6:25 pm Hello all, I'm so glad I found this forum. My family is looking at subdividing and building a house at the back of our block, and we'd love some advice on our floor plan/site. It's in Perth. Whilst we're lucky enough to have a west facing block so can plan for living areas facing north, we're worried there will not be enough northern sun coming into the living areas - there could be some potential shading issues from our neighbour's shed, which is about 2 storeys high, and built on our nothern boundary. We've tried to keep the new house as far off the northern boundary as possible (6m) but I'm not sure if it will help at all. We were also advised that installing a hinged laundry door (preferred option) would cost about $800 more than a slider because it needs to be weatherproof. Is this a standard charge for an external laundry door? Option1 - Plan we're currently looking at (please excuse the quality - I modified the plans in paint.net): Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Option 2 - Same plan with different laundry/toilet layout: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Site Plan - Block will actually be 22m long, with 2.6m between store and fence: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ June 2014 Nearmap image to show shadows - the blue lines indicate approx. 6m from fenceline where house will start: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Any advice you could offer would be much appreciated. Thanks, mr mrs Re: New Build - Floor Plan Feedback 2Oct 26, 2014 8:41 pm Hi, Its good you are trying to get access to your northern sun. Its a pity that you miss out on it though at the alfresco area. Is it possible to locate your alfresco elsewhere? Also your garage is in the most practical spot but again you are sacrificing a north facing area. Will keep looking at it. Good luck there are lots of helpful people here that will give you ideas. Re: New Build - Floor Plan Feedback 4Oct 26, 2014 10:19 pm Can you not drive straight into garage, and have a revising bay as you Back out to the right? Changes everything but have to wonder why it wasn't considered, perhaps it was but council denied, if so what were their reasons? Timeline Aug 08-Land Mar 09-Demo/Titles Sept 10-Handover No1 Sept 11-Handover No2 April 12-Sold No2 Aug 14-Land/Demo Jan 15-Slabs viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25736 Re: New Build - Floor Plan Feedback 5Oct 26, 2014 11:35 pm Personally I would not have 2.6 m gap as there is not much you can do with the space. I would shift the store to the other side and add the extra meter there to have your fridge recessed and a walk in pantry. I would also move the opening that leads to the laundry so that you cannot see the toilet door and then you can put some art work there. I am a fan of plan one btw. Where is the fridge going. Is that going to be in the niche off to the right of the island? I would probably put larders there and the oven etc and have the fridge recessed into the garage space in the corner. Just my 2cents. Re: New Build - Floor Plan Feedback 6Oct 27, 2014 12:52 am Thanks for your feedback. bluesteel, I was thinking that about the alfresco. The alfresco can be moved, we're just getting some ideas of what we want. Good idea about the garage. We were originally given a plan with the garage smack bang in the middle of the northern boundary, which is why we changed it. Might have to look at it again though. d@n, we're keeping the house at the front. Echo, this is something we will reconsider. It wasn't rejected but the placement of the garage in the original plan was right in the middle of what was going to be our north-facing backyard. AussieMark, good points - love the art work idea. I'll have a play around with what you've suggested. Yes, the niche on the right is for the fridge, forgot to label it. Thanks again! Re: New Build - Floor Plan Feedback 7Oct 27, 2014 9:50 am Good on you for taking all this into consideration, many people don't. Even going as far as checking shadows on Near Maps, very good!
A few thoughts. Many of these haven't been well thought through, & won't exactly work (eg. won't fit in the required area), but I'll just throw some ideas out there, a bit of brainstorming never hurt Looking at the Near Maps image, it may be line-ball, but those shadows may not be too bad. Looks like the picture was taken a little bit before noon, so the shadows will be slightly shorter at solar noon. For Perth, at the winter solstice the sun will peak at 34.5° above the horizon. At that angle a 1m shadow on the ground will shade only 68cm up a wall, using tan (34.5°), so the shadows may not reach the height of the windows. Of course, that's at the suns peak, so the shadows will be longer at other times in the day. You could build a different roof style, incorporating north facing clerestory windows. These high windows will be less effected by shading. Whether it's a simple single sloped skillion with a taller northern wall than southern wall, or a double skillion, with north facing clerestories running down the centre of the house (over the kitchen/living area). Unfortunately, it's not just the shading issues, you're also going to be looking straight at that big green shed from your living areas, & any additional screening will exacerbate the shading issues. At least with clerestory windows you would be looking at the bright blue sky, not just the shed. Disadvantages may be a more costly build, & the fact that cathedral ceilings have no roof space, so must be very well insulated. As bluesteel says, the alfresco takes up a fair chunk of your northern aspect. You could try the SE corner. Would you use the alfresco if it was in the SE corner? It would be cold in winter, but cool & well shaded on summer afternoons, though I guess you'll miss the Freemantle Doctor there. If you did move the alfreso you could move the living to the NE corner. Now what to put where the living was? A bedroom, nah too close to living areas. Kitchen maybe? Audio visual (would have a window facing E, into new alfresco). If not the living to the NE corner, maybe the master, nah, again, too close to living areas. Maybe Audio visual to the NE corner? It is all pretty tight, hard to move rooms around. As Echo says, you could try having the garage in the NW corner of the block, so that you drive straight in to the garage. This means there would be less area used by the driveway, which could be used elsewhere. However, as the garage would project further to the N than the rest of the house, it would shade your living areas in the afternoon, not great for winter. As AussieMark says you could get a bit more northern aspect to the living areas by moving the garage to the W, utilising that 2.6m down the side of the block. Another way to sneak a little bit of N aspect would be to move the store to the southern side of the garage. The master wouldn't fit in it's current location, you could move the audio visual there, followed by minor bedrooms. Do you want the master in the SW corner anyway, won't it be too hot there, although maybe the Freemantle Doctor (from the SW) may reduce to problem? If you move the audio visual & minor beds to the W the master could go in the SE corner, which I'm guessing is a better location. Just throwing a few thought bubbles out there. I'm sure they don't all work, but will give you extra ideas to think about. Good luck. Re: New Build - Floor Plan Feedback 8Oct 28, 2014 6:18 am As for the laundry/toilet debate, although the toilet access from the living area flows better in option 1, option 2 has the advantage of having a linen closet instead of additional hallway space. You can never have too much storage! For option 2 you could also have a cavity slider, instead of a normal door. This would make it easier to squeeze into that tight space, & give you the option to add a basin, which will be difficult for the toilet in option 1. I don't like toilets without basins, gross!
I'd also consider having a door between the living & the hallway to the minor bedrooms. This means you could zone the living areas more effectively, so only these areas are heated in winter. It would also cut down noise to the bedrooms. The same can be said for the audio visual, the addition of a door would cut down noise transfer, & increase heating efficiency. Re: New Build - Floor Plan Feedback 9Nov 01, 2014 11:04 am ddarroch Good on you for taking all this into consideration, many people don't. Even going as far as checking shadows on Near Maps, very good! A few thoughts. Many of these haven't been well thought through, & won't exactly work (eg. won't fit in the required area), but I'll just throw some ideas out there, a bit of brainstorming never hurt Looking at the Near Maps image, it may be line-ball, but those shadows may not be too bad. Looks like the picture was taken a little bit before noon, so the shadows will be slightly shorter at solar noon. For Perth, at the winter solstice the sun will peak at 34.5° above the horizon. At that angle a 1m shadow on the ground will shade only 68cm up a wall, using tan (34.5°), so the shadows may not reach the height of the windows. Of course, that's at the suns peak, so the shadows will be longer at other times in the day. You could build a different roof style, incorporating north facing clerestory windows. These high windows will be less effected by shading. Whether it's a simple single sloped skillion with a taller northern wall than southern wall, or a double skillion, with north facing clerestories running down the centre of the house (over the kitchen/living area). Unfortunately, it's not just the shading issues, you're also going to be looking straight at that big green shed from your living areas, & any additional screening will exacerbate the shading issues. At least with clerestory windows you would be looking at the bright blue sky, not just the shed. Disadvantages may be a more costly build, & the fact that cathedral ceilings have no roof space, so must be very well insulated. As bluesteel says, the alfresco takes up a fair chunk of your northern aspect. You could try the SE corner. Would you use the alfresco if it was in the SE corner? It would be cold in winter, but cool & well shaded on summer afternoons, though I guess you'll miss the Freemantle Doctor there. If you did move the alfreso you could move the living to the NE corner. Now what to put where the living was? A bedroom, nah too close to living areas. Kitchen maybe? Audio visual (would have a window facing E, into new alfresco). If not the living to the NE corner, maybe the master, nah, again, too close to loving areas. Maybe Audio visual to the NE corner? It is all pretty tight, hard to move rooms around. As Echo says, you could try having the garage in the NW corner, so that you drive straight in to the garage. This means there would be less area used by the driveway, which could be used elsewhere. However, as the garage would project further to the N than the rest of the house, it would shade your living areas in the afternoon, not great for winter. As AussieMark says you could get a bit more northern aspect to the living areas by moving the garage to the W, utilising that 2.6m down the side of the block. Another way to sneak a little bit of N aspect would be to move the store to the southern side of the garage. The master wouldn't fit in it's current location, you could move the audio visual there, followed by minor bedrooms. Do you want the master in the SW corner anyway, won't it be too hot there, although maybe the Freemantle Doctor (from the SW) may reduce to problem? If you move the audio visual & minor beds to the W the master could go in the SE corner, which I'm guessing is a better location. Just throwing a few thought bubbles out there. I'm sure they don't all work, but will give you extra ideas to think about. Good luck. Hi ddarroch, Sorry for the late reply; I've been away. I studied residential drafting many moons ago and northern facing living areas and winter sun are the main things I remember Thanks so much for your detailed response! I will talk your ideas over with the hubby and play around with the plan... It will keep us busy for a while. 6 55355 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 12510 i thought the flipped plan initially but bec i want narrow pathway from entry to dining (dont like bend), also cannot fit the… 7 17287 |