Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 15, 2015 3:32 am What do you think we have been looking at house plans trying to narrow it down to a couple of houses at least. I like this one but worried about orientation, the block we have is west facing at the front with smashing views which hubby want to be able to see, but I don't know how to place it for the best passive solar. There is a road that runs up the length of the block on the north side. Also the bedrooms are in the wrong spots, the living room should be on the north side, any ideas? Because if hubby has his way the house design is fine.[ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: What do you think? 2Apr 15, 2015 7:23 am Assume the bottom of your plan is west-facing to the view. In most of Australia a lot of west facing glass would be a problem, but I guess in Tas you aren't so worried about summer heat gain. So mainly you would be worried about lack of winter sun utilisation, rather than all the normal passive solar factors. You could flip the design to put the sunroom and kitchen to the north. Depending on the actual build angle, then lounge might also pick up a fair bit of midday sun. Perhaps you could then consider putting the family where the dining is. The kitchen where the family is, and the dining where the kitchen is. Family then has good sun access, and a view. Back yard access may be through the dining area (which may need to be a bit bigger on account of that). Re: What do you think? 3Apr 15, 2015 8:12 am I'm assuming north is to the top on both your block and plan photo. If it were me I'd want my living areas ie the kitchen/dining/lounge areas facing the view so would spin your house 180deg. North would then also be to all the minor bedrooms. Having said that, don't be so sure there isn't a better plan out there to capture what looks to be an awesome location. I'd like to see the kitchen where the family room is on this one, really open the space up to the western view! Re: What do you think? 4Apr 15, 2015 10:04 am Like the others have said, it would be great to confirm the orientation of the house. Also, is the road on the north side a busy one or only local traffic? Based on what you've said about the block it sounds like you want a design with the following features: * Maximise the westerly views * Maximise the long north side of the block Think about what you want looking at your westerly views - do you want them in your bedroom or a living room? Do you want a patio to take advantage of them? Also think about what you have on the north side - you almost certainly don't want bathrooms/laundries on that side. But if the road is noisy, you probably don't want your bedrooms there either. If you've already bought the block, you want to find a house plan that takes advantage of the block's features and minimises its disadvantages. Try not to get too hung up on a particular plan until you've considered all these points Good luck! Jen (& Dave) Plantation Bronte, Ormeau Ridge, Gold Coast QLD 12/03/2015 - Commencement... 26/08/2015 - Handover! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76446 Re: What do you think? 5Apr 15, 2015 10:41 am I believe the map orientation is correct, with North at the top, and views to the West over the river to hills beyond. But this looks like a larger rural block with a fairly quiet country road to the West. I think the road mentioned to the North is just an access road? I assume the block is big enough that you can rotate the house any way you like? Re: What do you think? 6Apr 15, 2015 11:35 am Sorry for the delay in answering, we are in Thailand for a few weeks , yes the north road is just a reserve road so no traffic at all on it, the west road is a small country road as was said,with the river in front of it , which hubby wants the views of. The photo is showing the long side of the block is north, the short front end is west. I forgot to say the block is 5acres sloping up from the front to a very steep hill so will block a lot of the morning sun out I think. Re: What do you think? 7Apr 15, 2015 2:48 pm I would have thought you would have good views facing North in that location with those windows giving you a view to the North West. If you want views directly West there is no need to have huge windows so the view is in your face. A smaller window can give a great view. For all windows facing west I would go for a reflective film otherwise you are likely to suffer overheating in Summer (even in Tasmania) 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. Re: What do you think? 8Apr 24, 2015 3:27 am The long top side of the block is facing north, which is good but the house facing the north would have bedroom 2 And 3 facing north and the family room facing south. Kitchen facing south on one side west on the other, it's in southern Tasmania. I was trying to draw it up swapping the 2 and 3 bedrooms with the family room and kitchen, maybe the kitchen bow window facing out to the north? Cheers Re: What do you think? 9Apr 24, 2015 7:18 am How wide is your block? If it's wide enough I was assuming you were orienting the long side to face the view. Is the land on a slope where are building? If so, then if the house is long front to back, you may need to step it up the slope. Which way around did you initially plan to orient that design? The only way that seems to make any sense is if you had the study facing west, with all the windows that direction for the view. But if you did it that way, you'd at least want to flip the living end to the North. Re: What do you think? 10May 09, 2015 9:17 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I got hubby to draw roughly where he wants the house to be, on the west he has the river, road and bush lol. The angle is what he wants. The east of the block goes upward in a very steep slope, way past where he has drawn. The brown line is where he want track/ driveway . The land on our East and South is bush. West side, the front has some bush but not real thick stuff and it is on the down hill slope so won't Bloch much sun I think. Neighbours on our north side but far enough away not to cause any bother. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ No. It's not original. Circa early to mid 90s would be my guess and maybe even as late as early 2000s 1 6631 Looking to start the journey of becoming an owner builder in SA. Feeling pretty (overly) confident on the building and construction details, but really struggling to find… 0 8415 A question. Im in Queensland and building a new home. We managed to reach practical completion 6 weeks ago but we haven't heard any date for handover yet. Who should we… 0 5805 |