Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 12, 2015 4:22 pm Hi guys, We bought a 800msq block at "my home and the river" which is 20m frontage by 40m (perfect rectangle shape). We are tossing up between building a single or double now bcoz. Double will give us more land out the back and better views with better breezes. Question is it better to build hard up on 1 side to leave a big side access on the other (big enough for car or boat)? Or build in the middle and have and little bit of side access either side (still not big enough for a car,boat etc) Any help from experience? Re: Which side of land to build on 2May 12, 2015 5:29 pm Depending on orientation of land I would choose building close to the south boundary on an east facing block, single storey with vehicle access to rear yard. I would have my living areas on the north side of the dwelling to take advantage of passive heating. Your block is big enough for single storey design. 2 storey design is more for small blocks and has issues regarding cooling in summer I would think without using lots of power, same as keeping it warm in winter. That is my opinion anyway, others may say different. Re: Which side of land to build on 3May 12, 2015 5:49 pm Prevailing wind direction should be factored in to your decision. So in other words if the winter rains and storms come in on the south side, make sure you have small windows that side. You want shelter from the summer sun as well.... Hard to comment further without more understanding of the local conditions and orientation of your block. Re: Which side of land to build on 4May 12, 2015 5:51 pm Vehicle access down the side is always a good thing to have, though if you can drive through the garage to the back yard, it's not a bad compromise. If you go 2-storey there are probably greater set-back requirements off the boundaries. For 2-storey, check the overlooking requirements for your council area. In many areas now, the upper floor windows end up being fixed obscure glass up to 1700 off the floor to prevent overlook over the neighbours. Then there are laws preventing windows opening more than 120mm or so, to prevent kids trying to jump out them. Combined, these restrictions can defeat the breezes and views of a 2-storey build. It's good to leave space on your northern boundary, so you don't get your winter sun blocked by neighbours. Re: Which side of land to build on 5May 12, 2015 7:21 pm Awesome thanks guys for the input. I didnt know alot of these factors. The front of our house faces north-west. The sun rises from the back of our house and sets infront of our house to the left a little bit. Re: Which side of land to build on 8May 12, 2015 9:02 pm Our block is a bit different however we built pretty much hard over on one side (1.5m from the closest point) so we could have a bigger backyard and side access to a shed, and also built 2 storey, check out of my thread to see Our build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70984 Re: Which side of land to build on 9May 13, 2015 1:09 am Great advice here. I'd go as close as possible to the southern boundary to get more light and space along the northern side. I can't help but see the space around the side of the house as ugly dead space, especially the dog-leg shapes. I like the idea of having a driveway down the side and garages around the back with blocks that big. As you say, room for boats or caravans ... or in my husband's case, a truck. Hey everyone Not for me or anyone I know, just generally interested. For a single allotment house, are you allowed to take the fence on both sides of your house and… 0 15386 Hi HomeOne, I'm in the midst of landscaping a cat run down the side of my house, and the recent rains have me wondering if I need to install some sort of drainage. I've… 0 9174 My land is 260m2 (10m x 26m) located in claymore NSW. Under campbelltown council. I know in general the following setbacks would apply ground floor side setback =… 0 4235 |