Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 3Aug 11, 2014 4:06 pm My building thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=56583&start=120 Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 4Aug 11, 2014 4:40 pm http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 8Aug 11, 2014 7:17 pm http://camdenbuild.blogspot.com.au/ by invite only please pm me Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 13Aug 13, 2014 2:59 pm MyH1Login worktime With side alfresco, you can have an open plan style layout which is all the rave atm. I don't think this is possible with rear alfresco layouts? Definitely a rave! And it's a wave we jumped on lol. Our block is only 14.5m wide, and we've been questioned by a few as to why we didn't position out alfresco at the back. In my mind (1) coz everyone else has it at the back and the side is the new in-thing and (2) when I'm in the kitchen I'd like to see straight out and look at what the toddler is doing at the alfresco, as our kitchen directly faces the outdoor area. I was concerned about isolating the backyard, so we placed biparting doors to the back room so that during parties there is a straight line from the alfresco to the back, for ease of people traffic flow. We'll see if it works Similar reasons for me too. I like the living areas to be wrapped around the alfresco so that i can have large doors and maximum views of the outdoor from the living/kitchen. Good luck with your build Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 14Aug 13, 2014 3:10 pm ddarroch I'd agree with CluelessOne's point that you should consider your block's orientation, you should do this for all areas of your house. It's commonly recommended that your living areas, & a large proportion of your glazing, faces north. This will allow winter sun to enter your house, while blocking summer sunshine. Resulting in a house that is comfortable to live in, light, warmer in winter, & cooler in summer. Read about passive solar design here, http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation For this reason I'd disagree with CluelessOne, & recommend that you avoid having a covered alfresco to the north, as it will limit sunshine entering your house in winter. Unless you live in a very warm climate, & plan to use the alfresco a lot in the afternoons, I think a western alfresco will have the advantage of shading the rest of your house from the summer afternoon sun. So for me, eastern or western alfresco (or NW or NE corner). Thanks for this. The link you shared has some interesting information....but somehow i got the feeling that they mean the alfresco should also face north?i may have misinterpreted it...but sounds like windows and open areas are better off towards the north, isn't it? Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 15Aug 13, 2014 7:29 pm Yeah, it's a great site. Tonnes & tonnes of info, I'd certainly recommend having a good read. It's all very dependent on your climate, & your block orientation. Generally a high proportion of windows should face north. With the sun streaming inside in winter this side of the house will be warmer, so living areas should be located here (bedrooms to the south, as it's ok for them to be cooler). I can't really see any mention of alfresco orientation, although there is a picture of a north facing pergola. Where are you building? Will you require more heating or cooling in the house? If you will require much heating in winter, then it's advantageous to only shade northern windows with appropriate length eaves. Larger length eaves (from verandahs or covered alfrescoes) will prevent the sun from warming the house in winter. If however, you live in a hot climate, & won't require much heating, then it would be ok to shade northern windows some more. Also in a very warm climate a western alfresco may not be comfortable to use (also you may not like the setting sun in your eyes). What orientation is your block? Looking at the plan you posted I'm guessing it's a W facing frontage, with the rear facing E, is this right? How long is your northern side of your house? If you have a long northern wall, you may be able to have a decent number of north facing windows, plus the alfresco on this side. If however, the northern wall is quite short, you might want to reserve this side for a decent proportion of glazing, shaded by appropriate length eaves. In summer time, the biggest worry is heat from the western sun (as eaves aren't as effective on the E & W sides). It's great to locate garages, laundries & bathrooms on this side. A covered alfresco on this side will also help shade the house from the W sun. Trees to the W are great for shading, particularly deciduous trees that will drop their leaves in winter, allowing the sun to stream through. Also you should try to take into account your local breezes, & design for summer cross ventilation. Lots to consider in regards to an efficient design, along with the millions of other decisions you've got to make Good luck Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 16Aug 14, 2014 6:15 pm We have a 450sqm 15x30 and our living areas and alfresco are on the left/North/North west side ( West to left front). Two problems with this 1) shades the family room in winter meaning no nice warm sun ( also shades it in Summer so bonus there) 2) the alfresco is next to the neighbours bedrooms and us being nice and considerate feel akward about being out there too late as it really is so close even talking is loud. Our neighbour to our right has their alfresco immediately alongside our bedroom and have had several get togethers and they are not really noisy but there was no sleep the nights they entertained. So in this case I would prefer them be at the back where you feel you can at least be outside at night with rear boundary's further away and sun in the northern rooms in winter. Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 17Aug 15, 2014 7:24 pm ddarroch Yeah, it's a great site. Tonnes & tonnes of info, I'd certainly recommend having a good read. It's all very dependent on your climate, & your block orientation. Generally a high proportion of windows should face north. With the sun streaming inside in winter this side of the house will be warmer, so living areas should be located here (bedrooms to the south, as it's ok for them to be cooler). I can't really see any mention of alfresco orientation, although there is a picture of a north facing pergola. Where are you building? Will you require more heating or cooling in the house? If you will require much heating in winter, then it's advantageous to only shade northern windows with appropriate length eaves. Larger length eaves (from verandahs or covered alfrescoes) will prevent the sun from warming the house in winter. If however, you live in a hot climate, & won't require much heating, then it would be ok to shade northern windows some more. Also in a very warm climate a western alfresco may not be comfortable to use (also you may not like the setting sun in your eyes). What orientation is your block? Looking at the plan you posted I'm guessing it's a W facing frontage, with the rear facing E, is this right? How long is your northern side of your house? If you have a long northern wall, you may be able to have a decent number of north facing windows, plus the alfresco on this side. If however, the northern wall is quite short, you might want to reserve this side for a decent proportion of glazing, shaded by appropriate length eaves. In summer time, the biggest worry is heat from the western sun (as eaves aren't as effective on the E & W sides). It's great to locate garages, laundries & bathrooms on this side. A covered alfresco on this side will also help shade the house from the W sun. Trees to the W are great for shading, particularly deciduous trees that will drop their leaves in winter, allowing the sun to stream through. Also you should try to take into account your local breezes, & design for summer cross ventilation. Lots to consider in regards to an efficient design, along with the millions of other decisions you've got to make Good luck Hi, Super impressed with how much you know! Ours is actually an east facing frontage and rear to the west. We need to have a designated garage on the left side (I.e. if you are facing the house, the garage is to your right, if you see what I mean). So we are unsure if the alfresco and living areas should also be on the same side as the garage, which would mean they face north. Or we should have them on the opposite side of garage, which would make them south facing. I know pics would help but I don't have any ready at the moment and I have to figure out how to uoload pics here anyway. But hope I've made some sense Thank you. Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 18Aug 16, 2014 9:33 pm As I understand it, you would have living on the same side as the garage with that orientation. I would try and shift the house as far to the left as you can get away with though, so that you don't get overshadowed by someone building on the block north of yours. We have the same orientation on a 16m block, but have the garage on the opposite side. We've been able to keep just over 5m free on the north side so we (will eventually) have a lovely big side garden and no shading from next door. It really makes a difference, even when the house wasn't finished at night with no heating it was sitting at 12 degrees while hubby was working on it, where as our rental was freezing cold, even with the heater cranking. Although we have double glazing as well which no doubt would have helped too. Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 19Aug 21, 2014 2:59 pm I have a side alfresco. "walled in" on three sides, albeit with two big sliding doors meeting in one corner and more windows (a lot more glass than brick). Neighbours fence is about 1.2m away. Result: Never use the alfresco as it's dingy, cold and dusty. Also has timber decking with it's clonk clonk noise when walking on it. If I ever have another house with an alfresco area it will need at least two sides with no wall, at least four metres to any fence and not have timber decking. Even then, it'd have to face between NW and NE to get sunlight (which can be blinded off easily enough if required) and come off a larger living area. Re: Side or rear alfresco for 15m blocks? 20Aug 23, 2014 7:04 pm I'd vote for a north-facing alfresco room and living rooms too. Ours is at the side and has the family/dining room on one side, the lounge on another and the study plus our ensuite on the third. One other thing to consider, if neighbouring homes have already been built (or if plans are available) is where their outdoor entertaining area is. We have a side alfresco, and luckily for us, our neighbours on that side have their outdoor living area on the opposite side of their house. That means that in summer when we're enjoying our space, we're not disturbed by noise from neighbours and vice-versa. It's not always possible to control - but if you can, your outdoor area will be a lot more usable. I'm speaking from experience - in our old place, our elevated (north-facing) deck faced our neighbour's. Not fun. Those span tables can be pushed a little for a low deck if you dont mind a little flex. Last deck I did, I pushed it a little and it was still rock solid - no noticeable… 6 13701 Hi All, see above image. The required setback from the rear boundary in my case is 5m, as you can see the shape of the site and location of the boundary is slightly… 0 8301 |