Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 16, 2018 6:47 pm Hello all, I am looking to start building within the next year or so. The block i have is 782m^2 and dimensions are 23m (front) x 34m (side). It points N80E, so almost completely East. The width in this plan still leaves room for a side access double gate so i am able to get a trailer in the back yard or a mini cement mixer if i decide to put a shed in. I haven't really found a plan that my partner and i both like, but we have come up with the following design so far. We are looking for some suggestions before we get too involved with this design. Just in case we have missed a few things. It is only a draft at the moment and some spacing, etc. may not be standard or consistent throughout the house. The area labeled 'Outdoors' is a gable style Colorbond roofed patio, and the floor is part of the slab. We haven't included the built in robes in the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms. And we haven't added storage in the laundry. Thank you. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Custom House Plan - Wanting Feedback and Suggestions 2Apr 17, 2018 8:37 am First thing would be to get the orientation right. I assume the front door is facing East? Try to have your living areas facing north, bedrooms facing south or east, utilities facing west. This will help greatly with energy efficiency and appropriate natural lighting. Currently your outdoor area facing south and west is going to be chilly in winter and glary from the west sun in the evenings, for example. Check out the yourhome.gov.au website as a starting point. Re: Custom House Plan - Wanting Feedback and Suggestions 3Apr 17, 2018 1:00 pm Hillsbuilds First thing would be to get the orientation right. I assume the front door is facing East? Try to have your living areas facing north, bedrooms facing south or east, utilities facing west. This will help greatly with energy efficiency and appropriate natural lighting. Currently your outdoor area facing south and west is going to be chilly in winter and glary from the west sun in the evenings, for example. Check out the yourhome.gov.au website as a starting point. Thanks! I guess for starters i will flip the design so the outdoors and kitchen area are facing north. I'll give that site a read. Re: Custom House Plan - Wanting Feedback and Suggestions 4Apr 17, 2018 8:25 pm Very good advice from Hillsbuilds. The yourhome.gov.au government website is a very, very good website. Start with the Passive Design section, designing for your climate, getting the orientation right, & designing for passive solar heating & cooling. Where's your location? A house built in Cairns will have different requirements to a house built in Canberra. But generally, you should locate living areas, & a large proportion of your glazing, facing north. This way living areas will receive winter sunshine (when the sun is lower in the sky), while being shaded in summer (when the sun is higher) by appropriate length eaves. You're lucky your block has a nice wide 23m eastern frontage. You should build close to your southern boundary, & have a northern side yard. This will prevent overshadowing by your northern neighbour in winter. Do not locate your garage or undercover outdoor area on the northern side of the house. These will rob the home of winter sunshine. Locate the garage in the SE corner. The undercover area could be located at the rear, western side of the house. It will help shade the home from hot afternoon summer sun, though could itself get hot on summer afternoons (a good sized tree for shading late afternoon sun would be a good idea). Bedrooms to the south, western bedroom windows are a bad idea (they get very hot in summer). Master bed or home theatre to the NE corner. Bathrooms to the south or west. The most efficient design is a rectangular shape, with longer sides of the house facing north & south. Also, better to keep the home's width to two rooms deep, for better daylighting & cross ventilation. Re: Custom House Plan - Wanting Feedback and Suggestions 5Apr 18, 2018 2:29 pm ddarroch Where's your location? A house built in Cairns will have different requirements to a house built in Canberra. Located in Red Cliffs, North West Victoria. ddarroch You're lucky your block has a nice wide 23m eastern frontage. You should build close to your southern boundary, & have a northern side yard. This will prevent overshadowing by your northern neighbour in winter. Do not locate your garage or undercover outdoor area on the northern side of the house. These will rob the home of winter sunshine. Locate the garage in the SE corner. The undercover area could be located at the rear, western side of the house. It will help shade the home from hot afternoon summer sun, though could itself get hot on summer afternoons (a good sized tree for shading late afternoon sun would be a good idea). Very true. Sounds good. I will take that all into consideration and see what I can come up with. Thanks! 6 56066 ideal house depends on the site and location as much as internal floor plan....what is the distance from the house to all four boundaries, where is north, describe your… 3 15615 Hi Mofflepop, I would recommend finding a building designer to prepare plans, they should design to your specified budget. The benefit is you can tender the project out… 9 21124 |