Browse Forums General Discussion Re: Land orientation good or bad? 3Jan 22, 2020 7:42 pm mrf0ster I guess my question is, is this [a good] orientation? I have a hard time understanding orientation and the good and bad that goes with it. Hi Mark, and welcome to the forum. The short answer is it’s not the best, but it’s not bad - it's certainly better than if it was the other way around. The long answer is, it depends. It depends on the house design, and the size of houses and height of vegetation on adjoining properties. In the first instance, even the best north-facing block can be of no benefit if there is a giant tree to the north that means you can't take advantage of the orientation. Same if you are surrounded by tall houses that block the sun, or that reflect western sun back into your home. On a small 400ish square meter block, you also don’t have a great deal of room to move, to make best use of positioning, because you are probably trying to maximise your footprint on the block. That said, good architecture can do clever things with a building to squeeze every ounce of orientational benefit, but it you are putting down a project home, you'll need to look hard to find a plan that makes best use of the block. The plan you have shown is quite good for that block orientation, because you have the potential (noting my earlier points) to get northern sun into the living area and alfresco. However, even eastern sun in summer can be warm very early on, so the position of the master bedroom is not good, and it will get little benefit of the sun in winter. In fact, it might be better to move the window from where it is to the wall overlooking the alfresco, and moving the bed around accordingly. Thankfully, the garage will take most of the western heat, and you'll just have to accept that the other two bedrooms will get little in the way of solar benefit at all. Hope that helps. Re: Land orientation good or bad? 5Jan 23, 2020 11:32 am Thank you for the advice. One further question if I may, would I be right in thinking that lot 271 and 272 etc are in a prime position? That’s how I am understanding orientation. Thanks again for your assistance. Regards, Mark Re: Land orientation good or bad? 6Jan 23, 2020 11:56 am mrf0ster Thank you for the advice. One further question if I may, would I be right in thinking that lot 271 and 272 etc are in a prime position? That’s how I am understanding orientation. Only if all the living spaces were on the northern side of the house on those blocks, the houses had the right eaves and and there was nothing impeding the sun getting through to the northern side of the house in winter. I suggest you read this (your taxes paid for it, so enjoy): https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation Re: Land orientation good or bad? 9Jan 23, 2020 2:30 pm Alfresco, Living, Kitchen' laundry will get good sunlight (and heat in summer). Evaluate the possibility of switching the location of Garage and Theatre. In current setup Theatre will not get harsh evening heat/light...which is good considering that it's a Theatre. However the theatre is adjacent to bedroom and thus could prove disturbing. Currently in winter, the Theatre will be "cold". The swap of location (garage-theatre) should be driven by your lifestyle. The location of WC in master Suite is right behind bed of Bed 2....this could be a nuisance for sleepers in Bed 2. Re: Land orientation good or bad? 10Jan 26, 2020 5:04 am As shown in Arcadelt's diagram, things get tricky when the block is orientated 45° from North. I'd much rather have a block that is orientated to one of the compass points (although I'd virtually never choose a northern frontage). It becomes much easier to orientate the home so that living areas face north. The above diagram is taken from the orientation section of the government's Your Home website. I'd recommend you read it all before choosing a block. As this is a critical decision that will shape your future comfort, energy bills, & cost of the build. Start with the passive design section, orientation, & design for climate. https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design As for lot 266. I certainly wouldn't pick it. You will have a lot of NW facing windows. West facing windows should be kept to a minimum, as eaves are ineffective at shading the sun in this direction, as it's low in the sky. This also occurs at the hottest time of the day. If I was to choose, I'd certainly pick lot 270. I think this is the PRIME lot, by quite a margin! Similar to lots 271 & 272, but likely without the issues of privacy & overshadowing. I'd build a rectangular home on this lot, close to the southern boundary. Long sides facing north & south. North facing living areas facing a large northern side yard. Living areas should be quite private, & wouldn't be overshadowed by a northern neighbour. Bedrooms to the south. Also the garage would be to the west, which is great for shading the home from the hot afternoon sun. Second choice lot 242, or similar, whichever had the widest frontage. Southern frontage means the north facing living areas will face the backyard. They'll be private, & won't be overshadowed by northern neighbours (unless there's major slopes involved). Yes you're right, lots 271 & 272 have a very good opportunity to get the orientation right, with north facing living areas (& minimal western & eastern windows). But as I mentioned, north facing living areas may produce privacy issues, looking straight at the northern neighbours. Also the northern neighbours may create overshadowing problems, shading your north facing windows in winter. That's why it would be a good idea to build as close to the southern boundary in this case, as shown in Arcadelt's diagram. Like lot 271 & 272, lot 226 will give you a very good opportunity to build a well orientated energy efficient home. There won't be concerns about overshadowing on this block (unless there's a large tree or front). But corner lots are not for everyone. There can be privacy issues, noise & light problems. Edit: I see arcadelt posted a link to the Your Home website, above the posted diagram. Read it all, learn to understand it. Buying a block is a very important decision, you want to go into that process as informed as possible. Building a home to these passive design principles will not only make it more comfortable, but will save you bucket loads of money on energy bills over the life of the build. Re: Land orientation good or bad? 11Jan 26, 2020 7:09 am ddarroch If I was to choose, I'd certainly pick lot 270. I think this is the PRIME lot, by quite a margin! So would I, but at nearly double the size of the others no doubt it will be double the cost, and that may be problematic to people on a tight budget. Re: Land orientation good or bad? 13Jan 26, 2020 9:06 am ddarroch As shown in Arcadelt's diagram, things get tricky when the block is orientated 45° from North. I'd much rather have a block that is orientated to one of the compass points (although I'd virtually never choose a northern frontage). It becomes much easier to orientate the home so that living areas face north. The above diagram is taken from the orientation section of the government's Your Home website. I'd recommend you read it all before choosing a block. As this is a critical decision that will shape your future comfort, energy bills, & cost of the build. Start with the passive design section, orientation, & design for climate. https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design As for lot 266. I certainly wouldn't pick it. You will have a lot of NW facing windows. West facing windows should be kept to a minimum, as eaves are ineffective at shading the sun in this direction, as it's low in the sky. This also occurs at the hottest time of the day. If I was to choose, I'd certainly pick lot 270. I think this is the PRIME lot, by quite a margin! Similar to lots 271 & 272, but likely without the issues of privacy & overshadowing. I'd build a rectangular home on this lot, close to the southern boundary. Long sides facing north & south. North facing living areas facing a large northern side yard. Living areas should be quite private, & wouldn't be overshadowed by a northern neighbour. Bedrooms to the south. Also the garage would be to the west, which is great for shading the home from the hot afternoon sun. Second choice lot 242, or similar, whichever had the widest frontage. Southern frontage means the north facing living areas will face the backyard. They'll be private, & won't be overshadowed by northern neighbours (unless there's major slopes involved). Yes you're right, lots 271 & 272 have a very good opportunity to get the orientation right, with north facing living areas (& minimal western & eastern windows). But as I mentioned, north facing living areas may produce privacy issues, looking straight at the northern neighbours. Also the northern neighbours may create overshadowing problems, shading your north facing windows in winter. That's why it would be a good idea to build as close to the southern boundary in this case, as shown in Arcadelt's diagram. Like lot 271 & 272, lot 226 will give you a very good opportunity to build a well orientated energy efficient home. There won't be concerns about overshadowing on this block (unless there's a large tree or front). But corner lots are not for everyone. There can be privacy issues, noise & light problems. Edit: I see arcadelt posted a link to the Your Home website, above the posted diagram. Read it all, learn to understand it. Buying a block is a very important decision, you want to go into that process as informed as possible. Building a home to these passive design principles will not only make it more comfortable, but will save you bucket loads of money on energy bills over the life of the build. Brilliant insights everyone and thank you all for your advice. Time for some study, and patient waiting for the right lot. Cheers Mark. You might be able to apply to divert the sewer at your expense. 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