Troubles of a North Facing Block

RC56 · Aug 28, 2020 12:02 am

We have bought a block of land in Woodlea (West of Melbourne) with a North front and South rear. I know this is the least ideal orientation (as I have read on every single website and forum) but I would like to hear from those who have built with the same orientation and how did you make it work as best as possible? My main objective is to maximise light, maximise warmth in winter and minimise heat in summer. Attached are the images of the design we want to go with. Which is the ideal to have a backyard-
1. with Alfresco/ Family/ Dining/ Kitchen in west ( if this then we might have to flip the front in accordance to suit the garage)
2. with Alfresco/ Family/ Dining/ Kitchen in east
and why??
Any other design or suggestions are welcome.
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alymei · Aug 28, 2020 6:53 am

I would have kitchen getting eastern sun - will be nice in the morning. The western sun is a killer so being in the 2 bedrooms is my preference. We tinted out western side too which helps.

My kitchen faces east now

RC56 · Aug 28, 2020 10:45 am

Oh ok . Is urs a corner block? Mine is not.
I thought being in the middle might cut out the sun a bit
I am actually a sun lover so thought western sun would be nice.. not sure how killer it can get.

bestspecials · Aug 28, 2020 11:03 am

I would go with design 2. You get good natural light through your living areas.

alymei · Aug 28, 2020 11:09 am

Im on acerage

RC56 · Aug 28, 2020 3:23 pm

alymei

Im on acerage

oh where is that?

stonesthrow · Sep 02, 2020 4:42 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM-2rRzuKGs

Watch this. Jenny is a wealth of knowledge. She has compromised with a single carport and it's obviously a bespoke design, however it should give you some clever ideas.

Hillsbuilds · Sep 02, 2020 6:45 pm

We have this orientation. Our solution was to have a courtyard to get the sun into the back living areas. This was a custom build though, are you looking only at volume builds?

easty · Sep 04, 2020 1:38 pm

We have the same orientation and also in Melbourne. We chose to have our living areas in the East. We have only been in our house since March, so haven't experienced summer here yet.

RC56 · Sep 12, 2020 9:36 pm

Hillsbuilds

We have this orientation. Our solution was to have a courtyard to get the sun into the back living areas. This was a custom build though, are you looking only at volume builds?

no. at small builder. We have finalised having west facing living/ kitchen.

RC56 · Sep 12, 2020 9:39 pm

easty

We have the same orientation and also in Melbourne. We chose to have our living areas in the East. We have only been in our house since March, so haven't experienced summer here yet.

right. i can imagine... we figured we will have veryy less amount of time in the day having east sun and hence we finalised having our kitchen and living in the west. East sun would be early mornings which either one would be at work or sleeping ..lol..i atleast having west living would give sunlight throughout the day. It might be killer in summer as many people say, not sure. But I would rather have more sun than no sun.
well for now I am not going to live in it, so will see when I move in