Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building First Home: Elevated North-West facing block in 2Mar 31, 2008 8:32 am BuildingACT ....... has been discussed with the BD, but he doesn't seem to consider it a major issue - just something which needs to be considered in terms of providing enough shade/protection on that side. That side is where most of the living areas are located. I'd give a lot more weight to the BD suggestions then to other peoples. Go for a quick drive around your local suburb and you will find 1/4 of the houses facing north. The other 3/4 will either face South West or East. Not everyone can have a north facing house. The only thing you can do is understand what that means and design your house to suit the block, just like your BD has suggested "ust something which needs to be considered in terms of providing enough shade/protection on that side". Building designer? doesn that mean he's a Draftperson? Architect? Builder that does his own designs? I've seen some of the horrors that builders deign. Draftmen and Architects, are good at designing, A builder should be left to build, IMO. Re: Building First Home: Elevated North-West facing block in ACT 3Mar 31, 2008 7:40 pm In ACT - Definiatly go for north facing.
Damn it can get cold there You need your north facing openeing into your thermal mass. So make it suit. being scew on the block is an issue, but be different, do it for the right reasons, not becasue it looks funny. So temper that with - it needs to be saleable in the future, "street apeal". I see one of the big reasons people are anti "energy efficient" passive design houses is many of them in the early days were "well" weird. But hey - what else were they on back then too So my advice - get the north facing sun in, enjoy the view, while the house is working for you, and the western sun in the ACT does not have a lot of oomph to it. Winter is cold, summers can be chilly and you might get a spell of hot days in summer too. Which is more prevalant. and important? My thoughts Steve Re: Building First Home: Elevated North-West facing block in ACT 4Mar 31, 2008 9:56 pm hey guys
thanks very much for your comments, I appreciate the thoughts and suggestions! Shady: a Building Designer is basically a cross between a draftsperson and an architect. They have all the relevant technical "design" expertise, but develop the design based on the client's concept, as opposed to deciding it themselves. They also seem to be significantly cheaper than an architect, but offer a lot of the same advantages. I actually spoke to a couple of friends who are architects and they recommended that, if i already had a strong idea about the concept and layout that i want, then it may not be worth using an architect. I did a fair bit of research before hand and have gone with a BD that has a good reputation and a lot of experience, so pretty hopefully it will all go well! Yak_Chat: I know what u mean about the cold in Canberra! I've lived here all my life and u never quite get used to the winter! Still, can't complain - it's such an easy place to live in! One good thing about the BD I'm using is that he is also very conscious of/experience with solar passive design and we'll be trying to make the most of the northerly aspects and other factors to minimise the need for artificial heating/cooling. I guess I just wanted a bit of reassurance that i'm considering everything i need to be! Hopefully post a draft floorplan soon, so I can get peoples' thoughts! Thanks again, Adam Re: Building First Home: Elevated North-West facing block in ACT 5Apr 01, 2008 6:16 am Good to hear Adam, look forward to seeing your plans.
Till then, enjoy the cold. I never could get over how quickly the temp drops with the sun in May Lovely days, but geeeze does it cold quickly Steve It might be a bit darker in the mornings but the light is still light, so you should be getting it. Similar to what you see from your western windows 3 20829 The warning is on the sticker on the door too. Second the aluminium powdercoat 6 19365 |