New House Build - So many options / questions

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wellygary

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#3431941 7-Nov-2025 13:34

I Would make the office open off the main room/lounge Kitchen etc,

It keeps it connected to the rest of the House, especially if you are spending a lot of time in there and SO in in the main room.

Having to go through two doors means the you are unlikely to be able to hear any "hey" from the lounge.... It also means you feel connected.... If you want to be "dis-connected" then just keep the slide door closed.

angski

61 posts

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#3433832 12-Nov-2025 18:40

before I start writing, i am sorry if I offend you.

My focus is more about sun, keep the house warm and spend less on energy. So, here goes.

I can see this is not going to be a cheap build as you have a T shape design house.
Here are my 2c
1. All your bedrooms are in the South side of the house with the windows on the south side. AKA, it is going to be cold during winter.
2. Your ensuite wall has the afternoon sun, but you are not making use of it. I recommend that your WIR and your ensuite should be on the inside wall and your bedroom should capture at least the afternoon sun.
3. if you intend to keep the design, then you need to have windows on the corridors and let the sun heat the concrete slab and it will become the thermal mass to radiate the heat in the evening.
https://www.houzz.co.nz/hznb/photos/ellsworth-residence-28-degrees-phvw-vp~4958656
4. why park your media room in that location where you have the most sun however you only use it in the evening?
5. from the orientation, the afternoon sun will be heating up all the green shaded area and the media room. But nothing on the bedrooms.

I recommend that the whole design has to be flipped with the bedrooms windows facing north and therefore you have a bit of the morning and afternoon sun.
Go ask the architect to do sun orientation for you. It is in the software. Piece of cake for them to do.

tweake

2641 posts

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#3433913 12-Nov-2025 20:08

angski:

before I start writing, i am sorry if I offend you.

My focus is more about sun, keep the house warm and spend less on energy. So, here goes.

I can see this is not going to be a cheap build as you have a T shape design house.
Here are my 2c
1. All your bedrooms are in the South side of the house with the windows on the south side. AKA, it is going to be cold during winter.
2. Your ensuite wall has the afternoon sun, but you are not making use of it. I recommend that your WIR and your ensuite should be on the inside wall and your bedroom should capture at least the afternoon sun.
3. if you intend to keep the design, then you need to have windows on the corridors and let the sun heat the concrete slab and it will become the thermal mass to radiate the heat in the evening.
https://www.houzz.co.nz/hznb/photos/ellsworth-residence-28-degrees-phvw-vp~4958656
4. why park your media room in that location where you have the most sun however you only use it in the evening?
5. from the orientation, the afternoon sun will be heating up all the green shaded area and the media room. But nothing on the bedrooms.

I recommend that the whole design has to be flipped with the bedrooms windows facing north and therefore you have a bit of the morning and afternoon sun.
Go ask the architect to do sun orientation for you. It is in the software. Piece of cake for them to do.

well i tend to offend.

i would ignore the above. you want the bedrooms on the cold side, so they are not cooking in summer and require lots of ac so you can sleep. most people handle sleeping cold but not hot.

the whole "let the sun heat the house" thing tends to get poorly done. its not a legal requirement so its almost never designed properly.

tweake

2641 posts

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+1 received by user: 1137

#3433917 12-Nov-2025 20:18

33coupe:

Its a good idea with the entry but we've never used current front door to get in, always through the garage so would be for visitors. I think ideal placement for entry would be inbetween dining and family.

Oh yep thanks forgot that wasnt on this plan. North now added

Ive also tried editing the kids bedrooms to a) reduce master bedroom width (currently 4980mm) and b) help reduce noise from bathroom.

I think it worked well on the bedroom closest to bathroom but maybe not so much the other bedroom

my 2c here is corners cost money. complexity costs and generates mistakes.

factor in the heating/cooling/ventilation from the start. that includes window/door sizing and direction, overhangs, shading etc. very common to have excessive windows leading to overheating. putting more windows in is a lazy way to design. with less windows you need to factor in lighting a bit more. you need space to install hvac etc. design airflows so the master bedroom doesn't get smell from kids rooms or bathrooms.

tweake

2641 posts

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+1 received by user: 1137

#3433919 12-Nov-2025 20:35

ok 5c this time.

try to keep walls stright. eg master ensuite and closet should go as wide as the bedroom. that way you don't have that corner and the extra roofing cost and complexity (ie leaks).

south wall could be made straight.

i would try to make main entry line up with the center of the outdoor area. the idea is to make it look like indoor/outdoor flow without having indoor/outdoor flow (and the downsides of that). your view as you walk into the house is through the lounge to the outside entertainment space. you may want to move the outdoor aera a little bit south and have a walkway between the table and lounge.

that also means office can be pushed north as well as the garage. this can make the house more of a T shape with more simplistic roof line (read cheaper and less prone to leaks).

33coupe

1024 posts

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#3434109 13-Nov-2025 14:21

Thanks for the replies, I wont be offended at all. I appreciate all input and opinions, it's really appreciated and will help me make a better decision (hopefully less mistakes this time).

i think we will keep the bedrooms as they are, hopefully they get some morning sun from the East. We currently have one bedroom getting morning sun, and another getting afternoon sun which gets far too hot. Flipping the plan would mean all the bedrooms are close to the road.

Our original plan did have everything square but unfortunately that made the house too big / out of budget, hence the room stepdowns etc.

A good idea with lining up entrance with outdoor space thanks. I do plan on moving outdoor area south as plan on putting a tv on the external wall in the 'Family' area.

The office was attached to the garage as I thought this might save building costs (one less wall?) but will talk to builder.

We havent decided on the windows yet but I do plan on having a cull. My biggest surprise with our last house (built 2021) is how cold the windows are. I know they are thermally broken now, but I have been in new houses and they still have less thermal properties than an insulated wall. Plus too many windows restrict furniture placement etc

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33coupe

1024 posts

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#3441258 8-Dec-2025 08:07

Do you think this is a good idea, an alcove in the middle to home a a network cabinet (got for free) for all the a/v equipment. Not to scale but hopefully you can see what I mean. I dont think it can go anywhere else in the room.

I put arrows where the speakers will approx be (circles for atmos, and plan on running speaker cable behind screen for acoustic transparent screen one day)

Appreciate your thoughts. thanks

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