As a home design manager and licensed builder for over 20 years, my mission is to help people successfully navigate through the complex world of home building and get things done right, the first time. I review home designs, prepare tenders and provide construction solutions on a daily basis. I have outlined some key principles that you can use as a guide when you’re designing your new home or home addition in Sydney’s Inner West, Eastern Suburbs, Northern Beaches, Inner City, South Sydney (Bayside Council) and North Shore. The design principles also apply to other Sydney Metropolitan areas, but it is important to apply them on a case by case basis. My expert guide offers valuable insight when planning, designing and building your custom new home or renovation to help you get the home of your dreams.
Part 2
Expert tips when designing for a new home or home addition in Sydney
An experienced architect for custom designed new homes or architecturally driven additions does
much more than just draw plans.
Their job is to work collaboratively with you to create a floor plan that suits your budget, lifestyle
and that is functional. It important that your design utilises passive solar design principles, is
energy efficient and takes advantage of prevailing breezes and views. It is prudent to check in
with your architect along the way for design and budget creep. With the excitement of a new
home design underway and with the creative design spirit flowing, it is easy to let the budget go
astray.
I have outlined some design tips you should consider when talking to an architect when designing
your home. Our guide will help you along your home design journey so you can get it right before
you start building and avoid any costly mistakes and regret.
1. Home Design Questionnaire – Assess your needs and wants
The first step in the design process is for you to assess your needs and wants from a new home
design or home addition. Your architect should sit for an initial consultation and ask a series of
questions that will help establish what your needs and wants are from your new custom home.
This initial consultation will help establish a design brief. It would be a worthy exercise for you to
walk around your existing home and make a list about what you like and don’t like about it. Here
are some typical questions you should think about when it comes to designing your home.
Do you want to build a new custom designed home or make alterations and additions to the
existing structure?
What is your Build Budget and how do you plan to pay for it? Personal funds, line of credit,
construction loan?
When do you want to start building?
What type of home do you want, how big and how many levels?
What style of home do you want? Eg. Bold and grand, Modern architectural, Open plan,
minimalist, traditional etc
Write down your wants and needs from your home spaces. For example:
1. I need an additional 2 rooms for my growing family
2. I want open plan living so I can cook dinner while watching TV or keeping an eye on my
children
3. I want a separate lounge or quiet room to get away from family noise and relax
4. I want a comfortable and separate home office as I work from home a lot
5. I like entertaining and want a nice outdoor alfresco area with BBQ
Other questions that relate to planning and materials should also be considered at this stage:
Are you aware on any planning restrictions that may impact the design of your home? Eg.
Heritage, Bushfire impacted, Flood affected
Are there any large trees that you think will need to be protected or retained?
What type of materials would you want to use outside the home – Brick, render, cladding,
timber, metal etc
What type of flooring materials would you like inside your home – tiles, timber, polished
concrete?
Provide any features for any of the spaces you’d like to see – lighting, high ceilings, pool?
Are there any water, outdoor landscape, district or other views you’d like to take advantage
of?
2. Best Land Orientation when designing a home in Sydney
Land Orientation is the first important factor for you consider when designing your home. In home design and planning, land orientation is considered in order to determine how the rooms within your home can potentially be positioned relative to the surrounding environment, sun and weather. It takes into consideration the suns path in different seasons and prevailing wind patterns. In short, the sun rises in the East, sets in the West, is higher in the sky during Summer than in Winter months. We also need to remember the cool Southerly breezes we’re exposed to.
Good internal room and window orientation helps take advantage of passive heating in cooler months and allows cool breezes warmer months.
In Sydney, the most favourable land orientation is for the rear of the property to face North or North West as typically, the living and alfresco areas tend to be positioned towards the rear of the home. Your architect should assess that your design maximises solar access to living areas and private open space.
Across Sydney’s already built environment as well as within the new land subdivisions, it isn’t always possible to have your living areas facing the North or North West. This is when a good home design architect is needed to apply more design creativity to make every room in the home comfortable with good access to light and ventilation.
- Best Orientation: The ideal land orientation for a home design is to have the rear of the property facing north or northwest. This allows the living areas, alfresco spaces, and the backyard to be north-facing, maximizing the exposure to natural solar light from the sun.
- Solar Movement Awareness: To choose the right floorplan design for your block of land, it’s crucial to understand the direction of the sun and its movement throughout the day. In the southern hemisphere, such as in Australia, the sun is always to the north.
- Morning Sunlight: In the morning, the east side of your home will receive sunlight.
- Midday Sunlight: By midday, the north side of your home is flooded with sunlight, providing ample exposure during peak daylight hours.
- Evening Sunlight: As the sun sets, the west side of your home will receive sunlight, completing the daily cycle.
- Design Creativity: While a north or northwest orientation is ideal, other land orientations can work well too. However, they may require more design creativity to ensure that every room in your home receives sufficient natural light and remains comfortable.
3. Best floor plan layout for internal rooms for a new home or home addition in Sydney
Here is an outline of ideal positions for internal spaces within a floor plan that can maximise use of light and the environment for a great design outcome. The example below assumes the backyard faces North for the purpose of the exercise. You would need to adjust your room positioning to suit your own individual block orientation. You wouldn’t obviously sacrifice a Southern facing water view if it presented itself. In these circumstances, a clever architect would balance priorities between maximising views whilst maintaining passive solar design and favourable internal room orientations.
NORTH – Kitchen and living room
you want the areas that you spend most of your time in to face North in order to allow the
maximum amount of natural sunlight to flood into these areas. The benefit of this is enjoying
sunlight and heating for your home which provides a sense of space, air and natural comfort.
EAST – Bedrooms
keep bedrooms to the East in order to receive the morning sun and avoid the heat in the
afternoon.
WEST – Secondary living rooms, home office, theatre room
The West side of your home can get very warm in the Summer months. Consider placing rooms
that you wouldn’t be spending the entire day in during Summer on the West. Conversely, a quiet
room with the afternoon Winter sun is also ideal. Eg. A quiet lounge area with a fireplace works
really well
SOUTH – Bathrooms, laundry, garage, home gyms
As the South side of the home receives little sun compared to other directions, it is most ideal to
position rooms where you would spend least amount of time in towards the South.
4. Home Design for Sloping Blocks in Sydney
Many properties exhibit some degree of slope, and this can significantly impact the design of your new home or addition. Generally, land sloping down from the street toward the new home is less than ideal. This is due to the potential for surface drainage and stormwater to flow toward the front of the house, often necessitating additional drainage measures for sustainable property management. Similarly, entirely flat land may require supplementary drainage works around the new house’s perimeter to ensure you have adequate surface and garden drainage.
A steep sloping block however, to the savvy designer can also provide some extremely valuable design opportunities that you wouldn’t otherwise have on a flat block. For instance, a rear sloping block facing any of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Eastern suburbs beaches or waterways within Canada Bay, Lane Cove, Willoughby, Mosman or Hunters Hill Councils provides the obvious design advantages for water views and district aesthetics.
It’s crucial to recognize that steep slopes may demand more excavation to level the site for construction. Consequently, site costs are likely to increase proportionately.
Feel free to get in touch for the remaining tips within Sydney’s Essential Home Design guide. I am here to help so if you have any questions or are thinking of embarking on a design and construction journey for your new custom home or home addition in Sydney’s Inner West, Inner City, Eastern suburbs or Lower North Shore, feel free to contact me on john@homebuildingadvisor.com.au
Thanks for reading and happy home building.
