Give your home a clear place to begin
Before listing rooms, describe where the home belongs. A few clear facts about the plot and entrance help you explain the relationship between the house, its neighbours, and the space outside.
Separate the plot from the house
The plot is the whole property. The house footprint is the area the building occupies on the ground. Enclosed accommodation is the space inside the home across its floors.
Give two dimensions and a direction
“A plot 18 metres wide along the northern road and 42 metres deep toward the south” is more useful than an area alone. If you know a proposed footprint, state it separately so it is not mistaken for the plot boundary.
Keep open courtyards, verandahs, balconies, and uncovered terraces separate when describing the enclosed area you want.
Locate the entrance
Name the road boundary and say which way the main entrance faces. Use north, east, south, and west consistently for the garden, views, and neighbouring properties.
Keep front and north distinct
Front means the entrance side of the house. It can face any of the four directions. The editor's compass helps you keep your bearings, and the 2D plan places true north at the top.
Explain neighbouring boundaries
Identify which sides share walls with adjacent buildings and where windows would affect privacy. Distinguish a true party-wall boundary from a neighbour across a side garden.
Check the distance shown in the result
The generated layout treats a declared side or rear boundary as a party wall when the house stands within 2 metres of that boundary. It then keeps windows and balconies off that side. If the house sits farther away, openings can remain, so inspect the actual separation and any notes.
For the townhouse brief, the road is south, the rear garden north, and the shared boundaries east and west. Keeping all four relationships together makes the request easier to interpret.
Example brief: describe the setting before the rooms
This shortened tea-estate request brings the main site relationships into one paragraph:
“Design a residence on a 40-metre by 75-metre hillside plot descending 11 metres from west to east, with an access track at the upper western edge and tea gardens below. Retain the mature shade trees and allow 300 to 360 square metres of enclosed accommodation. Organise the home as three stepped pavilions connected by covered passages and a continuous verandah. Give the arrival porch a sheltered transition from two-car parking, and open the shared living spaces toward an east-facing verandah overlooking the tea fields.”
Notice how the request connects direction with daily use. The access track explains arrival; the tea fields explain the living-room outlook; the covered routes explain how the separate spaces should feel connected.
Keep a short site reference beside the design
Record the plot size, road side, high and low boundaries, main views, and features to retain. When you revise the rooms, check this reference again so the house stays connected to the place described in your brief.
Keep exploring
Try it with your own design
Back to Outdoor home design.