About Dudils
Dudils is a free search for Australian house plans that can put your living areas facing north. Enter the width and depth of your block and the side your driveway is on, and you get the plans that fit it, each one turned so north points up the page.
I am Shea Cullen, and I look at every plan on the site myself before it is published. A plan that cannot get winter sun into the living areas does not go on, whichever builder drew it.
Your block, your plan
Enter your build area and driveway side.
We find plans that fit your block, even when north isn't at the back.
Free heating in winter
In winter, the sun sits low in the northern sky, streaming deep into your home through north facing windows. In summer, it travels at a much higher angle overhead. A simple roof overhang blocks the high summer sun while still letting the low winter sun in.
This free heating in winter and natural cooling in summer can significantly reduce your energy bills, without any mechanical systems.
Summer: eaves block sun
Winter: lower angle lets sun in
What we look for in every plan
Living areas face north to capture winter sun
Garage on the west or south
Every north facing room has a window
We reviewed thousands of plans so you don't have to.
Every plan rated by an architect for passive solar design. Not a sales team, not an algorithm.
Dudils is made by Good Architect, a practice that designs sustainable homes. Not everyone can afford an architect, but everyone deserves a home that faces the right way.
The name Dudils comes from due diligence, getting the right information from the start, and doodles, using drawing to let the hand guide the design in the right direction.
It costs the same to build facing the right direction as the wrong one. Passive design should be the default, not the exception.
Here is a link to our guide for dealing with project home builders.
Where the plans come from
The plans belong to Australian home builders, building designers and architects. Some are taken from builder catalogues already published online, and some are listed here by the practice that drew them. Every plan carries a followed link back to the site of whoever owns it, so you can go straight to the people who can price it and build it.
Dudils sells nothing and holds copyright in no plan. Browse the builders listed on Dudils.
Right now there are 1,826 plans from 78 Australian builders on the site.
How a plan is reviewed
Every plan is opened and assessed on its own: which way the living areas point, which side the garage and driveway sit on, the width and depth of the footprint, and whether the floor plan is clear enough to trust. Each one is scored out of ten, and the plans that cannot work with the sun are rejected and never appear in a search.
The donut above is the running count of that work: approved, rejected, and sent back for a fix. Read the full method.
How the search works
You start with the block rather than the plan. Give the build area and the driveway side, or a NSW address, and Dudils reads the boundaries from the cadastre, works out the buildable area inside the setbacks and matches plans against the space you actually have.
North is always up, like a map, and each result is turned to the orientation that made it fit. North at the side or the rear of your block is not a problem, because a plan that puts its own living areas on its northern side still works there. Work out which way your block faces, or read what a north facing house plan really means.
List your plans for free
If you design or build homes that work with the sun, your plans can go on Dudils at no charge. Listing takes a couple of minutes, and once a plan is approved it is searchable by anyone looking for a home that fits their block, with a followed link back to your own website.
Who makes Dudils
Dudils is made by Good Architect, my architecture practice in Australia. Plans on the site are reviewed by me, Shea Cullen, Nominated Registered Architect NSW 9748.
If you want help designing a home for your own site, orientation and climate, get in touch with Good Architect or phone 0405 837 228.
Common questions
Is Dudils free?
Yes. Searching plans is free and there is no account to make. Listing your plans is free too, if you design or build homes. The one paid service is the NSW Housing Pattern Book screening for developers, planners and agents, and its prices are on the pattern book page.
Where do the plans come from?
From the catalogues of Australian home builders, and from the builders, building designers and architects who list their own work here. Each plan links back to the practice that owns it, and Dudils holds copyright in none of them.
Who reviews the plans?
Every plan is reviewed by me, Shea Cullen, Nominated Registered Architect NSW 9748, of Good Architect. Each plan is scored out of ten for how well it can work with the sun on a real block. Read the method.
My block does not face north. Can I still use Dudils?
Yes. A north facing block and a north facing home are two different things. What matters is where the plan puts the living areas, so the right plan faces the sun on a block whose street frontage points any direction. Work out which way your block faces.
Do you sell house plans?
No. Dudils is a search engine. The builder, designer or architect who drew the plan owns it and sells it, and every listing links straight to them.
Does Dudils cover all of Australia?
The plans come from builders across Australia, and you can search from anywhere by typing your block width and depth. Reading a block from its address, drawing the buildable area on the aerial photograph and screening against the NSW Housing Pattern Book work in NSW only.
Disclaimer
Dudils is a search engine and holds copyright in none of the plans it lists. A review here is a read of the floor plan for orientation and fit, and it does not replace your certifier, your engineer, legal advice or the advice of your own designer for your site.