Flat Patios Nedlands

Dalkeith is largely rebuilt. Big two-storey homes on river-facing lots, pools, and very little uncovered ground left at the back once the house has taken its share.

Nedlands proper is a mix. Interwar and postwar brick homes on regular blocks, a strong band of older flats and units near the hospitals, and modern infill filling the gaps between them.

Mount Claremont is newer and more consistent, built from the 1990s onward on planned lots with modern fascia heights and straightforward fixing points. Swanbourne sits between the two, older housing with more exposure to the west.

Older blocks here are steadily being replaced or split, and that has practical consequences for a patio. A boundary wall may appear on the block next door, an upper floor may go up where a hedge used to be, and both change how the space behind your house works.

It is worth designing with that in mind rather than around today's view. A roof that solves the current problem and sits low enough not to fight whatever is built next door ages better.

It cuts the other way too. If your own block is likely to be developed later, a freestanding structure that can be unbolted and removed is a more sensible investment than one welded to a wall you may not keep.

Sun coming in low from the west travels underneath a flat roof, not through it. A roof sized purely on floor area will still leave you squinting at the worst part of a summer afternoon.

The fixes are all at the edge. A deeper roof overhang on the western side, a fixed blade or louvre panel at the outer edge, or a track for a drop-down blind that only comes out when you want it.

Colour and ceiling do the rest. A pale, glare-prone underside facing west bounces low sun straight back at you, which is why a mid-tone insulated ceiling usually sits better on a west-facing Nedlands patio than a bright white one.

On a river-facing block the outlook is the asset, and a bulky structure across it is a permanent cost. This is where the flat roof argument is easiest to make.

A single low plane with a slim edge takes very little out of the view from a seated position inside the house, especially if the fall runs back toward the building so the outer edge sits a touch higher.

Properties close to the water may also fall within the development control area under the state Swan and Canning legislation, which can add a referral to the approval path. Establish that early rather than after the drawings are done.

This is Spearwood dune country, so the pattern is sand over limestone, but the depth to rock is inconsistent. Mount Claremont, Dalkeith and the older Nedlands streets do not all behave the same way.

In deep sand the footing works by size and embedment, because loose sand gives a post almost nothing to push against under wind load. Where the cap is shallow, coring replaces augering and the footing gets redesigned to suit rock.

Established gardens add the last variable. Mature trees, old irrigation and decades of buried garden works mean the first hole is often the most informative part of the day.

Nothing gets built before the permit. A patio is a Class 10a structure, so the City of Nedlands wants a site plan, elevations, structural engineering matched to the assessed wind classification and a stormwater design showing on-site disposal.

It can be lodged uncertified for the city to assess, or certified with a certificate of design compliance from a registered building surveyor already in the pack.

Development approval is a separate question driven by the R-Codes. On a rebuilt Dalkeith block or a grouped dwelling site, site coverage and open space are often already close to the limit, so the size of the roof is worth testing before anyone commits to it.