Where Is Your Fireplace
One thing I have never understood is why Australian Houses nearly always seem to have their fireplaces, and chimneys, on an outside wall.
I was brought up in an English terraced house, and a significant source of heat in winter was the heat radiating from the wall against next door’s fireplace and chimney.
Even the cat knew which was a nice warm spot!
If you are planning to build a detached house with a fireplace don’t position it on an outside wall.
There is going to a lot of heat you have paid for that will be lost to the outside.
Historically
A hundred years ago, when all cooking was done on a wood stove, there was a good reason for the kitchen fireplace to be on an outside wall.
Cooking on a hot Australian summer day meant that you wanted to minimise the heat going into the home, so an outside wall could be a good choice.
These days with almost all of us cooking using electric, or gas, that reason no longer applies.
Planning a house
Check this link to see how I designed a house with a central fireplace: Bubble Diagrams