Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

The roof terrace with nothing to hide behind

Before you buy a pergola, move the table.

Every change below is put into the plan and the whole model is run again. That is why a pergola's winter cost shows up here without anybody having written it down, and why the cheapest thing that works is allowed to win.

Reading at

6:00 PM·September

Where it stands now

Dinner outside

We cannot say yet whether The terrace table works for dinner outside, because privacy exposure is still unanswered.

  • Glare is27 over— 55 / 100 against at most 28

    You cannot look at the person across the table with the sun behind their head.

  • Wind is3.6 mph over— 12.6 mph against at most 8.9 mph

    Wind takes napkins, candles and conversation before it takes comfort.

Still unanswered:Privacy exposureNoise

Confidence low (38%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from
  • Use
    Dinner outside
  • Place
    The terrace table
  • Weather
    Coastal Mediterranean, dry summers, salt air (scenario shape), scenario (from a published source)
  • Method
    Traced geometry and radiation at this hour, measured against what this use needs

    • Not offered, and why

    • No observer is marked, so there is no sightline to interrupt yet.
    • No observer is marked to screen from.
    • Every fixture here is already fully shielded.
    • Nothing overhead here to hang a curtain from yet.
    • Nothing here has usable space underneath it.
    • No mature canopy here to work on.
    • No observer is marked to screen from.
    • No observer is marked to screen from.
    • No observer is marked to screen from.
    • Nothing here is relying on a deciduous canopy, so there is no winter gap to fill.
    • This point is a place for people, not a place for a plant.
    • This ground already sheds water quickly.
    • This surface already drains freely.
    • Every fixture here is already warm.
    • There is no lighting here to rearrange.

    24 changes, tested at 18:00 in September

    One at a time, so you can tell what caused what
    Move itYou can undo it

    Move the table 6.6 ft east

    +049 → 49

    Move the table 6.6 ft east does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Slide the seating about 6.6 feet toward the east and change nothing else.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    +0 hours of usable time on this day.

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    Move itYou can undo it

    A second seat 19.7 ft east

    +049 → 49

    A second seat 19.7 ft east does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Put two chairs 19.7 feet to the east and leave the main table where it is. The point is not to fix this spot but to stop needing it at the hour it does not work.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    +0 hours of usable time on this day.

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    Move itYou can undo it

    Two 8.2 ft parasols instead of one

    +049 → 49

    Two 8.2 ft parasols instead of one does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Two parasols about 8.2 feet across, set 7.2 feet apart along the table. Between them they cover a rectangle, which is the shape a table actually is.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    +0 hours of usable time on this day.

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    A 9.8 ft umbrella

    +049 → 49

    A 9.8 ft umbrella does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A 9.8 feet canopy at about 7.5 feet, tilted toward the low sun.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    +0 hours of usable time on this day.

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    Two low shielded lights instead of one high one

    +049 → 49

    Two low shielded lights instead of one high one does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Add a pair of shielded 200 lumen fixtures at knee height near the seating, so the useful light is where people are rather than thrown across the garden.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    Add 1.5 ft of trellis to Parapet

    +049 → 49

    Add 1.5 ft of trellis to Parapet does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    An open trellis panel on top of Parapet, taking it from 3.6 feet to 5.1 feet. Open trellis blocks a sightline at an angle while letting light and air through, which a solid board does not.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    A short return panel on the north-west corner

    +049 → 49

    A short return panel on the north-west corner does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A panel about 6.2 feet high and 5.2 feet long, set square across the corner the wind comes round. Air speeds up as it turns a hard edge, so the metre and a half at the corner is worth more than five along the fence.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    A line of tall planters upwind

    +049 → 49

    A line of tall planters upwind does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A run of planters about 4.9 feet to the north-west, planted to roughly 5.2 feet. It is porous, it is movable, and it needs no footings — which is the whole point on a balcony.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectYou can undo it

    A shade sail over the seating

    +049 → 49

    A shade sail over the seating does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A sail about 16.4 feet by 13.1 feet, set at about 9.2 feet and angled to shed water.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectYou can undo it

    A 5.9 ft porous windbreak upwind

    +049 → 49

    A 5.9 ft porous windbreak upwind does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A slatted break about 5.9 feet high and 16.4 feet wide, set 14.8 feet north-west of the seat. Roughly forty per cent open shelters further than solid.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectYou can undo it

    A 6.9 ft panel to the west

    +049 → 49

    A 6.9 ft panel to the west does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A solid panel about 6.9 feet high and 9.8 feet wide, standing 7.2 feet to the west. Low sun arrives almost horizontally, and only something vertical stops it.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectYou can undo itYears to work

    A deciduous climber on tensioned wires

    +049 → 49

    A deciduous climber on tensioned wires does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Wires strung about 8.5 feet above the seating with a vigorous deciduous climber trained across them. In leaf it shades like a light pergola; bare, it gives back most of the winter sun a solid roof would have kept.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanent

    A 8.2 ft awning

    +049 → 49

    A 8.2 ft awning does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A folding-arm awning projecting 8.2 feet from the house wall at about 8.5 feet, retracted out of season.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanentYears to work

    A deciduous tree 16.4 ft west of the seat

    +049 → 49

    A deciduous tree 16.4 ft west of the seat does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A medium deciduous tree planted 16.4 feet to the west, grown to about 26 feet, with a crown roughly 19.7 feet across.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanent

    Raise the seating 1.5 ft

    +049 → 49

    Raise the seating 1.5 ft does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A raised platform lifting the seat about 1.5 feet. It clears low boundaries, reaches faster air, and it works both ways: what you can see over, you can be seen over.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanent

    A solid roof over the seating

    +049 → 49

    A solid roof over the seating does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A roof about 9.2 feet above the seating. Against a tall building or a hard boundary, air spills over the top and comes down on the far side, and a seat that is nowhere near the wind still sits in it. Closing the top stops that in a way no amount of fence does.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanent

    Open up Parapet to about half

    +049 → 49

    Open up Parapet to about half does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Replace the boards of Parapet with a slatted or louvred panel roughly half open. Solid barriers throw air over the top and drop it in a turbulent eddy a few metres downwind; a porous one bleeds air through and lengthens the sheltered zone to several times its own height.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    A pergola with open slats

    +049 → 49

    A pergola with open slats does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A pergola about 13.1 feet square at 8.5 feet with open slats, slats running roughly north.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    An adjustable louvred roof

    +049 → 49

    An adjustable louvred roof does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A louvred roof about 13.1 feet square at 8.5 feet, blades running north and closable.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    A paler paving

    +049 → 49

    A paler paving does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Replace Terrace pavers with a paler paving of similar mass. The surface itself runs cooler underfoot; the trade is that more light bounces back up at a seated person.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    A solid canopy over the seating

    +049 → 49

    A solid canopy over the seating does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A solid roof about 11.2 feet above the seating, 13.1 feet by 11.5 feet, guttered on the low edge. Unlike fabric it works in rain, and unlike a pergola it takes the winter light too.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    Horizontal fins above the opening

    +049 → 49

    Horizontal fins above the opening does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A run of fixed horizontal fins projecting about 2.3 feet from Parapet, set above head height. Geometry does the work: high summer sun is cut, low winter sun passes under, and the view out is barely touched.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    A ventilated timber deck instead

    +049 → 49

    A ventilated timber deck instead does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Replace Terrace pavers with a ventilated timber deck. Heavy paving charges all afternoon and radiates back until well after dark, which is why an evening terrace can feel hotter than the air. A light deck over an air gap is done within the hour.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    Take up the paving and plant it

    +049 → 49

    Take up the paving and plant it does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Lift Terrace pavers and plant it. Nothing else on this list moves surface temperature as far: paving in full sun sits twenty degrees or more above the air, while planted ground transpires and typically sits at or below it. It is also the only change here that gets better rather than worse over ten years.

    Leaves glareLeaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.