Room for DramaOutside, Actually.

The balcony nobody uses

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

9:00 AM·September

Where it stands now

Morning coffee

The one chair does not work for morning coffee right now, and wind is why.

  • Wind is7.1 mph over— 14.9 mph against at most 7.8 mph

    Cold air moving early is what sends people back inside.

Confidence low (41%). Treat this as a starting hypothesis, not an answer.

What this answer was built from
  • Use
    Morning coffee
  • Place
    The one chair
  • 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

    • Glare is not what is limiting this seat, so turning it changes very little.
    • Every fixture here is already fully shielded.
    • Nothing overhead here to hang a curtain from yet.
    • Nothing here is low enough for a step up to see over.
    • No mature canopy here to work on.
    • This observer is looking down, and depth does nothing against a downward angle.
    • 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 9:00 in September

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

    Two 8.2 ft parasols instead of one

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    +0 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM.

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    A 9.8 ft umbrella

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    +0 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM.

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    Two low shielded lights instead of one high one

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    +0 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM.

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    A short return panel on the north-west corner

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    +0 hours of usable time on this day. Opens 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM.

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    An afternoonYou can undo it

    A line of tall planters upwind

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectYou can undo it

    A shade sail over the seating

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectYou can undo it

    A 5.9 ft porous windbreak upwind

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectYou can undo it

    A 6.9 ft panel to the east

    +044 → 44

    A 6.9 ft panel to the east 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 east. Low sun arrives almost horizontally, and only something vertical stops it.

    Leaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectYou can undo itYears to work

    A deciduous climber on tensioned wires

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanent

    A 8.2 ft awning

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanentYears to work

    An evergreen hedge to about 62 ft

    +044 → 44

    An evergreen hedge to about 62 ft does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    A dense evergreen hedge grown to about 62 feet and 8.8 feet along, on the line to The flat opposite. It reads as garden rather than barrier, and it will take several seasons to do the job.

    Leaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanentYears to work

    A deciduous tree 16.4 ft east of the seat

    +044 → 44

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

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

    Leaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanentYears to work

    A tree between the seat and The flat opposite

    +044 → 44

    A tree between the seat and The flat opposite does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    One multi-stemmed tree grown to about 23 feet, set roughly a third of the way toward The flat opposite. Interrupting a downward sightline needs height, not length, and a single crown in the right place does what a whole run of fence cannot reach.

    Leaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanent

    A solid roof over the seating

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A projectPermanent

    Open up Glass balustrade to about half

    +044 → 44

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

    Replace the boards of Glass balustrade 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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    A pergola with open slats

    +044 → 44

    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 south.

    Leaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    An adjustable louvred roof

    +044 → 44

    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 south and closable.

    Leaves wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    A paler paving

    +044 → 44

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

    Replace Balcony tiles 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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    A solid canopy over the seating

    +044 → 44

    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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    Horizontal fins above the opening

    +044 → 44

    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 The building, 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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    A ventilated timber deck instead

    +044 → 44

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

    Replace Balcony tiles 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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    A buildPermanent

    Take up the paving and plant it

    +044 → 44

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

    Lift Balcony tiles 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 wind

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.

    Move itYou can undo it

    Move the table 6.6 ft west

    −944 → 35

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

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

    Leaves windCreates privacy exposure

    It takes the summer sun and leaves most of the winter sun, which is the behaviour worth paying for.

    Move itYou can undo it

    Sit under Glass balustrade

    −944 → 35

    Sit under Glass balustrade does not move this in any way worth the effort.

    Move the seating under Glass balustrade, which is already standing and already casting something. Costs nothing and takes an afternoon of trying it.

    Leaves windCreates privacy exposure

    It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season.