large effort · commitment
Deciduous shade tree
Trade summer shade for winter openness where geometry allows it.
+6fit points for dinner at 5 PM
Tradeoff: some view is traded away.
The outside of home has operating hours.
Before you buy a pergola, move the table.
Find out when a patio, porch, balcony, window edge or garden actually works, what breaks it, and which change fixes the most without quietly creating another problem.
Sun + shadePrivacy + viewPlant lightMaterialsWeather behavior
West patio · June · dinnerWorks
5 PM
Dinner is fighting the place.
privacy exposure is 57 against a 48 comfort limit for this use.
7a94
12p94
5p91
9p91
Start with the annoying thing
You do not need to understand microclimate analysis.
You need an answer to a normal house question.
Why is this spot miserable after 4?Find the bad hours and the cheapest fix.How do I block them without blocking that view?Test height, position and tradeoffs.What will actually grow right here?Use the light window this spot really gets.Will this still look good next summer?Check exposure before fabric, finish or furniture.
One place record · multiple instruments
Map it once. Ask it seven different questions.
Every instrument reads the same property, space, orientation and observations. A privacy screen that solves dinner can therefore show up as a plant-light loss and a view loss before you build it.
Live instrument
Can I use it?
Shade & Comfort
When does this place feel good enough to actually stay?
Find the hours that work, the hours that fail, and the smallest change that buys them back.
Open instrumentLive instrument
Can they see me?
Privacy & View
How do I stop feeling watched without walling myself in?
Test screens, planting, placement and height against both privacy and the view you want to keep.
Open instrumentLive instrument
Will it live here?
What Grows Here
What actually gets enough light here, at the hours that matter?
Use the place you really have—not the generic 'full sun' label—to narrow what belongs there.
Open instrumentLive instrument
Will it survive?
Material Reality
Will this fade, stay wet, scorch, stain, rust or become a maintenance project?
Read a material against this exact exposure before you buy it or put it in the wrong place.
Open instrumentNext layer
What hits this place?
Weather Shelter
Is the real problem wind, rain, wetness, heat—or the way they stack?
Separate the weather problem from the design problem before you build a roof, screen or windbreak.
Open instrumentNext layer
When should it change?
Seasonal Setup
Should this place be arranged the same way in May, August and October?
Build a simple seasonal operating plan for furniture, shade, planting and protection.
Open instrumentLater layer
What changes at night?
After Dark
Does this place still work when the glass turns reflective and every light changes the sightline?
Balance useful light, glare, privacy and atmosphere after sunset.
Open instrumentThe point is the decision
Try one change. See what it fixes—and what it costs.
small effort · reversible
Move the table
Shift the use zone toward existing shade or away from the observer line.
+5fit points for dinner at 5 PM
Tradeoff: some view is traded away.
small effort · reversible
Shielded low-glare lighting
Put useful light on the task without lighting every face and window around it.
+5fit points for dinner at 5 PM
No new modeled conflict in this scenario.