Terraces and garden entrances, terrace doors

Hello everyone,
so far we had always planned with a south-facing terrace. Last week on vacation, I had a bit of time to think and I am only moderately enthusiastic about the idea now and want to redesign the terrace. Sun at noon is one thing, the problem is that I usually have time more in the evening. And then there is the issue of distance to the neighbors. Since we are in a new development area and the neighbors to the south have not yet built, I still don’t know where their house will be. But the west side is free and will remain so for the foreseeable future (the neighbor has 3 plots). I have attached an excerpt from the site plan (oriented) and a drone photo. The boundary to plot 386 is marked with a red line. The original terrace planning placed it at the construction container next to the crane, but now I tend to move it to where the blue cross is. I think most will agree with me that this is the more sensible location.




Now to the problem. It was previously planned that the west side of the dining room would have fixed glazing, the placement of the dining table is then relatively easy somewhere by the window. If I now make a terrace door there, that obviously doesn’t work anymore. But I would rather not completely do without the door to the south in order to have the dining table. Now the question is how to combine that sensibly; does it perhaps make sense to make the south door single-leaf and move it all the way to the right? Are there other good ideas?



One more word about the terrain situation. Not much remains of the original terrain at the moment, but the ground floor is about 1.5 m above the boundary point at the neighbor’s garden shed. I don’t want to slope everything away or fill it up, but rather build a roughly hip-high retaining wall around the terrace which then runs into the natural terrain. Here is an excerpt from the site plan with elevation profile. My idea was to extend the wall on the south side up to the drainage strip and then build a small staircase in front of the south doors so that one can go directly into the garden without first having to go over the terrace.


Unfortunately, time is a bit tight, because tomorrow I have an appointment with the window manufacturer and have to give him a decision.

Yes, either single-leaf or double-leaf but with the fixed leaf (which usually stays closed) facing the table. You can then push the table completely into the corner and only pull it out of the corner when you have guests. That way you have more space in everyday life.

I would be reluctant to completely remove the door to the south just to get the dining table. Now the question is how to combine this sensibly; does it perhaps make sense to make the south door single-leaf and move it all the way to the right? Are there other good ideas?

Moving the terrace to the west is, in my opinion, a much better idea, yes. As shown in the plan, the south terrace door behind the dining table is impractical anyway and should have been placed more centrally or completely to the far right. If the table is now moved from the west side towards the center of the room (east), then I still see the door in the south only in the middle/right as sensible.

You can then push the table completely into the corner and only pull it out of the corner when you have guests.

It at least depends on the table. For us, the suggestion would hardly be feasible in practice :)

Why no sliding doors to the terrace? Then a dining table can also be placed quite close to the window.

Why no sliding doors to the terrace? Then a dining table can also stand quite close to the window.

Quite close would still mean about 80 - 100 cm in practice? For that, the table has to be moved further into the center of the room and then "covers" the terrace door in the south.

At least it belongs on the table. With us, the proposal would hardly be feasible in practice :)

3x2m solid wood with massive steel sled runners or what?