ᐅ Advice on Balcony Overhang Size for Upper Floor

Hello forum,

I am new here and would like to get your opinion because I am uncertain how to proceed.
It’s about a new single-family house, and the architect has planned a balcony on the upper floor with a width of 2 meters (6.5 feet).
Below the balcony on the ground floor are the kitchen, dining room, and living room.
The ceiling height is 2.70 m (8.9 feet).
The orientation is southwest, so it gets a lot of sun in the summer.
The entire ground floor has floor-to-ceiling windows, all glazed as a front with sliding doors.

My concern is that a 2 m (6.5 ft) overhang might be too large and reduce the amount of natural light entering the ground-floor rooms.
Many people, including my wife, say I will appreciate the shading.

What do you think? Can I still expect enough natural light?
I’m someone who likes to sit in the sun inside the house.

What’s your opinion?

Thank you very much.

Regards

Basic question: Does anyone actually use the balcony? I know several houses with balconies, but I have never seen anyone on them because when the weather is nice, people usually sit on the terrace or do something in the garden.

For a general assessment, a floor plan would be helpful to better evaluate the situation, as it also depends on factors like the depth of the rooms.

Good point, yes. I don’t yet know if anyone will use the balcony. Maybe the children when they are older.
The depth of the ground floor rooms is 4.80 meters (15 feet 9 inches). No frills, just simple rectangular rooms, all open.

SuoTam99 schrieb:

Many people, including my wife, tell me that I will appreciate having shade.

I would say the same.

SuoTam99 schrieb:

Whether anyone will actually use the balcony, I’m not sure yet.

The likelihood is close to zero if you have a garden. That money can be better invested.

There is an online sun position simulator. I myself had a balcony on the west side of an end terrace house. The underside was, of course, visible from the inside. The balcony was about 1.40 meters (5 feet) deep. I didn’t like this very much, as the sky was basically not visible from the inside.
And yes, some sunlight does not reach the interior or arrives much later. Personally, I would find this uncomfortable because I also enjoy having sunlight inside the rooms.

If the balcony faces southwest, the shading might not be very effective. The farther west the sun is in summer, the lower its angle, which allows sunlight to enter the rooms anyway.

In winter, however, there is usually little sun from the west, and an overhang of 2m (6.5 feet) is quite large and makes the rooms dark.

So, it’s worth reconsidering the balcony.