For our latest lookbook, we've rounded up 10 homes from the Dezeen archive with inviting, inventive or unusual terraces each offering a pleasant place to while away a warm evening.
Terraces can be an effective, low-maintenance way to provide an outdoor spot for relaxing or entertaining without requiring an abundance of space. Typically they take the form of a raised, flat outdoor area adjoining a building.
The examples collected below range from the fairly familiar to the distinctly unconventional, including roof terraces, back garden terraces and enclosed terraces.
This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing homes centred around interior courtyards, interiors with conversation pits and buildings that make use of Mediterranean-style tiling.
Terrace with a House by the Lake, Poland, by UGO
Sliding doors open onto a 120-metre-long wooden terrace enclosed by this U-shaped holiday home, designed by Polish architecture studio UGO to create the feeling of being immersed in the rural surroundings.
"Its slightly raised platform was intended to allow the household members to commune with nature, without interfering with it," UGO said of the terrace, which is lined with Siberian larch.
Find out more about Terrace with a House by the Lake ›
Villa MSV, Sweden, by Johan Sundberg Arkitektur
This T-shaped house in southern Sweden, designed by Lund-based studio Johan Sundberg Arkitektur, has not one but three terraces around its living spaces so its users can follow the sun throughout the day.
They are shaded by canopies made from zinc and larch with varying sizes and forms to respond to the direction of the sun, some with timber slats to filter light and others blocking it out completely.
Find out more about Villa MSV ›
Maison 0.82, France, by Pascual Architect
A huge, round hole punctures the concrete roof above this terrace at a villa in southern France by Pascual Architect, causing a shaft of light to move across the space during the day.
Wooden benches and a dining table occupy the patio, which wraps around the southern side of the house and is accessed by floor-to-ceiling glass doors.
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North London House, UK, by Cathie Curran and O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects
As part of their overhaul of this house in north London, Cathie Curran and O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects added a roof terrace connected to the kitchen and dining room on the first floor.
In order to retain privacy from the windows of neighbouring houses, the 18-square-metre terrace is lined on three sides with a series of solid-ash posts supporting opaque glazing.
Find out more about North London House ›
Architecture practice SO topped this bunker-like concrete house in the Thai city of Chiang Mai with a stepped terrace where residents can sit and look out over the square below.
Inside, the shape of the rooftop terrace forms a stepped ceiling peppered with skylights above the living area and bedroom.
Find out more about Fuzzy House ›
Weather House, Japan, by Not Architects
External staircases wrap around two sides of this three-storey corner house in Tokyo designed by Not Architects Studio, creating multiple terraces linked to the home's open-plan living areas by sliding doors.
These outdoor living spaces are screened with chain-link wire mesh, up which plants will eventually climb to form a layer of vegetation offering privacy from the outside world.
Find out more about Weather House ›
Amott Road house, UK, by Alexander Owen Architecture
Alexander Owen Architecture added a colourful terrace to the back garden of this house in London, attached to the kitchen by arched double doors.
It was informed by the owners' love of modernism and pop art including Jasper Johns, Peter Blake and Terry Frost, with geometric shapes and bold pigments.
Find out more about this Amott Road house ›
Villa Aa, Norway, by CF Møller Architects
Villa Aa, designed by Danish studio CF Møller Architects, is a 375-square-metre home half-buried in a shallow hill on a Norwegian farm overlooking a nearby fjord.
A pair of stepped terraces with almost double the footprint of the villa's entire interior sit alongside the house. One is occupied by planted beds and seating and the other, lower terrace comprises a rainwater pool and a swimming pool.
Find out more about Villa Aa ›
Portable Cabin, Poland, by Wiercinski Studio
This 25-square-metre roof terrace emerges out of a portable house made from two shipping containers stacked on top of another two containers used for garden storage.
Polish practice Wiercinski Studio decked the terrace, which has views over a nearby river, and wrapped it in a curved metal balustrade.
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Curved House, Menorca, by Nomo Studio
Architects Nomo Studio suspended this terrace in the top of a cube-shaped Menorcan villa which is arranged over six stepped levels on a small footprint.
Two sides of the terracotta-tiled patio are fully glazed, allowing sunlight to flood down into the home's interior while keeping the outdoor space sheltered enough to use for stargazing or open-air film screenings.
Find out more about Curved House ›
This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing homes centred around interior courtyards, interiors with conversation pits and buildings that make use of Mediterranean-style tiling.