We had done air well in our terrace, space consume by this air well is only 24 square feet, slightly more than 1% of floor area. And it bring lot of brightness and ventilation to the middle of our house, slight inconvenience is we must close the window & sliding door when it rain. As for decoration we place a pond in that area. IMO - space is not wasted and was put into good use, just like a window in a room instead of a wall.