Can I avoid trellis on a garden archway?

[anna38anna]

Hi there,
We are having a metal arbour/archway built, where there's a break in the hedge in one part of our garden. It's directly visible from our dining table, so its purpose is to create interest - even feed the soul on a gloomy morning. It needs to be simple, as there's a tree house behind it which eventually the climbing plants and hedge will all but hide - anything complicated will just make the view from the house too busy.

My MIL has just had a couple of archways built by the family DIY expert, who would do the same for us. He's used two strong steel arches, with wire trellis between the arches. I want my plants to climb, but I really don't want to use this trellis (it's closely woven, squares about 3-4cm, and takes away from the simple beauty of the arch). If I just have ladder-style horizontal metal rods for structure, like picture 7 on here, will that be enough support for plants to climb?

Or has anyone done anything else with a metal arbour? Someone mentioned I could bore holes and put vine wire diagonally, cris-crossed between the two supports of the archway.

After that we can talk about plants. We are in a windy coastal area, only a mile from the sea with no decent wind shelter, so my dream of wisteria may not work. I generally want colour and something beautiful, which also (if possible) won't be bare and miserable looking as I look out over breakfast in January.