I wounded if going to a thicker walled exhaust would still transfer heat so that we could still put it down the centre. Half the problem is that we have all our soil and bedding in, and after 3 years of working on the soil my wife would not be happy if we dug it up or even made any changes to our productive planting layout. This leaves us with only few options if we want to heat it, and thats why we want to heat under the walk way.
If this still can't work then I think we will need to expand to gain the room for the stove. Ether way I think its going to be a interesting fall when she do the install