Designing a First Impression: The Clubhouse Entrance

A golf club's entrance has a lot to do. It has to feel welcoming to a first-time visitor and familiar to a member who's walked through it a thousand times, and it has to look right whatever the weather. When we put together this view of the Royal St. David's Golf Club clubhouse, that was the brief I kept coming back to.

Starting with the welcome

The first thing you read is the sign on the render wall: Croeso, Welcome to Royal St. David's Golf Club. It sits low and wide, with the crest above it, and the Welsh comes first. It's a small choice, but it tells you where you are before you've even reached the door.

Materials that belong there

The main entrance is the textured grey stone gable, which picks up the tones of the slate roof beside it. Against that, the glass canopy sits on two slim columns and slopes up towards the sky, so it keeps the entrance sheltered without closing it off. The pale paving underneath leads the eye straight to the doors.

The lettering and render on the left wall keep things simple, so the stone and glass get to be the focus.

Softening the edges

A building like this can look severe if it's just walls and roof, so the foreground does a lot of the work. Clumps of ornamental grasses sit in dark slate chippings, and the lawn runs right up to the paving. None of it is complicated, but it stops the entrance feeling like a hard line between building and course.

Putting people in the picture

Look through the glass doors and you'll see someone just inside, and a golf bag leaning against the wall nearby. They weren't strictly necessary, but a building with nobody anywhere near it can feel like a model on a table. A single person in a doorway tells you the place is open, and gives you a sense of scale at the same time.

So here's one for the golfers: when you arrive at a club, where's your first stop? The bar, the pro shop, or straight to the first tee?