Movin ’Out

Outdoors are the “new indoors”—and clubs are finding inventive ways to keep pace and add space.

by Jamie J. Gooch (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
March 2008
 

Summing It Up • A well-planned deck, patio or veranda not only adds enjoyment for members and guests, but also expands the possibilities for the type, and size, of events a property can accommodate. • Many variables will affect the cost of a project, including materials and construction needs. • Factor in how construction will impact day-to-day business.

As evidenced by the steady growth of the outdoor living market pretty much every consumer has now become well accustomed to using some sort of outdoor space at home. Outdoor kitchens, entertainment areas and even offices have become the norm in upscale homes. So when those consumers leave their decks and patios to visit your club or resort, it’s only natural that they will expect to find your property keeping pace with the trend.

Building on a Vision
This expectation, in fact, literally drove a major change at the Minocqua Country Club, in northern Wisconsin. A few members were sitting around the clubhouse bar one afternoon, enjoying the window view overlooking Lake Minocqua. Someone mentioned, though, that a deck would provide for an even better view. So the group decided the club should build one. It wasn’t the bourbon talking—they meant it.

“One of the members said he’d buy the materials, and eight or nine other members with construction experience said they’d help to build it,” recalls Peter Nomm, General Manager. “They drew up some plans, and the Board approved it.”
The 2,000-sq. ft. deck was built about five years ago, outside the bar and dining room. It’s now used as a primary entertainment area, and secondary dining area, during the club’s June to September season.

Built from a composite of recycled wood and plastic fibers, the deck is easy to maintain. While it cost more upfront, it doesn’t need to be re-stained or painted, and has withstood what can be a severe freeze-thaw cycle in that part of the country. An annual power washing is all the maintenance required, Nomm says.

Hunter’s Green Country Club’s new veranda, built under the direction of its course superintendent, fits seamlessly with the clubhouse and is now often a preferred seating choice of members.

Doing It Yourself
Not all club managers can be as lucky as Nomm and have members step up to not only push through approval for more outdoor space, but also pitch in to defray its costs. But with the advantages of having more outdoor space now becoming so apparent, managers are making it a priority to find ways to make new decks or patios happen, even if they don’t have an army of member volunteers.

When the members of Hunter’s Green Country Club in Tampa, Fla., expressed interest in a new veranda, an in-house effort, led by the club’s golf course superintendent, added the new room in 2006 to the 35,000-sq.-ft. clubhouse, which had been built in 1989.

The veranda—attached to Fazio’s Grille (named after Tom Fazio, who designed the club’s 18-hole golf course) and a private event room that can seat 250 guests—has a concrete-based patio of about 900 square feet, white concrete columns, and brick accents designed to tie it in with the Richard Diedrich-designed clubhouse (see photo, above). Ceiling fans that hang from the wood-paneled ceiling keep air flowing over veranda diners.

“The members love it,” says Ken Creighton, General Manager at Hunter’s Green. “At different times of the year, depending on the weather, people would rather sit on the veranda than inside.”

Decks and patios with unique

Leaving It to the Experts
Like Minocqua, Hunter’s Green was fortunate in that it had resident experts to help create the new outdoor space. But most clubs don’t have members or staff who would be comfortable building an outdoor dining and entertainment area—and with good reason. There are many critical factors to consider when building a patio, deck or enclosed area. The short list includes drainage, materials, safety, zoning requirements and architectural consistency with existing structures. Renovating an existing outdoor space, or constructing a new one, can quickly exceed most clubs’ internal scope of expertise.

That’s where landscape designers and architects, who have the training and experience to design and oversee the construction of even the most ambitious “outdoor rooms,” come into the picture. By tapping into this expertise, many clubs are now offering outdoor attractions that go well beyond what most people have at home—decks and patios that can be used as outdoor kitchens, with brick ovens and fireplaces; bars and banquet areas with elegant water features; and outdoor lounges complete with flat-screen televisions and wireless speakers. The possibilities are nearly limitless—but as the plans become more ambitious, so too does the potential for problems.

“If you bring in someone with a design background, they will take things into consideration that others may not,” says a senior principal with a design firm that specializes in outdoor spaces. “Sometimes, a do-it-yourselfer is only thinking about one aspect of the space, and not all of the potential uses. A landscape architect will look at how the space can positively impact the lifestyles of all of the potential users.”

“At different times of the year, depending on the weather, people would rather sit on the veranda than inside.”

Useful Answers
Every situation is different, but the two main questions a professional designer will ask are: What is the use? And who are the users? All other elements of outdoor space design (see box, below) hinge on the answers to these two fundamental queries.

One landscape architect also suggests asking other club and resort managers for recommendations. City and county zoning agencies can also be good resources, because they know who has submitted problem-free plans in the past.
Once the project gets underway, many variables will affect its cost. The choice of materials, whether the site has existing work that needs to be demolished or renovated, and the site’s condition are the major ones. Care should also be taken to factor in how the construction will impact day-to-day business.

But even if there’s some short-term pain, with the proper planning and budgeting, the trends are now such that every outdoor project—from the smallest deck to the grandest of plazas—stands to exponentially add to members’ enjoyment for decades to come, and provide real benefits from expanding a club’s activity into the great outdoors.