A ‘democratic' golf club
The Blackwood Golf Centre, set in the rolling hills of County Down, is different from every other golf club, from its concept to its architecture.
Built on the Clandevoy Estate, owner Lady Dufferon (part of the Guinness clan) wanted a club that was "open and welcoming and democratic", according to architect Sheila O'Donnell, of Dublin-based O'Donnell & Tuomey.
Most golf clubs are "inward-looking and exclusive", but Ms O'Donnell and partner Will Diamond designed a segmented building, curving alongside the greens, with a verandah looking out.
The golf centre cannot afford to be snobby. With three distinct food operations, a bar and grill, a restaurant and a private function room, it must draw a wide crowd of people.
Materials were chosen to reflect rich colours of surrounding trees, with exterior walls either timber - Western Red Cedar - or brick and clad in a terracotta red render. Roof and detailings feature turncoated stainless steel, which ages quickly to a pewter colour.
For interiors, walls for the bar and grill are a pale yellow, with the restaurants a stronger, ochre colour. Floors were a problem, as all areas had to be suitable for people wearing spiked golf shoes. In the end, the architects selected 100-year-old, end-grain, pitch pine blocks, which would wear well, spikes and all.
Chairs and tables were supplied, to the architects' design, by Terence Conran's furnishing subsidiary Benchmark. Mr Conran designed the private function room himself, sponsored by Guinness and featuring corporate Guinness colourings.
