The Bluffs Clubhouse

A five acre storm water retention pond needed to serve a 700 acre neighborhood served as the point of departure, or “generator” for the design of this clubhouse. Rather than leave the lake as a residual part of the site plan, it was integrated into the neighborhood by incorporating it into the boundaries of the architecture, as well as becoming the wheel around which homesites focus.

Once the lake is excavated, a portion of its boundaries are hardened by a wooden bulkhead and oyster shell clad planter boxes, upon which a clubhouse is erected. The effect of the building bulging out over the water is apparent as it appears as a clearing in the banks of the lake. To further emphasize the importance of the structure as the center of the community, it is aligned with the main road where drivers are faced with a “T” type intersection, where they are forced to pause at the view of the structure and its reflection over the lake.

The structure incorporates meeting facilities, club room, theatre, fitness center, kitchen, snack bar, lockers, indoor pool, and men’s and women’s club rooms as well as a great porch over the water. A portion of the building hovers over the water and can only be reached by a bridge-like hall over the lake.

The building is clad in native materials such as cypress reclaimed from the Cape Rear River, cedar shakes, and oyster shell stucco. Efforts are also made through the planning of the landscape to integrate cypress swamp like features surrounding the building to ensure it harmonized with the nature of the Cape Fear.