LONG FORM TEXT
The Sandhills Sports Club is a brand-new greenfield clubhouse in Bargara, North Queensland. It is the second venue for BSPN’s longstanding client, the Bundaberg Services Club. It is designed to complement and highlight the refurbished bowling green and its residential coastal surrounds.
What initially started as a refurbishment of their existing clubhouse moved to a new build so that the new clubhouse could better orientate toward the bowling green as well as provide an opportunity to repurpose the existing building for future use.
With a fresh modern coastal aesthetic, glazing was utilised heavily in the club’s design to provide natural outlooks to the bowling green. A low maintenance exterior featuring masonry screening was essential in the North Queensland coastal environment, with materials selected specifically to endure harsh costal conditions.
Through the development of a succinct and detailed brief, the design process was made seamless. Twelve months of planning and design development ensured the new venue could meet the requirements of the client both operationally and aesthetically.
Due to the pandemic in 2020, construction was paused at lockup stage to protect the steel structure from the coastal elements. However, it wasn’t long before things got started again.
The nature of the site determined that the entry to the club was to be centrally located, with back-of-house services at one end of the facility. This posed a challenge to service operation, but was quickly overcome by designing smaller service points throughout the layout, which ultimately provided additional flexibility by allowing service to expand or contract according to demand.
Stepping into the entry patrons are met with a tall light-filled open space, opening onto the café and lounge areas and then directly onto the outdoor areas and bowling green, which was to remain as the heart of the club.
