At the recent Club Industry Awards event for 2009, two widely admired golf clubs were shortlisted for the final selection from amongst numerous sports and social clubs for the Refurbishment of the Year Award.
The Wisley GC went on to win the Award, the Berkshire GC came a close second – both have been re-designed by David Hales Design Studio.
The Wisley’s £120k renovation of its bar and restaurant is just one of several golf club projects that David Hales has been involved with, and his space planning and interior design solutions include a highly successful refurbishment of Foxhill’s Manor House, Bar XIX and other member facilities, and clubhouse interiors for Walton Heath GC and Bramley GC.
David Hales said: “Interior design and space planning is essential if golf clubs are going to adapt their built environments, often built in and for a very different age and set of membership needs, to those of the 21st century. Clubs that understand this, and the need to create something special and unique for their members and visitors are usually the ones that are marketing their way out of the recession, have healthy membership retention levels and a lot of satisfied guests and visitors.”
Reflections of the judging panel, and each clubs’ decision-makers
The judging panel of industry experts commented on the The Wisley’s objectives, combining contemporary design principles and an effective use of budget for the area refurbished and the quality achieved by the design solution.
They also commended the increased margin performance and Member satisfaction. Chief Executive Wayne Sheffield commented: “As one of the country’s most revered private members clubs, The Wisley is always looking at ways to improve and evolve, setting the standards that others look to follow. The refurbishment was just one of many projects looking to achieve this, and the award has reiterated the positivity of the Membership following its completion”.
So what does CMAE President John Hunt think about David Hales input to the transformation of The Berkshire’s clubhouse interiors?
“David’s particularly good at dealing with all the colourways and materials, and helping the committee through the various ways in which things can be done in pursuit of an agreed solution. It helps a lot that he knows golf and understands members’ clubs, so that the things I pushed hard for such as the service areas, levels of usage in peak and off-peak times, traffic flow, etc. are things he’s completely familiar with, and can build into his solutions, yet still create something very elegant. In short, I’d strongly recommend David Hales to any golf club looking at these sorts of issues.”
David Hales Interior Design http://www.davidhalesds.com/