Firm： Rodriguez Pons & Partners

Type： Residential › Multi Unit Housing Hospitality + Sport › Restaurant Sports Center Cultural › Cultural Center Educational › Auditorium Landscape + Planning › Urban Green Space

STATUS： Under Construction

SIZE： 100,000 sqft - 300,000 sqft

• PROJECT NAME: Mauritius Golf Estate – Club House

• LOCATION: Abuja, Nigeria

• MAIN USES: Club House, golf course (9 holes pitch & putt), amphitheater and commercial

• GOLF COURSE PLOT AREA: 9,781 m2

• CLUB HOUSE & SPORTS PLOT: 3,635 m2

• TOTAL PLOT AREA: 13,416 m2

• CLUB HOUSE BUILT UP AREA: 231 m2

• CLUB HOUSE TERRACES: 483 m2

• AMPHITHEATRE: 111 m2

• BRIDGES: 182 m2

• POOL AREA: 120 m2

• POOL FACILITIES: 43 m2

• MEETING POINT: 43m2

• CONSTRUCTION: Starts in 2020

• ARCHITECT: Marcello Rodriguez Pons

• PROJECT MANAGER: Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki

• DEVELOPER: Total Greening and Sanitation Services LTD

• REAL ESTATE: BILAAD Realty

Design Intentions

INTRODUCTION

MAURITIUS GOLF ESTATE is located on a green and scenic landscape, a development of 30 houses with a small golf course, which invites you to live a sustainable lifestyle. There are 4.3 hectares that include large recreational areas promoting a calm and elegant environment, which aims at an emotional well-being. This atmosphere is enhanced with the incorporation of a Club House as a center piece that brings together the community spaces and activities.

INSERTION

The MAURITIUS CLUB HOUSE building is strategically located in the central area of the plot, taking advantage of its topographic dell unevenness and the preexistence of a clear natural water stream. What represented a weakness factor was used as an opportunity for the project. Thus, architecture is incorporated into the landscape with a half-buried building, where visuals are protagonists. The building is approached from different points of the complex, being easily accessible from the housing area as well as from the golf course.

SHAPE

The project has been designed in a “ring” shape around a central water pond, at the point where a pre-existing water stream flows, and naturally stops in a land hollow. At this point we have created a pond, from where the stream is later directed into a culvert which then directs the water under the golf course and the street and finally releases it to flow as an open air stream again. Because of this, the Club House building has been divided into two half circles: at one side of the stream a natural and green amphitheater; at the other one, a new building containing restaurants and services. Both sides have been linked, at the roof level, with two pedestrian bridges. Thus, the circular development stands out with personality and character, allowing 360° panoramic views of the landscape. In this way, the terrace was stripped of architecture that could obstruct the visuals. This decision is also applied to the landscape design, using low green borders that accompany the shape of the building and the surrounding topography.

PROGRAM

As a building designed for recreational activities, a restaurant, shops and services have been proposed at the underground floor level which includes a large glass gallery, offering outdoor expansion areas for these uses. On the opposite side of the water pond, a green amphitheater has been shaped into the natural topography, which provides the development of a cultural activities venue, or a place that can simply be used as an area of contemplation and rest.

Complementing the golf course and its facilities, the program is extended in the vicinity, with swimming pools for adults and children, and promoting fitness, a tennis court and a running circuit, have been incorporated.

MATERIALITY

Regarding the materiality of the building, its envelopes are resolved with exposed white concrete and extensive glass surfaces, constituting a distinctive image for the whole. It is a noble material with character, which blends in with the surroundings, and, in turn, is durable and with low-maintenance. The exterior floors are mainly materialized with grass and draining floors that look like boulders and are highly resistant to traffic and wear. Specially designed wood and metal urban furniture give the whole development its special character.

SUSTENTABILITY

The building design was conceived with sustainability principles, aiming at the maximum well-being of people and respect for nature. The decision to semi-bury the architecture is a strategy to achieve thermal comfort, with the cooling coming from the ground. On the other hand, the collection of rainwater is proposed to reuse it for the irrigation systems of the golf course. In turn, the central water source, together with the green amphitheater, provides a microclimate that, together with the optimal crossed ventilation under the bridges, creates a comfortable environment in dry seasons. For aesthetic purposes, in the dry season, mechanical means will be used to raise water and make “the dry stream” be an “artificial stream” for the pleasure of all senses.

CONCLUSION

The CLUB HOUSE project interacts with the design values of the MAURITIUS GOLF ESTATE, where well-being and life quality are the priority. The ring design offers an interesting perspective with the surrounding landscape, bringing a new way of experiencing space.