While fond memories and gentle reminders of the old Bridgehampton road race course live on at the exclusive Bridge at Sag Harbor golf club in Long Island, New York, nostalgia is nowhere to be found in the design of the club’s 25,000 sq. ft. clubhouse. Designed by Ferris & Partners—which has offices in both Bridgehampton and Westport, CT—the $15 million building is sleek and modern, and counts glass and metal among its chief building materials.
“It’s the most outside-the-box club in the United States, without question,” notes Roger Ferris, the project’s principal architect. The building has been finished for quite some time but will be formally opened in summer 2009.
The material choices were driven not only by a desire to establish a new 21st century standard for clubhouse designs, but also as a means of taking full advantage of a beautiful natural setting.
“Golf courses by their nature are fantastic landscapes,” Ferris said. “They always are dramatic. But architects haven’t embraced that opportunity to be creative.”
To take best advantage of the creative opportunity he was given, Ferris recommended the building be located on a hilltop spot that golf course architect Rees Jones had earmarked for the course’s 18th hole. And while the course designer might’ve gotten his way in another time and place, it was Ferris who won out in this particular instance.
To maximize the available views, the architect rendered the building in the shape of a fan. Some have suggested it was inspired by a golf swing in motion while others claim it references the blades of a race car’s turbocharger. Either way, the result is a 280-degree view of the craggy course as well as Sag Harbor and Shelter Island, Gardiners Bay, Peconic Bay, the Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean beyond.
While the building’s proximity to water was a bonus, the marine environment demanded careful attention be paid to the selection of the exterior metals, including those used in the manufacture of the standing seam roof system. That’s why the architect opted for 040” aluminum with a preweathered Galvalume paint finish when he specified the Englert Series 1300 system. Englert Inc. is headquartered in Perth Amboy, NJ, but the panels were actually manufactured at the job site by the roofing contractor using equipment and material provided by Englert.
In addition to being exceptional in terms of appearance, the new clubhouse is noteworthy for bucking tradition in terms of features and amenities. It has the types of necessary spaces members demanded—like a traditional dining room, bar and locker room—but there’s also a Pilates studio and a movie theater. Notable green features include a geothermal heat system and deep roof overhangs that shield the windows and shade the terraces from the sun's rays.