Landscape Deluxe: Golf Clubhouse near Basel

Domaine Saint-Apollinaire, which lies northwest of Basel, was established in 1144 as a Cistercian priory that existed until 1791. Over the past ten years, a championship-grade 2X18-hole golf course has been created here, just five minutes from the Basel-Mulhouse EuroAirport.

For the planning of the clubhouse and the operations building, the Swiss course operators commissioned DeA Architectes of Mulhouse, a studio established in 2007 by Guillaume Delemazure, a former employee of Herzog & de Meuron. The architects have repurposed some of the historical buildings on the grounds to serve as storage halls for golf equipment, carts and machines. In addition, they have designed a new clubhouse as well as several small ancillary buildings.

The clubhouse stands at the end of an historical avenue of trees that leads to the former abbey from the west, and makes the most of the terrain, which slopes downwards to the north. The entrance level is home to public areas such as the lobby and the restaurant; this zone features large façades on their longer sides and is covered by a wide saddle roof. The changing rooms, lockers and storage areas are accommodated on the bottom floor, parts of which are embedded into the slope.

The main building consists of in-situ concrete; the exterior of its façades and supports are completely clad with black-glazed fir. Inside, a diagonal wooden grid covers large portions of the walls and ceilings. DeA’s smaller buildings on the grounds – including a little pavilion with seminar and communal spaces as well as a shelter for the driving range – are purely of wood. With their striking roofs and dark wooden shells, they bear the same design signature as the clubhouse.