PLUB DESIGN RENEWS COMMUNITY CLUBS INTO CONTEMPORARY SPACES
Appealing to a changing local and younger demographic group for a club with an older style venue can be difficult, particularly in the face of growing competition from cashed up hotels and restaurants. While clubs have always been a vital component of the local community’s social fabric, how and where people spend their recreation time and money has become increasingly competitive and must reflect their needs.
Over the last 10 years over 250 community, sports, bowls and golf clubs, who are often unable to update and find a new market of members in the ever-changing local areas, have closed their doors or been swallowed up by larger clubs. But for any club, renovation is an evolving exercise aimed at adjusting the visual appeal of the business to shifting customer needs.
Seeing a need for clubs to appeal to two different groups in the community of “older club traditionalists” and “younger family groups” Dacca Architecture has been assisting clubs to bring new vitality to their venues, by creating a “PLUB”.
A PLUB (pub v club) can bring new life to existing bowling clubs, creating venues focused around families and the community, two worlds – a world focused on club operations like functions, gaming and sports viewing, that is adjacent to a Pub style food and entertainment area. The advantage bowling clubs bring is their outdoor open spaces that can be redesigned into outdoor entertaining for families, children and adults.
Contemporary Vs Traditional use of club space
The architects at Dacca Architecture are experts is the study of place-making, working with managers to define the club’s own sense of history and community and supporting the identity of a place.
Using the recent innovative and quite unique renovation at Queanbeyan Sports Club as an example, Dacca Architecture created a space within the old club to capture the interests of both worlds – two types of spaces to support day to day operations of the venue, encompassing both bowls and the community, while also offering “a new space for everyone”. The change expanded both day and night trade, ticking the boxes for all members.
Dacca’s design concept was to rejuvenate the club, celebrating its history whilst adding a contemporary, community focused ambience. A “lick of paint” enticed a wider audience and generated a buzz reminiscent of the club’s heyday. Design for the place, design for the offer, an x factored twist, experience, are all evocative words used to describe Dacca Architecture’s vision for QSCC.
With the modification of planning and orientating the restaurant (Brick and Bassil) to take advantage of the outdoor view and bowling green, the venue has all the elements that capture a new generation of users.
The traditional offers like sports bar, gaming lounge and chef’s table function room, are all captured within the design, these offers being a key part of the PLUB’s capacity to cater for an ever-changing market.
Alfresco gaming and the gaming lounge were broken up into small spaces for player privacy, while the sports viewing lounge was transformed into a 360 degree surround tv lounge reminiscent of traditional sports viewing areas.
The overall design process saw the Queanbeyan Sports Club renewed as “Campbell and George”, a venue rich with history, and transformed into one comprehensive product. The potential for change is real, and clubs, in particular bowling clubs, can offer more to the community within a very compact footprint with the space thoughtfully and intelligently designed around practical need.
Sustainability has more than one advantage
Dacca Architecture focus on exploring the opportunities that innovation in sustainability technologies are creating and looking for ways to decrease the ecological footprint without compromising design.
At Queanbeyan Sports Club Dacca intelligently reused the existing bowls lockers for screening, exposed the existing concrete flooring to provide a contemporized twist with little effort, and reused the parqueted flooring for a touch of warmth. Adaptive re-use of existing materials, and marinating the existing structure was a key part in making a sustainable renovation. The project had a business plan, and with Dacca architecture’s smart way of approaching the design, the budget and design outcome were realised with no design compromise.
Many bowling venues have been transformed into family offerings, The Greens in North Sydney, Petersham Bowling Club, Camperdown Commons to name a few. Dacca architecture has a strong belief that more bowling clubs can become successful venues, when the community and the place are respected.
To discuss opportunities to renew your club contact:
Tony Maluccio:
