Hogs Head Golf Club

Summary

The golf course architecture firm of Robert Trent Jones II (RTJ II) has imparted his first imprint on Irish terrain with the design of the highly exclusive Hogs Head Golf Club, adjacent to the scenic shoreline cliffs south of Waterville, Ireland. For the construction, owners Bryan Marsal and Tony Alvarez II enlisted Dublin-based architecture firm Henry J Lyons, as well as American designer Robert Rizzo of Cobble Court Interiors.
From the start, the buildings at Hogs Head were designed to fit into the Irish landscape. “We started with the stone and the slate,” says Rizzo. “All the stone on the buildings is local Kerry stone.” The clubhouse, which was built first, proved a guiding force for the other buildings. Rizzo adds, “When we first designed the clubhouse, that material—the stone, the zinc gutters, the slate roofs, the glass and bronze—those were basically our list of components. We then used those same materials for the lodge and the cottages. It’s all very masculine, but with every comfort and texture of home.”

Glass

The curtain walling system used is a bespoke system developed specifically for this project to give slender site lines with an external feature capping to provide texture to the facade. Framed and frameless automatic sliding door systems along with high-performance rebated aluminium doors provide access to the buildings while bedrooms are fitted with a large 3-sided lift and slide door system complete with integrated glass juliette balconies and in-frame discrete background ventilation. A solar control glass has been utilised throughout the project in order to add to the aesthetics of the building and also control solar gain.
Floor to ceiling frameless glazing has been installed to the bar and dining areas, supported by glass fins in order to give uninterrupted views of the surrounding landscape. The main entrance curtain walling has been designed using a composite mullion profile and is a ‘hybrid’ steel / aluminium system which was required in order to achieve the large spans and demanding loadings in the project. A hidden vent aluminium window system with integrated fly screens was used in the accommodation spaces of the holiday cottages to ensure an extremely slim sight line was achieved. Other elements of the building envelope on this project included an aluminium louvre system, automatic opening vents (AOV), and mullion drained curtain walling rooflight systems.

Details

“The owner’s vision is to create a championship caliber golf course equal to Ireland’s unsurpassed passion for the game of golf, a passion we wholeheartedly share,” Jones said. “Our working motto has been, ‘built by friends for friends for fun.’ And we know this course will deliver the fun.”

Awards

2017 Irelands Best New Course