Feldon Valley in Lower Brailes, Oxfordshire by Design Engine Architects Ltd

Article source: Design Engine Architects Ltd

Design Engine have completed their ambitious scheme to redevelop Feldon Valley, with the final phase of works culminating in the opening of a new boutique hotel and four woodland lodges.

Situated in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 3 miles east of Shipston-on-Stour, Feldon Valley traces its origins to the early 1990s, when a group of enterprising local farmers and businessmen took the decision to convert agricultural land into a golf club. Originally called Brailes Golf Club, it was established in 1991 and opened in 1992.

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

• Architects: Design Engine Architects Ltd
• Project: Feldon Valley
• Location: Feldon Valley Golf Club, Lower Brailes, Oxfordshire
• Photography: Martin Gardner
• Software used: Vectorworks
• Client’s representative: 360 Partners
• Landscape architect: Indigo Landscape Architects
• Planning consultant: Stansgate Planning
• Structural engineer: Momentum
• M&E consultant: Hoare Lea
• Quantity surveyor: Selway Joyce
• Main contractor: Stepnell

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

• Funding: Private
• Tender date: February 2017
• Start on site date: April 2017
• Completion date: May 2019
• Contract duration: 27 months
• Gross internal floor area: 1,736 m2
• Form of contract: JCT Traditional
• Total cost: Confidential

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

A new private owner and his operators, 360 Partners, spent 3 years upgrading the course itself based on a strategy for sustained membership growth that would improve the club’s future viability – a sustainable business built on a mantra of Golf, Community & Nature.

With course improvements complete, the owner commissioned Design Engine in 2014 to design a new hotel, woodland lodges, green keepers’ complex and a radical transformation of the 1990s clubhouse. Planning consent was achieved in 2016 and work started on site in 2017.

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

The scheme developed by Design Engine delivers the exacting brief requirements, with buildings designed for minimal impact on the site. The four different building genres are designed as a family, creating a scheme of architectural interest that complements the setting. There are three main elements:

• Renovation and extension of existing clubhouse, with reconfigured interior and enhanced external terraces designed to allow members and hotel guests to make the most of its unique position in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The unique site levels allow for a fine dining restaurant, bar and lounges on the upper floor, accessed from the new car park, with the club house accommodation at golf course level on the floor below
• A new boutique hotel, comprising L-shaped 2-storey accommodation with central courtyard lawns
• Four single-storey woodland lodges within the adjacent copse, providing rooms for up to 60 guests in an idyllic rural setting
• New replacement purpose-built greenkeeping facility, thereby freeing up space for a new ‘Ecology Island’ which includes a wildflower meadow, turf nursery, small fruit orchard and space for growing beds for the clubhouse kitchen to grow their own produce
  

  Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

  

  Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

A shared palette of natural weathering materials that are sympathetic to the natural setting of the Cotswolds AONB form a unifying feature of the scheme for Feldon Valley, helping to define a distinct local character and sense of identity, with this contextual material application helping to embed the buildings into the landscape setting.

Design Engine were appointed for the services of: masterplanning, architecture, interior design and wayfinding.  Indigo Landscape, Hoare Lea, Momentum and Selway Joyce completed the Design Team.

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Richard Rose-Casemore, Design Engine Founding Director, said, “It is a rare privilege to be commissioned for so many design disciplines on one project.  This has ensured a cohesive approach to landscape, architecture and interiors which this fabulous setting deserves.  The overwhelmingly positive response from Feldon Valley staff, members and guests since the opening has been great reward for a long and challenging project.”

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Design Engine are a multi-award winning architecture practice founded in 2000. They work across all scales and sectors and are proud that their work has been recognised by critics, awards and, most importantly, repeat commissions from clients.

360 Golf work in all areas of the business of golf; from feasibility reports to managing golf developments, and also consult on all areas of club operations.

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Martin Gardner

Image Courtesy © Design Engine Architects Ltd

Image Courtesy © Design Engine Architects Ltd

Image Courtesy © Design Engine Architects Ltd

Image Courtesy © Design Engine Architects Ltd

Image Courtesy © Design Engine Architects Ltd

Image Courtesy © Design Engine Architects Ltd

Tags: Lower Brailes, Oxfordshire

Categories: Golf Club, Vectorworks

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