BACKGROUND
The Belfair Club and Chambers have enjoyed a successful partnership with Chambers throughout the years, working together on several projects as the club has grown and prospered. Through the natural evolution of several Boards of Directors Chambers has helped Belfair maintain and revise its plans. In 2003, the club wanted to expand its recreational facilities to create a unified architectural ensemble and to acknowledge the strong influence of a health-conscious membership. Chambers helped maintain the club’s focus.
OUR APPROACH
Chambers’ typical Master Plan approach — to involve members in the process of identifying the club’s needs — was well rewarded at Belfair, resulting in the highest positive vote by membership in the club’s history for any measure. Chambers organized the recreational amenities, which included an indoor pool, into a cohesive facility with expanded fitness services. As this project moved forward the club expressed interest in expanding the clubhouse to include casual dining and a pub. Chambers presented the club with a variety of alternatives for casual dining, which opened new possibilities for success.
RESULTS
With the recreation facilities completed, Chambers prepared an animated video walk-through to guide the membership and board through its design for an expanded clubhouse. The video allowed membership to “see” the expansion before a shovel entered the earth, showing how the magnificent marshland views could be maximized by expanding out and up. The revised plan made it possible for events to be held without intruding into adjacent club facilities. And for the first time, the kitchen would have the ability to serve a la carte and banquet operations simultaneously. Belfair felt, due to the thoroughness of the work Chambers had presented, that the firm itself should provide the design, development, and construction documents and bid the project on a not-to-exceed basis before members voted.
