Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2005

As winners of a design competition for a golf clubhouse and practice facility, at the owners request we conceived a contemporary structure unique to the Ozark Mountains region, in Northwest Arkansas. We chose to place the building in the juncture where hills and valleys merge; a simple, bar-shape clubhouse from a north-facing mountain ridge into an Osage Indian archaeological preservation zone. A stand-alone structure set at the base of the hill, the Blessings Golf Clubhouse acts as a type of covered bridge. This bridging creates an entry portal that frames the eighteenth green, acts as a threshold to the golf course beyond, and is an event space for golf tournaments. The building receives the visitor beneath its cool and shaded underbelly, not unlike the clefts and caves found in the nearby hills.