The Integrated Approach
Sustainability requires the formulation of the right product in the right place.
In part because of their multi-dimensional nature, good golf development thrives on iteration — continual refinement, exploring alternative options and testing possible solutions — to ultimately find the best fit of the project to the client’s needs and the site. Design and construction are connected in a similar way: the best end products and outcomes occur when design details continue to be refined and polished as the development physically takes shape.
On the Ground: Chambers Bay, Tacoma, United States.
Designed by Robert Trent Jones, II Golf Course Architects.
Strategic land-use planning establishes the political and spatial framework within which a project will be conceptualised, masterplanned, designed and constructed. A comprehensive evaluation increases the project team’s understanding of environmental legislation and land and resource use policies that apply to the site, brings forward specific details about the locality and region that inform the team about the site and its surroundings, and identifies golf development permitting criteria against which proposals will be evaluated.
Next, integrated planning and design explores site options and possible solutions, all while seeking to design out negative impacts and design in positive outcomes. Concepts are visualised in detail, on paper and on-screen, ready to be transformed into reality. Outcomes emerging from this stage include site-specific design and spatial plans, detailed drawings and construction specifications.
The process of refinement continues even after construction begins, with skilled and sensitive work on site remaining adaptable to late-stage alterations that polish the quality of the product.
After construction, the transitional grow-in phase begins to fix the landscape’s structure, and ancillary elements such as roadways and maintenance facilities are completed.
Finally, a comprehensive management plan is prepared to continue protecting and further enhance the designed-in sustainability features and retain the integrity of the site’s assets.
