Conceptualization

A big word but with a straightforward sustainability meaning. It's all about matching the right development type with site and locality.

Another aspect of integrated planning and design comes in the form of knowledgeable conceptualization, which begins when the regulatory and site research is in hand. Although it starts as a simple idea, the project’s core concept is central throughout the development process and frames the vision for an opening-day product that will carry forward for decades. The physical outcome of this stage is a development vision, based on some core principles and made tangible through some anticipated real-world outcomes. Broad-scale diagrams of key development features, framed within a plan that shows how the development will comfortably fit the site, are also useful to create early visualisations of the look, feel and plan of a sustainable integrated development.

Focussing on being eco-superior from the outset paves the way for a truly ecologically rich, resource-efficient and community-engaged development.

Conceptualization should not be rushed. Quickly made decisions at this stage can be a source of regret — particularly during permitting, construction and the life of the development.

A good concept unlocks the opportunity to get the very best out of a site. A good concept matches the development with the land. Site conditions and the locality should be key drivers of conceptualisation decisions and a major priority should be using landform and climate to best advantage.

Fitting the development to the site for one golf course meant maintaining lava flows, old walls, wetlands and coastal landforms. For another it meant retaining all the existing boundary features that interfaced the course with its surroundings — walls, woodland strips and hedgerows — to minimise the visual impact of the golf course on the landscape. In another it meant retaining world war two relics as visible reminders of the landscape’s past.

Conceptualization conflicts

There are a few common and recurring issues that challenge the compatibility of a concept with its location. For example, preconceptions for the scale of the course or over-allocation of the land to real estate can both squeeze too many golf features into too small an area. Developers need to scale the development to fit the landscape, leaving space for natural vegetation and habitats.

When sizing the golf course, the development team should consider who will be playing. A heavy focus on resort and championship-level facilities can exclude opportunities for affordable grassroots development of the game. This consideration is at the heart of the course’s business model: Will the course have restricted membership and access or seek a broader business base from the local community and tourists? One golf course development team asked themselves this question and used their answer to conceptualize a model of accessibility throughout the development: the golf course, clubhouse and even the land around the clubhouse. In this regard more and more developments are trying to combine prestige with inclusiveness in order to maximise the diversity of customer.

Pre-conceived golf course design philosophy — for example links, water, forest, heathland, parkland — may drive a perception that these features have to be artificially created, even when they don’t fit the site concept or make ecological sense. A radically land-altering concept leads to waste, unnecessary impacts, expensive mitigation, and other problems. It’s more sustainable to adapt course features to each individual site. To embrace the values of the site and surroundings, rather than ignore them. It’s stating the obvious but a free draining heathland site is perfect for a heathland course without expansive artificial water features. A links course does not need artificial tree plantations, and a wetland site should retain wetland characteristics. A desert course should, in fact, look like a desert, unless in fact there is a genuine opportunity to build on existing ‘oasis’ qualities.

The concept of sustainable resource use may be another area that serves as a focus for a development concept. Some development teams set sustainability goals that drive their planning process, such as to use 100 per cent recycled water and waste recycling plus a defined percentage of renewable energy use.

Some teams adopt policies to utilise as many local and recycled materials as possible. By setting such an objective, one golf course developer found ways to source 30 per cent of its soil from a local compost manufacturer, 70 per cent of its wood from recycled and certified forest product sources, and all its irrigation and drainage pipework from recycled plastic.

Even if your resource-use goals are not fully realized, they will set a tone of commitment to sustainability throughout the planning stage.