ROGER FERRIS, 50
Designing the clubhouse of the future at the Bridge, on Long Island
"My architecture firm (Roger Ferris + Partners) does projects from Hong Kong to London: banks, museums, homes. But when we were commissioned to build the clubhouse for The Bridge, on the east end of Long Island, I looked at the land — perched on a hill with 280-degree views of water — and I gulped. I said, 'This site is so spectacular, I can only screw it up.' Then I saw it as an opportunity, a way to echo how golf has evolved and become more stylish. A clubhouse is a chance to be inventive, to build on a vast, green landscape. You can't do that in London or Manhattan. Instead of mimicking classic designs, like Shinnecock's, we went for something current, high-tech, Zen. What we created is sustainable, open and naturally cooled. From above, it looks like the golf swing, with a nexus as the core, and a 'blade' — a section of the building — that appears thrown out, like a club moving along the swing plane. It was a risk, but if you don't take risks, you don't achieve anything. One member said, 'It looks like a spaceship!' But they came around. Now they say, 'This is the house I always wanted but never had the nerve to build.'"
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Credit: Paul Rivera/Arch Photo
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