Winge Golf & Country Club

The setting of the Winge Golf and Country Club in Sint-Joris-Winge could not be more picturesque. It is surrounded by an idyllic landscape of rolling hills, green pastures and country roads. Compared to many areas of Flanders, the Brabant region east of Brussels has retained some of its rural charm and avoided ubiquitous over-development. This is the ideal setting for the programme of the golf club, the parcours benefitting from the vistas provided by the undulating landscape of meadows and groups of trees, all of which, inevitably, are treated with the perfection characteristic of contemporary golf course landscapes, lending it an air of artificiality. The architectural proposal fits this context with precision. Using the slight changes of level to its advantage, the clubhouse displays the discrete charm required for the programme. Almost invisible from the road, the building is reached across the customary parking area.

The views of the open fields of the golf course reveal themselves only as one enters the clubhouse, but there is a glimpse of the green through an opening next to the entrance to the pavilion. There is the experience of lightness, which induces an air of supreme elegance, but also that of the indisputable formality of an environment in which the earthy aspects of the sport are absent (after all the exposure to the elements and the land, however manicured, is still part of playing golf). This formality is, however, mitigated by the fluid geometry of the planning; the varying perspectives created by slight angles responding to the site and skilfully eliminating the sight of the villas on either side of the pavilion.

This text is based on an article by Christoph Grafe, published in Flanders Architectural Review N°12: Tailored Architecture.