Featuring 36 holes and a driving range with expansive mountain views—as well as an executive course, Par 3—Foothills Golf Course is one of the Denver Metro Area’s most popular public courses. However, the original clubhouse, built in 1974, was no longer serving the needs of daily golfers and the nearby community. In turn, the Park & Recreation team sought a new design with an expanded restaurant and terrace (including an indoor-outdoor bar), events space to accommodate various tournaments, and storage for a new fleet of electric carts.

While Foothills is a public course, many of those who frequent the facility are regulars, creating a sense of ownership among the course’s patrons. With this in mind, JNS’s vision was to elevate the expected quality of a public clubhouse facility through the use of several sustainable features, including a mass timber approach, a highly insulated metal rainscreen, glazing that provides ample daylight throughout the space and strategically placed shading devices along the western exposure of the building. 

At the same time, one beloved feature of the original clubhouse was a 10’ elevated story above the course, allowing for sweeping views of the Front Range to the west. Our proposal was to raise the entire main level above the 18th hole—a design strategy that required a series of retaining walls and other features to mitigate the grade difference. This new elevation also provided a wonderful opportunity for a west-facing deck and for treating the earth outside the building like an amphitheater, allowing for more indoor-outdoor activation and capacity for larger group events. 

Another noteworthy upgrade from the previous facility’s design was the inclusion of expanded lounges for socialization and dining, featuring direct bar access and integrated shade structures throughout all outdoor spaces. Aesthetically, the most noteworthy aspect of the new clubhouse is the heavy timber structure, which is left exposed to showcase eye-catching glulam columns, beams and roof decking throughout the building.