Cedar Rapids Ellis Golf Course Clubhouse

The oldest golf course in Cedar Rapids, is now home to a rebuilt clubhouse oriented on the site to maximize views to the golf course and designed to fuel economic development in an area damaged by floods 10 years ago and again by a derecho in 2020.The derecho destroyed the clubhouse at this public golf course, offering an opportunity for a new clubhouse to create a gathering space for the broader community and capitalize on previously ignored views of the courses’ 18th hole and pond. Many trees were lost in the Derecho, which prompted the use of wood in the new design.

The new 5,820-square-foot clubhouse is organized around a porch created by a single-slope structural wood roof that continues from exterior through the interior, connecting lower and higher volume spaces and opening up to the golf course. The beauty of the wood is seen from the interior to exterior and throughout the building, bringing warmth to the spaces. The wood roof deck ties the spaces together and becomes a focal point in every room. The project also required strength to withstand the weight of Photovoltaic panels on the roof to offset electricity use to achieve a net-zero building.