Entrada at Snow Canyon.

Entrada (Spanish for "entrance") sits at the foot of jagged Navajo and Kayenta sandstone cliffs near the mouth of Snow Canyon. Rolling Dunes, ancient black lava beds and winding arroyos form a striking backdrop for one of the most unique private golf and resort communities in the country. Snow canyon is located exactly where the land drops down to the Mojave Desert, and its southwestern exposure gives it a milder climate than the rest of the state. As a result, St. George is often affectionately referred to as "Utah's Dixie" and is seen much like the Palm Springs of the early 1940s for the region's intrinsic draw during the harsh winter months. Over the last 10 years, many of the snowbirds that had frequented the town seasonally began to retire permanently to the community, and from 1990-1995 the city population grew a staggering 61 percent.

Drawing upon the strengths of the area's natural beauty, the late Rick Prince, visionary founder of Entrada, devised a concept that would become one of the most unique clubhouse designs in the country. "It is probably the most unique building I've ever been in," said Cindy Anderson, principal of Troon Golf Management. Rick and Sherrie Prince developed Entrada with cofounder Brent Beasley, and contracted with Troon Golf Management to run its daily operations.

"The client was very interested in fitting into the desert environment, and incorporating the ancestry of the area into the design scheme," said John Decker, project manager at Zmistowski Design Group. "We were shooting for as much transparency as possible, and at the same time wanted shelter from the desert sun." Emerging like an ancient ruin from the desert rock, Entrada's architecture blends with the sandstone hillside, and its understated design elements creatively draw upon tribal symbols and artifacts.

Monochromatic desert colors and rugged, elemental forms that rely on the desert topography--rather than flashy architecture--make the first impression when entering the clubhouse. The transition from outside to indoors is effortless. Zmistowski Design Associates used materials such as rough-textured stucco, native and artificial applied stone, and boulders to give the building a texture and color that naturally blends into the surroundings.

On the lower level, exposed bedrock reminds patrons that this structure "grew from the earth." Massive towers made of stacked rock appear to have waited here for centuries. Extravagant water features in and around the clubhouse are both sculptural and elemental, featuring iconic rock, iron, and fire symbols. The building's massing is low and horizontal, mimicking the surrounding rim-rock strata. "It marries the outside to inside better than any building I've ever seen," said Cindy Anderson, principal of Troon Golf Management. "Glass doors collapse open so that you are walking inside and outside, often without feeling the difference."

The building's transparency is balanced functionally with critical shading. "We spent a lot of time thinking about where the sun is, so that you're not looking into or baking in it," explained co-founder Beasley. Shading elements wrap around patios and terraces, especially on the one side of the building that has the most spectacular views. The driving range and practice greens act like the clubhouse's back yard.

A huge indoor/outdoor banquet room with stunning views provides St. George with its only event facility of this size and scale. Despite its monument-like design concept, the clubhouse offers an intimate and warm place to enjoy the comfortable day. The floor plan comfortably rambles from living area to restaurant to bar, inconspicuously disguising the building's expansive capacity. "This project was so much more than a single person's vision," reflected Decker. "With all of the ideas and contributions to the design along the way, the project took on a life of its own, and turned out truly spectacular."

DESIGN VERDICT:

Willingness to risk the untried often leads to greatness, and Entrada is testament to its late founder's extraordinary vision. Zmistowski Design Group showed class and restraint in their interpretation of the founder's vision, bringing forth the natural expression of this ruggedly beautiful region.

PROOF OF SUCCESS:

Members of adjacent golf communities have joined Entrada in addition to their other memberships after seeing the new facility.

MANAGER TO MANAGER ADVICE:

Put a good design team together that has a lot of different, complementary entities that will listen to both members and owners. Members do not always look for the things an owner looks for, so pulling everything together as a team is invaluable. Also, architects don't always have operations in mind, and vice versa. It is good to have multiple layers of representation.

TYPE: New Clubhouse

SIZE: 28,000 Square Feet

ARCHITECT: Zmistowski Design Group, LLC 

INTERIORS: Zmistowski Design Group, LLC/J. Kattman Associates, LLC

FOODSERVICE: Ricca Newmark Design

Architecture and Design Writer Dafna Zilafro has covered over 40 clubhouse design articles for Club Management. She works in a fulltime capacity as the director of marketing for SPF: architects (www.spfa.com), an award-winning California-based architecture firm.