Out in front: newly renovated Hillwood Country Club takes center stage with style, elegance, and functionality.

When the time came for Hillwood Country Club's clubhouse and grounds to get a top-to-bottom makeover, the decision about the upcoming project's quality and integrity was clear: The finished product had to be, in a word, outstanding. Nothing less would do.

Nestled in the rich and rolling farmland of Nashville's Horace Greeley Hill, Hillwood was founded on the desire for excellence. Specifically, the businessmen who founded the club in 1953, sought to provide cutting-edge services in a first-class facility.

The original clubhouse, a nondescript '50s-style ranch, had worn out its welcome by the mid '90s. This outdated building had absorbed three prior renovations, cobbled together over the years and unsympathetic to the flow and operations of a growing and dynamic membership. "The building's shortcomings started at the front door and ended at the back door," said General Manager/ CO0 Wallace Smith, CCM.

Troubling specifics included a dysfunctional interior with chopped up spaces, making food and beverage delivery service difficult. Furthermore, a la carte and banquet service preparation competed with each other in a small kitchen area. And the clubhouse needed another smaller kitchen facility to function as a stand-alone restaurant to include a turn window for golf course operations.

Hillwood's interior spaces were in serious disrepair. The interior decorating was old-fashioned and marred by discontinuity. And the down-at-the-heels exterior looked residential instead of like a country club. "Our membership wished we could start from scratch and build an old-South antebellum mansion. But we had to work with the 44,000-square-foot, one-story space we had," said Wills Morgan, chairman of the planning committee during the clubhouse's renovation process and chairman of FF&E (furniture, fixtures, and equipment).

Building a Planning Team

The first step toward renovation actually began in 1995 when Hillwood Country Club took a giant step toward excellence by stream-lining its governance system. Refining the system put power in the hands of a centralized long-term planning committee and a small but experienced task force to oversee the nitty-gritty of construction. "This change meant that the president is powerless to act without the endorsement of his or her board. And this particular board was committed to the renovation process," said Tom Lawrence, a senior planning-team member, a vice president, and later, a president of Hillwood.

The move toward modernizing Hillwood really took off in 1997 when Smith was hired. Relying on Smith's professional and managerial expertise, Hillwood's board empowered him to play an active role in developing the club's five-year strategic renovation plan, finding an architectural firm, and identifying necessary elements of the project like renovation costs and sequencing the phases of construction for maximum manageability.

When ready to take the final step toward construction, Hillwood looked no further than CCI/Chris Consultants. Originally retained by the Hillwood board to conduct facility studies in 1993, CCI was the logical choice in 1997 to serve as the turnkey consultant for the renovation. The Texas-based firm, in business for over 30 years, not only combined in-house architectural, structural, food service, and interior design functions, but also specialized in designing upscale country clubs nationwide.

CCI advised that an interior remodel, while adding only five percent more space, would make existing space more versatile and functional. "Hillwood had already made a name for itself in Nashville as a first-class, full-service country club. But it was ready to take its clubhouse to another level of comfort and elegance," said Ryan Yakel, AIA executive vice president/COO of CCI/Chris Consultants.

Listening by Design

CCI covered a lot of ground before any plans were drawn up. The firm convened almost a week's worth of small focus group meetings with about 20 percent of the membership as well as with key staffers and management. "We tried to just listen. We have a saying in our office that you can't go wrong if you listen to what the members want. After all, the club belongs to them," said Yakel.

Both CCI and Smith relied on specific staff and department heads for advice during the initial start-up phase. For example, the golf pro's experience was utilized in the bag room and pro shop's ultimate design, while the executive chef was instrumental in designing a 50 percent increase in the kitchen's prep space.

CCI proved to be a valuable partner in many ways. For example, the firm's consulting fee included a local on-site architect, who made daily decision-making easier. Also, CCI helped Hillwood select a general contractor during the initial phases of designing and bidding out work, which helped to identify project costs up front and to fine-tune the entire renovation process.

Once the information-gathering process was complete, CCI developed plans for renovation, schematics, construction scheduling, preliminary budgets, and bidding processes to four contractors -- all before an initial presentation to the membership. "They (CCI/Chris Consultants) knew my business because it's their business too," said Smith.

Local Knowledge

The professional skills of other key people kept the ball rolling and contributed to the membership's perception that renovation details were in the right hands. "Allen Hovious, another Hillwood president, was a respected strategic planner, while Treasurer and Finance Committee Chairman David Thibodeau was a seasoned financial planning executive who put together our financial package," said Lawrence. And Lawrence's own extensive communications background as a senior partner in a major public relations firm gave Hillwood solid footing when it came to getting the message across to the membership.

Besides having all the right information at their fingertips, project planners ensured solid membership approval for the project by asking past club leaders to critique renovation plans before the vote. "This respected leadership group became part of the grass-roots effort to get the word out. Their support was essential to the process," said Smith.

Planners stressed communication with the club membership before, during, and after renovation. Constant feedback to club members reduced misinformation and increased understanding and tolerance during the dual-phased, 18-month clubhouse renovation process, which began in January 1999 and was completed in the early summer of 2000.

For example, Lawrence sent out letters outlining progress in a question/answer format approximately every six weeks during the first phase of construction. Hillwood developed mailings, a visual presentation, and marketing brochure in conjunction with CCI to help answer questions and allay concerns.

Hillwood hosted town meetings and several membership meetings with participation by CCI before voting on the measure. "The membership was cooperative because we told them what we were going to do and we actually did it," said Lawrence. The result of all this meticulous planning: 76 percent of the membership voted affirmatively on the first vote and was agreeable to a combination-financing package for the project.

Specifically, members were assessed a prorated equity fee based on dues catagories, which provided an interest-based loan to the club, returnable upon resignation. Also, the club increased the monthly capital fee to handle the debt payment.

Hillwood was able to take out a bank loan of up to $2 million. Another plus: The club experienced a big rush in membership during construction. New members' initiation fees were part of Hillwood's capital account and contributed positively to the funding process.

According to Smith, clubhouse construction costs and fees for CCI services totaled $4.1 million. Specifically, major building objectives included consolidating function rooms as well as updating locker rooms, restrooms, mechanical/electrical systems, and the design theme of the clubhouse.

To complete the master plan, Hillwood built a $600,000 tennis facility (designed by CCI) a junior Olympic competition swimming pool, and upgraded the parking lot and golf course. According to Smith, furnishings and fixtures totaled an additional $1.1 million. The project's total cost over a total three-year period was approximately $10.5 million.

Contingencies in the Plan

CCI was instrumental in helping Hillwood plan for a significant contingency fund of 15 percent to exceed the bid figure as part of the overall budget. Since the building was approximately 50 years old with three obvious additions and no existing as-built blueprints, the consultants knew surprises would be inevitable.

Hillwood's biggest surprise came at the project's front end: initial estimates were off by $1 million. The pricing was skewed due to an unusually tight local construction market when the contractor priced the job.

So the project was scaled back by approximately $500,000 through changing some finishes, but without sacrificing the job's integrity. "We value-engineered certain items, planning to include them when we could afford it. Although some of the finishes were downgraded initially, we ended up adding them back in and then some," said Lawrence.

Even though rebuilding Tara wasn't an option, the architecture and selection of exterior building materials reflected the memberships' desire for a traditional image. A combination of native fieldstone (indigenous to the Tennessee hills) and brick was within budget and highlighted important areas like the porte-cochere at the front entry, patio/terrace area, and archways at the informal/sports entrances. CCI used copper roofing as an accent and built a clock tower and a parapet wall to hide the existing air conditioning units on the roof.

The FF&E committee, a small group of strong decision-makers, rose to the challenge of translating decorating ideas into reality. They, along with John Herron, FIIDA and senior vice president, interior design of CCI/Chris Consultants, balanced traditional design with contemporary comfort and high style like the natural oil-finished instead of stained cherry wood paneling the group ultimately chose.

The formal and informal areas blended beautifully. "We designed our interiors to flow throughout the building and minimize the change from the formal to the informal side of the club. The new interior package brought the quality of furnishings up to a level commensurate with other Nashville country clubs," said Yakel.

Flexible Space

According to Herron, Hillwood had distinct upstairs areas requiring a facelift: the formal or main entrance, three major banquet rooms (one of which is also used for a card room), and a small private dining room. The goal was to have the rooms work in tandem for simultaneous functions or combined for one large function. Thus, certain furnishings were designed to function interchangeably, like the fully upholstered dining chairs on casters. And the paprika/ochre/sage tones the group chose were neutral and up-to-date.

The back of the house figured into the makeover process as well. The kitchen space serving the function areas was made larger and more efficient (see "COOKING UP AN EFFICIENT KITCHEN").

By the end of the project Hillwood's chopped up, tired-looking, dysfunctional clubhouse had been given a makeover from front door to back of the house that reflected the way in which the club operates today. More important, the makeover reflected the realization by the general manager and project consultants that the membership -- whose home away from home the club is -- needed to have an opportunity to express their opinions and, where warranted, provide their expertise in order for the project to be a success.

RELATED ARTICLE: Cooking up an efficient kitchen

It wasn't that too many cooks spoiled the broth at Hillwood; rather, too little kitchen space thwarted the cooks. "Hillwood's original was long and narrow, in an out-of-the-way spot, convenient for golfers but most inconvenient for a kitchen," said Jim Napolitano, Hillwood Country Club's executive chef.

Disadvantages included maze-like space and only one cook line for plate-up and bulk-cooking service for both banquet and a la carte lines. Hillwood's main goal was to develop a banquet area that wouldn't interrupt member services.

CCI helped Hillwood carve out extra space at the end of the existing kitchen by taking over an adjoining banquet/coffee area that wasn't being used properly, yielding a grand total of approximately 20 feet by 17 feet of prime kitchen prep space.

The 30-year-old main kitchen remained, possibly to be renovated in the future. Hillwood also added a downstairs snack kitchen, doing double duty by providing a limited menu for a casual dining area.

"We needed to take one small space and make it function like three areas. We needed a pastry shop, prep area, and a banquet facility. We value-engineered our kitchen by choosing equipment to make the newly expanded portion of Hillwood's kitchen function to maximum capacity," said Napolitano.

Multi-tasking equipment selected for the space included:

* Two tables on wheels -- both 30-inches wide -- with one six feet long and the other 10 feet long. The two form a total of 16 feet of plate-up space when pushed together and the wheels are locked into place, or they can be used separately for different functions. Heat lamps can be pulled down from retractable pulleys mounted on the ceiling when the tables are in place.

* Wheeled tables with racks underneath for at least 20 sheet pans to hold food to be served shortly like a warm spinach salad to be dressed, or desserts or pies cooling from the oven.

* Added wall shelving to keep counter spaces constantly clear with labeled containers to hold items like cornstarch and sugar.

* Stainless steel covers made to fit sinks for extra workspace.

* Incorporated space for hot boxes for plate storage of up to 200 plates.

* Stacked equipment such as double-stack steam-injected convection ovens with a conventional range-top below, and a tech grill with an additional four-burner range top and convection oven underneath.

* Large tilt-skillet for frying or for use as a steam table to keep sauces or soups hot.

* A soup kettle that holds up to 40 gallons for stocks and soups.