September 17 2009

Trump International are celebrating the halfway milestone of a masterplan being prepared by Gareth Hoskins Architects to transform 500 hectares of land on the Aberdeenshire coast into a championship links golf course, hotel, homes and associated facilities.

Comprising a mix of woodland, dunes and arable land the challenge facing the design team was how to accommodate these facilities whilst minimising impact on the landscape and it is how this is to be affected that is the subject of a newly released brochure.

Most striking is indicative massing of the five star hotel and conference centre which is located on an escarpment alongside the golf course, working with the linear character of the land it will provide a backdrop to events and host a dramatic central tower feature.

A residential village of approximately 500 homes meanwhile is planned to the north eschewing “typical sprawl” in favour of a dense core based around a central square that will accommodate a collection of shops, cafes, pubs and playgrounds. An existing shelterbelt of mature woodland provides relief from the prevailing wind and informs a series of fingers of housing that will straddle down toward the course with open sea views.

It is the championship courses however which will take prominence on the coastline with course designer Dr. Martin Hawtree’s stated intent to work with the natural environment in the construction of twin courses, including retention of a sequence of dramatic dunes that stretch hundreds of metres inland. Golfing villas to the north of these will work with the curved contours of the rolling landscape to provide a sheltered environment broken down into small groups of accommodation.

The masterplan process is not scheduled to complete until Spring 2010 but a public exhibition of the plans is to be held this weekend at the White Horse Inn, Old Road, Balmedie on September 18 -19 between 11am – 7pm on Friday and 11am – 5pm on Saturday.

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