Iskandar Polo Club, Ipoh, Malaysia

Project Description

An extraordinary area of ethereal beauty, with impressive limestone hills as its backdrop, the stunning environment of Iskandar Polo Club is a breath-taking natural wonder that epitomises serenity, tranquillity and the picturesque. The master plan of the site embraces this unique geographical setting and radically positions the new clubhouse so that it faces the majestic hills with the polo field in the foreground.

In this manner, the clubhouse building starts to tell a story– it slowly unveils the view of the limestone hills layer by layer as one approaches and then moves in and through its spaces. Building up suspense and anticipation, the architecture engages in an emotional relationship with the viewer and draws him into an orchestrated sequence of movement in discovery of the full view of the landscape beyond.

By positioning the new clubhouse across the field from where it was formerly located, the significantly expanded clubhouse gains a prominent frontage and is directly accessible from the main road. Moreover, the building now also serves as a mediating device- building up the visitors’ anticipation and intensifying their approach experience as they progress through the building spaces towards their encounter with the captivating hills and landscape that define this setting. Besides this mechanism of sequentially unveiling views and spaces, the architecture also conjures an emotional response through the contrast of its clean-line simplicity and rational design rhythm against the organic and natural ruggedness of the surrounding hills.