With a permanent community of only a few hundred, this coastal settlement on the Coromandel Peninsula is the kind of sleepy hollow where most everyone belongs to the club. In holiday season, tents pop up on front lawns, the population swells and the beach becomes a training ground for lifeguards taking young ‘sand crabs’ and ‘nippers’ through their paces.
Ben, who has first-hand experience of catering to a crowd at the club – “it was hard work getting those chicken nuggets out the door” – is viscerally aware of the importance of this place but knows its down sides, too. “It was a pretty ad hoc build over the years, with an asbestos roof that was leaking and never enough toilets,” he explains.
Keeping the bach-like, laidback vibe was top of the agenda for the upgrade, while making the spaces more user-friendly and flexible. A durable material palette was also a consideration. “Some days you get wicked sea spray off the thundering waves,” says Ben.
The proposed design, which has just been submitted for resource consent, is similar in scale to the existing club, but adds a gull-wing, pop-top lookout tower to the facility, bringing the total area to 540 square metres. Clad in shiplap board at ground level and profiled metal on the upper floor, the building makes a nod to the sea and the sand with timber cladding the colour of driftwood on the main form, in grey-blue tones on the tower and sand-yellow on the doors, including the all-important ice-cream servery hatch.
For the most part, the building will be made up of modules built off-site, with only the equipment garage erected in situ, on top of a concrete slab. “That’s so we can have the construction done in a short window between peak life-saving seasons,” explains Ben. The other advantage is that, in case of rising sea levels or dune erosion, the modules, which will be set on piles, can be lifted and moved to a higher location.
Inside, a new members’ lounge is separated by sliding doors from a breakout room, where family focussed events, such as movie nights for kids, can take place. Generous sliders open directly to a deck, a lawn and the beach verifying the club’s claim that they have “the bar with the best view in the world”.
An expanded kitchen, more toilets, better insulation and ramps for accessibility, ensure the facility will be eminently rentable for private events in the off season – an important consideration for fundraising for the ongoing upkeep and compliance costs.
Lifeguards will be happy with the new arrangement, too. More showers mean the hot water won’t run out and these heroes of the beach also get a dedicated lounge with kitchenette to hang out in when they don’t have their eyes peeled on the surf.
Warm, functional and welcoming for all, the building make-up may be changing but the Whiritoa clubhouse culture remains set in stone.
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