A clubhouse for more than sport
Located at the edge of the hockey fields, the new HC Mierlo clubhouse creates a recognisable home for the club and its community. The brief went beyond providing changing rooms, supporting facilities and a clubhouse. The building was conceived as a place for club life: where playing, watching, meeting and spending time together naturally converge.
This idea defines the spatial organisation of the building. The main social space is positioned on the upper floor, directly overlooking the hockey fields. The large roof extends outwards, creating a sheltered transition between interior and playing field, while the change in level is incorporated into an integrated grandstand.
Rather than being an element placed in front of the building, the grandstand becomes part of the architecture itself. Clubhouse, grandstand and pitch form one continuous social environment, creating places to watch, wait, cheer and meet.
Building and sports landscape
A sports club brings together many different users and movements. On match days, players, visitors, cyclists and cars arrive and move through the site simultaneously. Their routes were therefore considered an integral part of the design from the outset.
Entrance, changing rooms, grandstand, social spaces and playing fields are not treated as separate elements. Interior and exterior are organised as one continuously used sports landscape. The architecture guides different patterns of movement while creating informal places to pause, watch the game or meet others.
Structure creates space
The timber structure plays a defining role in the architecture. Rather than concealing the construction behind finishes, it remains visible and legible. Columns, beams, façade rhythm and the large roof come together as one clear structural system.
Generous overhangs extend the building outwards and create sheltered spaces along the façade and grandstand. Timber serves simultaneously as structure and façade material, giving the clubhouse its warm and direct character. Concrete provides a robust base around ground level and the grandstand, while green accents give the building a distinct identity. HC_Mierlo_opmaak_per_pagina-EM
Room for change
A sports club is never static. Membership, patterns of use and requirements can change over time. The design therefore considers not only what the clubhouse needs to be today, but also how it might evolve in the future.
Its clear structural and spatial organisation allows the building to be adapted or extended without losing the principles of the original design. Several future scenarios were explored during the design process to test how both the building and the wider site could grow alongside the club. HC_Mierlo_opmaak_per_pagina-EM
This approach also informs the way the building is constructed. The timber structure uses dry, demountable connections, allowing components to be disassembled, adapted and potentially reused. Circularity therefore extends beyond the use of a renewable material: it also considers how the building and its components can change throughout their lifespan. HC_Mierlo_opmaak_per_pagina-EM
Building and landscape
The relationship with the landscape is equally integral to the design. The green roof slows rainwater runoff, water is allowed to infiltrate on site, and planting and integrated nesting facilities provide habitats for other species.
Rather than treating the clubhouse as an isolated object, these measures make it part of the wider landscape and ecological system. HC_Mierlo_opmaak_per_pagina-EM
A building for the club
Ultimately, the clubhouse gains its meaning through everyday use: players moving from the changing rooms onto the pitch, children sitting on the grandstand, parents watching from the sidelines and teams gathering after a match.
The architecture does more than accommodate these activities. By designing the social spaces, grandstand, circulation, structure, outdoor areas and playing fields as a coherent whole, encounter becomes part of the architecture itself.
The result is a robust and recognisable clubhouse that supports the club of today while leaving room for the community—and the building—to evolve over time.
