Architecturally, one recalls the conventional clubhouse typology as a single, large mass that exudes a harsh sense of formality, reaffirming the longstanding notion of a clubhouse as a place of elite belonging and exclusivity. The redevelopment of Singapore Island Country Club is an opportunity for us to critically examine and challenge that notion as a response to its recent transformation and future growth into a socially inclusive and relatable to a new Singapore society.

Our proposal takes cue from its name sake, lichens, unique and complex organisms where individually independent elements combine to exist, grow, and flourish harmoniously in a symbiotic relationship. As a nod of respect to the site’s expansive and lush greenery, it is our aim to establish a similarly subtle and synergistic relationship between the existing landscape and human intervention, interweaving the threshold between inside and outside, and man-made and nature.

Through the process of reconceptualising the conventional clubhouse typology, we conceived a clubhouse comprising of a series of smaller, interdependent building blocks that are strategically nestled in the natural topography to form a unified community, where the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts.