Ellis Golf Course Clubhouse honored with Wood Design Award

The new clubhouse at Ellis Golf Course in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been honored with a Regional Excellence Wood Design Award. The annual U.S. Wood Design Awards celebrates excellence in wood building design. Projects are judged by a jury of designers from across the country.

“Wood stands the test of time as a nimble and sustainable building material,” said WoodWorks President and CEO, Jennifer Cover. “Beyond the technical innovations achieved in these buildings, they are simply beautiful to look at. They inspire tenants, passersby, and the industry at large – while demonstrating how the design and construction community is responding to the need for more sustainable construction.”

The award was announced on March 27 at the opening reception of the International Mass Timber Conference. Winning projects are featured in the hardcover book, “Celebrating Excellence in Wood Architecture 2022-2023.”

Ellis Clubhouse was rebuilt after an inland windstorm, or derecho, destroyed the clubhouse on Cedar Rapids’ 120-year-old municipal golf course in 2020. Rebuilding the clubhouse created an opportunity to re-imagine how a new clubhouse can take advantage of the extraordinary views while creating a community gathering space. The clubhouse is organized around a porch created by a single-slope structural wood roof that continues from exterior through the interior, connecting lower and higher volume spaces and forming a covering for a patio that opens up to the golf course. 

Woodworks is a non-profit dedicated to helping project teams design, engineer and construct successful wood buildings.