It’s no Trump Tower, but tycoon’s 19th hole voted a towering success

DONALD Trump normally doesn’t do the traditional or the restrained, but the American tycoon confounded his critics yesterday when he unveiled the design for the clubhouse he plans to build on his Aberdeenshire golf course. It could be described as both traditional and restrained.

It may be a great deal larger than the glorified but ’n’ bens that serve as the clubhouses for many artisan clubs across the country, but his vision for the 19th hole at his championship links at the Menie estate – a sprawling single-storey building constructed from traditional Scottish granite and slate – has won approval from the head of Scotland’s main architectural body.

Neil Baxter, secretary of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, condemned initial design drawings for the luxury hotel at the development as “Hollywood comes to Aberdeenshire.”

But he was full of praise for the look of the clubhouse planned for the heart of the controversial £750 million golf resort and for Douglas Forrest, from Huntly-based firm Acanthus Architects, which designed the building.

Mr Baxter said golfers arriving from across the globe to play at Menie could not fail to be impressed by the clubhouse. “It does harken back to a long history,” he said. “This is not a work of overt modernism. It’s a work that connects with the historic, but it’s honest in the sense that it’s not saying that this is a building that dates from 1850.

“It’s a building that might have echoes of architecture from 1850, but it’s very much of now.

“And the quality of the materials is exemplary, and that always tells in a building.

He went on: “It is feeding on a tradition of golf architecture. And they [the Trump Organisation] are not stinting on the specification. Acanthus Architects are consistently one of the best practices in Scotland and they have done great work the length and breadth of Scotland.

“We have got something that will bring in the international tourists and encourage Americans to come here and settle in for a week of golf, and I think that clubhouse fits the bill.”

However, Scottish Green Party MSP Patrick Harvie, a prominent critic of the Menie development, said: “It doesn’t much matter whether Trump builds the most beautiful clubhouse in the world or a tacky little Disneyworld sham. The fact is that most people on ordinary incomes won’t even see inside – this development is not being built for them.

“Trump’s vision is one where the super-rich fly in for a round of golf and drinks at the bar before jetting off again, and the most that local people might get is the chance to carry their bags.”

Sarah Malone, the executive vice president for Trump International Scotland, claimed the new clubhouse would be “second to none”, with “sensational views” across the dunes and the North Sea. She added: “We’ve spent many months refining and perfecting the permanent clubhouse design and will submit our planning application to Aberdeenshire Council in the coming weeks.”

Mr Forrest said: “The clubhouse design is mindful of the culture of its locale and immediate context within a larger planned landscape. This style of architecture can be seen throughout the city and shire.”