The design objective for the clubhouse involved many elements that were important to the owners and builders. “It was important to have a new state-of-the-art facility for the Shell Open,” said Project Architect Dan Hassebroek of Kirksey Architecture in Houston, TX. “We wanted a structure with a relaxed Texas feel, as well as helping it to be similar to other Redstone properties. The location of the clubhouse was a significant factor that was taken into consideration for the design of the facility. The area that it was built in was scenic and wooded, and we wanted to help it to fit in with its surrounding environment.”

To meet the goals of the project, finding the perfect building materials was essential. While selecting the types of stone did not take long, deciding on the specific color required more consideration. In the end, it was decided to use a buff-colored limestone known as Western Grey Chopstone - supplied by Custom Stone Supply - as the predominant material. To complement the limestone, the design team chose Pennsylvania flagstone, a multi-colored stone with gray-green tones and reddish-brown and rust hues mixed in. Five different shades were studied before the final decision was made, according to the architect.

Once the selection process was completed, the next step was to strategically place the stones in the appropriate locations, while blending it into its environment. The Western Grey Chopstone was used for a large portion of the exterior, bordering the perimeter of the building at the base level. Additionally, the pilasters surrounding the clubhouse takes the height of the Chopstone up to about 12 feet on the building. In order to make the stone look as natural as possible, a split-faced finish was used along with random patterns of irregular and randomly cut shapes and sizes.

The Chopstone pieces were also used for the interior of the building. For the walls, the architects specified the stone for interior pilasters, connecting the exterior with the indoor spaces. The same stone was also used for interior fireplaces.

Also continuing to the interior was the Pennsylvania flagstone, where it was used as flooring with a cleft finish. To accentuate the natural look of the flagstone, no sealer was used, according to Hassebroek. More than 1,000 square feet of the material was selected in random sizes to blend well with the random pattern of the Chopstone.

Another limestone used for the interior was Lone Star Gold, supplied by Stone Marketing International of Houston, TX. This stone was used as an accent material throughout the interior of the facility. Slabs of the limestone were employed for the bar tops, bathroom vanity tops and the fireplace tops. A total of 500 square feet of the material was cut at a 3⁄4-inch thickness and given a honed finish.

The installation of the stone was done in phases, and required three crews staffed with a total of three members apiece. The flagstone flooring was set in a 2-inch mud bed with a grout that was mixed from Tex Rite materials. “This was not a perfectly straight grout,” explained Ares Paredes of Sigma, the installer for the project. “It was a mixture of sand and grout plus a latex additive, creating a stronger hold on the tiles. Using an ordinary grout without sand would not hold as well. If we used a standard grout, we were not going to be able to fill the tiles properly.”

Construction began in May of 2002 and was completed on time. Overall, there were no real detrimental challenges that arose, according to Hassebroek. “The only difficulty we had was giving the flagstone a random look,” said the architect. “Some of the pieces had to be cut, but we wanted it to look completely random in the presentation of the sizes and stone. Making the stones look like a random pattern is difficult when choices have to be made.”

Overall, the project's outcome has been very positive. And when the Redstone Golf Club hosted the Shell Houston Open earlier this year, it was well received by the PGA athletes.

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