One of the last architectural icons of the "old" Costa Rica Sims is now gone.  In its day, it was a beautiful building, created by one of SL's better builders.  It featured some of the latest techniques in texturing, and was unique, in that it broke free from the dreaded SL big building characteristic of being just a big box with a bunch of crap stuck on it. 
     The clubhouse was also more realistically proportioned, whereas the old style of building commercial structures in SL saw every floor and wall prim stretched to the maximum dimension of 10m, making it neccessary to fly threw them, instead of walking.  The building was also a replica of the RL Marriott Hotel in Costa Rica.  Since the Costa Rica Sims are designed to give people a sample of what would be found in the real life Costa Rica, it was felt to be important that the building represent a real life Costa Rican iconic structure.
     The old clubhouse was a failure on one key point, which was the point that it was constructed for in the first place.  As a clubhouse, it was to perform as a community center for the Costa Rica Sims.  It was commissioned as a place where residents could have larger gatherings, and a place that would epitomize the Costa Rica lifestyle.  While it usually did a nice job of impressing a casual observer, it never really made people want to just "hang out" there.  There have been many parties, and rarely, if ever, had the clubhouse been the location of any festivities.
     One main reason for the building's failure was the design of the floorplan.  Costa Rica's motto is "in harmony with nature", so having a building that incorporates nature into it's ambiance would seem a key ingredient for a public clubhouse.   While large in the amount of land area and air space it occupied, it was cramped on the inside.  The traffic pattern created by the interior layout seemed to be a maze, and did not have a natural flow to it, thus exacerbating the feeling of claustrophobia.  The final design failure of the interior was the fact that the building provided no views to the outside, effectively cutting it off from the nature that it was supposed to be in harmony with.



From the outside, the clubhouse seemed to be an attractive structure, and was a refreshing break from the really poor design that has characterized SL construction for so long.



Closer inspection of the roof revealed clay tiles on the flat areas.  It's a good thing that it doesn't rain in SL, because this roof would have leaked like a government informant on crack.  In real life, a flat roof such as this would either have  a tar and gravel roof, or what we call a "torch down", which is a thick rubberized mat  that is "welded" using a blow torch to seal the seams together.  The massing of the structure is also odd from this angle;  the size relationship between the first floor and the second is not harmonious, resulting in an ugly elevation.



Walking into the main entrance was the first harbinger to the building's bizarre and non-intuitive floor plan.  One would think that having the traffic pattern go straight up the entrance walk into the door would be natural, but in this case, the builder chose to make people walk into a blank wall, and then figure out how to get into the building .



Rails are to keep people from falling off and hurting themselves.  Unless someone is about 6" tall, there is no danger of someone falling off a first floor patio and hurting themselves.  Rails do not belong on a first floor patio.  We had removed the rails at the back of the clubhouse, which totally made the space inside feel bigger immediately, but left the ones on the front.  We felt they would help guide people to the obscure main entrance.

Another really bizarre design detail was that of the floor tile.  In real life, the vertical surfaces of the foundation would just be unfinished concrete.  Another common treatment of vertical surfaces, such as here where there is a step, would be a brightly decorated, hand-painted Spanish tile.  The tile on this vertical surface was of a smaller scale than that used on the horizontal surface, and it went completely around the building.  This particular floor tile used here doesn't even represent a top-quality authentic Spanish tile that would be specified in a luxury building.



Another glaring mistake was the clay tiles on the UNDERSIDE of the roof.  Even if the builder decided not to do prim soffits here, which he should have because there is a prim crown moulding where a proper soffit and fascia should be, he could have at least given the underside of the roof prims a soffit texture. As it was, I was always covering my head when walking under the eaves, afraid a clay tile was going to fall down and mess up my hair.



At first impression, the interior of the clubhouse was beautiful, even if one got over the very dated 70's looking interior color palette.  Shadowing is the current technique in SL texturing.  It's very tedious and time consuming, but when done properly, it elevates the product to a higher level.  Here, the shadowing was inconsistent;  it was around the columns, but not around the walls, leading one to wonder if it was a mistake.



Another characteristic of today's texturing techniques is the use of light FX.  When done properly, they add an element of drama and realism to the build that really bring it to life.  Here, it's puzzling to try to figure out why those light FX are where they are.  Placing the light FX properly is the key to creating a successful illusion.


 
At the rear were originally the same rails as were on the front.  Removing them made the space feel larger and more connected to the outside, but the interior of the large building still felt cramped.



The rear of the building originally had no exterior design or landscaping.  One of the first projects I did was to add the patio and install the plants.  If Costa Rica is "in harmony with nature", then beautiful gardens are crucial to any public building.

I think a lot of people liked the old clubhouse as much as I did.  Removing it has been something we have been thinking about for a long time.  While I appreciate a sense of history and nostalgia, which are hard to find in SL considering how quickly things change on the grid, I think that, if Costa Rica is to be one of SL's finest communities, then it is important that Costa Rica's clubhouse be one of SL's finest buildings.   Because of the multitude of design flaws present in the old clubhouse, it was clear that the building was not going to be able to fulfill its purpose to the Costa Rica community.  Replacing this iconic structure is a daunting task, but in the end, I think it will be worth every ache and pain experienced in the process.