Links Trust set to drive into a brand new HQ

The 1200 sq-metre facility will provide the trust with a two-storey building that will serve as an office hub for more than 50 staff working across a range of different operational disciplines, including IT, HR, food and beverage, finance, technical services, tournaments, golf and commerce.

Presently the trust has staff working at four sites who will now all work under the one roof.

The building will provide staff with open-plan offices, meeting spaces and dedicated areas for the training and development of more than 400 permanent and seasonal staff.

Euan Loudon, chief executive St Andrews Links Trust, said: “This new office adjacent to the Balgove and Strathtyrum Courses isn’t just about new desks and a new location.

“With this design we will have new, flexible ways of working so we can provide a modern, fit-for-purpose environment for existing staff as well as ensuring we continue to attract and retain the best talent to help drive St Andrews Links forward for the next stage in its development and renown.”

The new offices have been designed by award-winning Dundee architecture firm, Nicoll Russell Studios.

The building has been planned in an energy efficient, environmentally sensitive manner and will sit quietly in the links landscape.

Scott Turpie, director at Nicoll Russell Studios, said: “The new headquarters will fulfil a key role in the trust’s wider and ongoing improvement plans for the area, consolidating a range of administrative resources together under one roof and strengthening capacity to deliver further enhancements for golfers.”

Preparatory work on the site began this week as contractors demolished a former residential property that served as a starter’s hut for the Balgove Course.

Work on the new building is expected to begin early in the summer with an estimated completion date of November 2020.

As well as creating new headquarters the project will also include; The creation of a new Eden gateway facilitating wayfinding, drop-off, cycle parking and seating; A new shared utilities and plant room services hub for the offices and the Eden Clubhouse; A new starter box for the Balgove course; an additional, sensitively screened, 75 car parking spaces for the Eden car park, providing both increased provision for the new office facility and additional capacity for visitors coming to the Eden Clubhouse / Pilmour House, the Golf Academy and the Eden-side courses.

During the works a number of temporary restrictions and diversions may be put in place from time to time around public car parks.