British architecture firm Foster + Partners has unveiled a new headquarters for golfing association PGA Tour in northeast Florida, featuring an expansive overhanging roof.
The PGA Tour HQ will span 187,000 square feet (17,373 square metres) over three floors, each wrapped in floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides.
The building, designed to serve as the first headquarters for the main professional golf association in the United States, will be located beside a large freshwater lake in Ponte Vedra, Florida.
Its roof will extend over the entryway to form a shaded canopy, also covering a series of balconies protruding from the front facade.
The building's glazed walls and flat roofline are similar to Foster + Partners' designs for Apple, including the recently completed visitor centre at Apple Park and the new Apple Store in Chicago.
PGA Tour is an abbreviation of Professional Golfers' Association, with Tour short for Tournament Players Division.
Its headquarters will be built along the golf course of Ponte Vedra's Sawgrass gated residential community, which hosts the association's The Players Championship (TPC) event each year.
Over the past few decades, PGA Tour has spread across multiple buildings in the greater northeast region of the state. The new headquarters "brings the organisation under one roof for the first time", said Nigel Dancey, head of studio at Foster + Partners.
Located to the south of the TPC Clubhouse, the new building's contemporary glass construction will strongly contrast the existing Spanish-style structures on the grounds.
"The famous 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass provides a point of axial orientation for the building, which is organised as a pair of parallel three-storey bays flanking a collaborative atrium," said the architecture firm.
Renderings of the interior show a large atrium surrounded by a light wood ceiling, white flooring and a set of grey circular pillars.
Glass railings will surround the openings in the floors on the two upper levels, beneath a large skylight in the middle of the roof – one of five in the building in total.
Two building bays are connected by wide footbridges, which measure 20 feet (six metres) and are designed as flexible workspaces.
A smaller building inside the overall envelope is designed with indoor terraces, evoking a type of cruise-ship design.
The entire interior appears as if outside, due to the ample natural light and a spacious layout, dotted with walkways and al fresco-style dining areas.
"Nature plays a key role in the design, which incorporates principles of biophilia – an inherent affinity for nature found in humans – that is proven to enhance staff wellbeing and improve the quality of the workplace," said the architecture firm.
Included in the plan are a 1.3-kilometre running path in the surrounding woodlands and site-wide recycling facilities.
The roof's large overhang will reduce solar gain through the glazed facades, and will be topped with photovoltaic panels on its exterior to support a portion of the building's energy needs.
Other golf-related structures around the world include an expansive open-air canopy that collects rainwater for the Rio 2016 Olympics and a boxy clubhouse that is clad in local stone on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.