The Wequassett’s Pro Shop is a small building with big scale and playful attitude. It is primarily a shop for tennis related goods and a base for the resort’s Tennis Pro, but it also serves as locker and rest room space for a lap pool and as a backdrop for outdoor tennis courts and terraces on which events are held. The goal was to create a country club atmosphere despite the small size of the building and relatively small spaces around it. The management anticipated this would be a popular spot for outdoor parties and installed an elaborate outdoor kitchen nearby.

Two crossing tennis racquets and balls are attached to a rotating spike to create a weather vane “sign” for the building that is visible from a distance. The big “W” in the eyebrow dormer acts as a sign for the whole Resort as it is visible from Route 28, the main road on which the property fronts.

We designed interior casework and display tables for very specific retail needs and, despite budget constraints, to standards necessary for high-end manufacturers who team up with the Resort to offer dual-branded merchandise. In just one season, even in a slow economy, the shop made a significant contribution to the profitability of the Resort as it offered desirable merchandise in an atmosphere conducive to buying.

Four stout columns define a front porch and are used “incorrectly” in terms of true classical detailing. Besides the impossibly large scale and long distance between the center two, there are no lintels between their capitols and the porch ceiling. This gives the building a friendly air—a “naïve” character where the columns could be table legs or pistons pushing force up as much as pulling it down. A mannerist attitude seemed just right to us for the combination of a relaxed resort atmosphere and a big role for the little building.