clubhouse design case study

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DF Arquitectos uses volcanic rock for sports club in Mexico

Local architecture studio DF Arquitectos has wrapped an expansive clubhouse for a football team in volcanic stone in the shadow of a rocky cliff in Mexico City . More

Henning Larsen sets timber Klaksvík Row Club next to Faroe Islands fjord

Global architecture studio Henning Larsen has designed a rowing club defined by a sloping green roof and timber structure in the Faroe Islands that celebrates the area's sports heritage. More

DROO adds charred-timber clubhouse to polo field in Surrey

Architecture studio DROO has extended and refurbished Arc Polo Farm in Surrey , UK, adding a clubhouse clad in charred timber to an existing ensemble of barns and stables. More

Studio RC embeds geometric equestrian complex in Mexican mountain terrain

Stables linked by steel bridges and a clubhouse with a cantilevered terrace feature at the Hípico Piedra Grande equestrian complex in rural Mexico , designed by Studio RC. More

Snøhetta unveils "green lung" urban farm in Hong Kong

Architecture studio  Snøhetta has designed an urban farm surrounded by three clubhouses for the Pavilia Farm residential development in Tai Wai, Hong Kong . More

Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos creates doughnut-shaped clubhouse in Mexico

Cross-laminated timber and volcanic stone were used to form a round building along a lake that was designed by Mexican studio Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos . More

Snarkitecture designs Manifest "self-care" club in Washington DC

Design studio Snarkitecture incorporated tiled walls and arches into a club in the US capital that offers a barbershop, a coffee bar, a boutique and a speakeasy. More

AutoCamp opens Airstream glamping site near Joshua Tree National Park

A clubhouse informed by Quonset huts features at an AutoCamp glamping site in southern California designed by American firms HKS and Narrative Design Studio. More

Wood Marsh embeds Lonsdale Links golf club in coastal landscape

Architecture studio Wood Marsh has completed a clubhouse facility for a golf course in Point Lonsdale, Australia , featuring blade-like concrete walls that emerge above the surrounding coastal dunes. More

RCR Arquitectes uses red concrete to build Palmares Clubhouse in the Algarve

Overlapping planes of red concrete form the walls and roof of this golf clubhouse , designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning RCR Arquitectes for a resort on Portugal's south coast. More

Reed Watts creates "discrete but identifiable" cricket pavilion in Richmond upon Thames

UK architecture studio Reed Watts has created a timber clubhouse for an amateur cricket team in London's Bushy Park that is designed to be both modern and familiar. More

Scope unveils luxurious clubhouse inside its Langsuan condominium development

Dezeen promotion:  developer Scope has revealed designs for a new 2,500-square-metre clubhouse located inside its Scope Langsuan development in Bangkok , Thailand . More

Habitas members' clubhouse opens in old New York fire station

Creative agency StyleMood has transformed a 19th-century firehouse in New York City into this cosy members' club . More

Winter Architecture creates community-focused cricket pavilion in Melbourne

Winter Architecture has teamed with Zunica Interior Architecture to transform a historic Melbourne cricket pavilion into a flexible community hub. More

Chief clubhouse for female executives opens in Manhattan

"Stereotypically male design accents" have been reinterpreted inside Chief , a homey private club for women in senior positions, which has opened in New York City 's TriBeCa neighbourhood. More

Giant roof tops Montreal golf clubhouse by Architecture49

Canadian studio Architecture49 has covered this minimal golf clubhouse in Montreal with a massive wooden roof, to shelter driving ranges so members can play in bad weather. More

UNStudio references luxury yachts with marina and clubhouse on China's Xi River

UNStudio 's Keppel Cove Marina and Clubhouse provides a hub for maritime activities in Zhongshan, China. More

Marc Thorpe designs home for Classic Car Club at New York pier

New York designer Marc Thorpe is behind the interiors of a clubhouse for classic car enthusiasts at Manhattan's Pier 76, where members can show off their vehicles and drink at an industrial-looking bar. More

Scooped rooflights and sinuous forms define Strasbourg tennis clubhouse by Paul Le Quernec

The flight path of a  tennis ball informed the curving interior of this  clubhouse in Strasbourg , which features dome-like skylights, a serpentine bar and brightly coloured floors. More

Dark walls and custom furniture fill Stockholm's Alma creative space by Tham & Videgård

Architecture firm Tham & Videgård has turned a former Stockholm design college into a members club that aims to make creative professionals feel "a little spoiled". More

4 Inspiring Clubhouse Architecture Projects

• May 8, 2023

Our Architecture Firm Demonstrates Excellence in the Kansas City Area Through These Unique Community Spaces

When home construction companies or real estate developers plan a new residential development with a focus on fostering community among residents, one of the leading desirable amenities is the subdivision clubhouse, sometimes called an amenity center.

The clubhouse becomes a community destination for area residents – it’s for gathering, for play, and for building community. A planned suburban neighborhood typically provides this amenity to add value – and thoughtful clubhouse architecture is necessary to its success and function. A comfortable scale and warmth through both aesthetics and function is something NSPJ is known for in our clubhouse designs.

But clubhouses aren’t just for residential communities. Country clubs and event centers also seek amenities spaces that require the same degree of care in design and planning.

NSPJ Architects has established our architecture firm as one of the best in the Kansas City area for designing highly recognizable and highly respected clubhouses. Take a look at four of our favorites, and view our clubhouse architecture portfolio on our website for other excellent examples.

Clubhouse Architecture Highlight #1: Sundance Ridge Amenity Center

In collaboration with Rodrock Development, Phelps Engineering, and Epic Pools, our architecture firm designed a modern farmhouse-style amenity center for Sundance Ridge , a housing development along 175th Street, east of Mission Road to State Line Road in Overland Park, Kansas.

Both indoor and outdoor amenities combine to form this distinctive community offering spanning 4,000 square feet. Inside, residents find workout facilities, an indoor gymnasium, conference rooms, bar, and common area that overlooks the swimming pool complex.

Outside, the pool complex includes lap lanes and a zero-entry pool with splash pads. Water slides and fountains add to the summer fun. NSPJ’s landscape architects nestled playgrounds, picnic areas, and courts for bocce and pickle ball in the surroundings. Walking trails link the neighborhoods, park areas, water features, and even an idyllic orchard.

Clubhouse Architecture Highlight #2: Mills Farm

A hot new neighborhood according to 435 Magazine , Mills Farm is one of Johnson County’s most distinguished planned communities in Overland Park.

Not only do the land plan and streetscapes promote a sense of community, but the clubhouse architecture works as an extension of that , designed to feel like a custom home that blends seamlessly with other houses of varying style and sizes throughout the neighborhood.

Situated along the entry boulevard, the clubhouse also serves as the sales office, so potential buyers grasp just how special the community is before they ultimately make their decision to call it home.

Clubhouse Architecture Highlight #3: Hallbrook Amenity Center

With a growing roster of members, Hallbrook Country Club in Leawood, Kansas saw a need for a larger amenity center to meet the needs of those who frequent their grounds.

The original fitness room was just 1,100 square feet – and Hallbrook asked our architecture firm to triple its size. Even more amenities accompanied this addition, including a new pool bathhouse, indoor bar, pro shop, tennis viewing area, lounge, outdoor fireplace, room for sunbathing, and protected tennis viewing areas.

Members of Hallbrook Country Club who enjoy the pool area also can now enjoy a meal without changing out of their swimwear, thanks to a dining area meant to withstand wet suits.

Clubhouse Architecture Highlight #4: Davidson Farms

One of the architecture firm’s most unique clubhouse designs is located at Davidson Farms, created for a residential development’s year-round use. Positioned near a 3-acre lake, this clubhouse affords 2,340 square feet inside, with 1,500 square feet of outdoor living space.

Outdoors, community members can enjoy scenic walking trails, parks, and a family pool; inside, they enjoy a reservable party room and kitchen. Outdoor program areas include a covered pergola, grills, and an outdoor fireplace.

The architectural design honors the legacy of the Davidson family, who ventured west in 1832 from Kentucky to Missouri. Thus, this clubhouse space was designed to resemble a barn, with a contemporary twist that can be described as refined rustic.

Partner with NSPJ Architects for Your Next New Residential Development

Real estate developers and construction companies seeking to create vibrant new communities around the midwest region are invited to contact NSPJ Architects, headquartered in Prairie Village, Kansas, to discuss clubhouse architecture, land planning, landscape architecture, and more.

Decades of successful development partnerships and a proven record of excellence in custom home design make NSPJ the smart business choice. Our firm’s work is deeply rooted in respecting the context of richly-detailed, proportioned architecture and efficient planning, and this dedication is present in all that we do .

Contact us to learn more about our full spectrum of architecture services.

Kansas City Office 3515 W. 75th Street, Suite 201 Prairie Village, Kansas 66208 (913) 831-1415

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CLUBHOUSE, RAIPUR

The modern building abhorred superfluous surface decoration and induced the use of concrete, glass, and steel. With times, the architectural vocabulary in terms of form and function has been transforming, and while designing any built form, it has been mostly debated if form comes first or function. However, in today’s contemporary architecture, it is the form that follows function wherein dynamism of the latter is playing a vital role in creating cityscape for the new environment and spaces. One such building is a Club House in a Group housing project for Avinash Builders at Raipur. This form has set a benchmark in Contemporary Indian Architecture. Clubhouses have become a fad in the 21st century. Along with health care services provided at clubhouses, architects are progressively designing clubhouses as breakout spaces. The Club House in Avinash Capital Homes forms an iconic landmark structure on its own, owing to its fluid design. Nature was the inspiration in visualizing the iconic structure of the building. Raipur is surrounded by forests, waterfalls, mountains, and other natural geographic features that inspired the organic form. The design builds on the concept of the fluidity of water. The layout of the clubhouse moves away from rigid straight lines and instead explores a unique dimension of architecture. The façade of the clubhouse remains the most iconic feature of the building. It has interesting circular cut-outs that allow the penetration of natural sunlight thus reducing the use of artificial lighting systems in the daytime. The exterior façade seamlessly carves through the interior spaces maintaining its whimsical form and generating cave-like interiors. The clubhouse caters to the need of people from various age groups. It has all the modern facilities and equipped with the latest machines in the gymnasium, encouraging people to become health conscious. The main entrance of the clubhouse leads to the swimming pool. The concept here was to introduce a water feature at the sight of entrance creating a tranquil environment. The swimming pool is anthropometrically designed in a way to accommodate maximum people. Waterfront café has been introduced on a green carpet that seamlessly merges with the interior banquet. The banquet has been acoustically padded thereby reducing noise pollution in the vicinity. On the ground level, one can indulge in strenuous sports activities like squash, badminton, and lawn tennis. The club also has a health juice bar, where members of the society can also provide cooking classes. The yoga studio and gymnasium are located on the upper floor, in an attempt to isolate it from the bustling sounds of ground floor activities. It is sculpted with wooden floors to provide a clean and comfortable environment. Overlooking the swimming pool on one side, and the green lawns on the other, the yoga studio creates a perfectly balanced space. Our vision was to create an experience that unravels and gets richer each time for the user. The circulation is maximized on the upper level with each functional space opening into the corridor. Considering the fluidity of design in mind, the construction uses Ferrocement over wire mesh with 200 metal framework of a profile section arranged to support the mesh. The materials like Glass-reinforced concrete and Glass-reinforced gypsum have been selected to sculpt the clubhouse. The use of white color on the exterior bolsters the immaculateness of the built form. The surreal design of the clubhouse catches the fancy of every passer-by.

Architects: Creative Group, New Delhi Year: Started in 2017 (Ongoing) Client: Avinash Group Built-up Area: 1300sqm.

Prof. Charanjit Shah, Ar. Gurpreet Shah, Creative Group

Design for Venture

A Clubhouse Case Study

Clubhouse’s product strategy, interaction model, okrs, opportunities & threats, and business model recommendations, it all starts somewhere….

What does a product concept experience from value proposition to business model? What artifacts need to be created in this process?

In this article, I share an approach to creating an interaction model, an OKR system, and a business model for a product concept based solely on the value proposition and the basic functionalities. I will use Clubhouse’s concept in this case study.

Let’s get started.

About Clubhouse

Clubhouse is an invite-only mobile app that connects people through audio-based conversations. It’s a low-cost, and low-commitment way to explore thoughts and connect with other spirits. Many use it to expand their personal and professional network.

The Commercialization Process

To keep it short and sweet, it goes like this:

Product life cycle > Strategic objective(s) > Interaction model > OKR system > Business model

Clubhouse’s interaction model

Clubhouse is at the introduction stage of its product life cycle. The strategic objective is to generate as much active use as possible.

A Clubhouse user journey can be decomposed into 3 phases — “joining”, “using”, and “staying”. Each phase has core interactions that fuel the product.

Clubhouse naturally attracts listener learners (vs. reader learners) and listener entertainers who enjoy casual, exploratory chats. Clubhouse’s marketing focus is to nurture the habit to learn and entertain through listening among a broader audience, who is formed based on existing users’ personal connections.

Here are the core product interactions Clubhouse encourages:

Clubhouse’s current functionalities determine the 3 ways to “use” it — join, create, and invite others. 

Here are the core product interactions Clubhouse promotes:

However joyful a conversation is, it will end or be disrupted by other life events. How to bring users back? What do they need to see or do to make a decision to come back?

Here are the core product interactions Clubhouse supports:

Anti-interactions

The interaction design does not stop there. A product should not only reinforce positive interactions, but also prevent interactions that take users away from the product. I call these “anti-interactions”.

For example, Clubhouse allows users to break into new communities and establish new connections based on interests and common connections alone. That is a key value. However, we have seen WeChat users adding WeChat group QR code to their profile image to allow people in the same chatroom to download the code and stay in touch with each other in WeChat.

Clubhouse should keep these valuable user connections to itself by preventing anti-interactions:

Now you have the interaction model that supports Clubhouse’s strategic objective at the introduction stage. The next step is to create an OKR system to support these core interactions.

Clubhouse’s OKR System

Defining OKRs is about translating core interactions into quantitative measures.

Say, “% of users who joined at least 3 chatrooms and stay in chatrooms for at least 3 minutes on average within a week” is what I want to use as the to measure “active use”. Here’s how I would set up the OKR system:

Good vs. Bad OKRs

Why use “% of users who joined at least 3 chatrooms and stay in chatrooms for at least 3 minutes on average within a week” as the OKR of “active use”?

An OKR should be intuitive, generic, independent of the business model, and time-sensitive. Most importantly, it needs to reflect the user value Clubhouse creates.

Here’s a list of counter-examples:

They all measure “active use” to some degree. However, they all fail on at least one of the five dimensions (intuitive, generic, independent of the business model, and time-sensitive).

For example, “being online” does not reflect true engagement; “Joining at least one conversation” is too weak for measuring general interest in the product; “Joining at least one conversation for at least 3 minutes” is too granular (I bet 99% of registered users will satisfy that requirement); “Time length of all conversation joined” could be unintuitive or misleading as some people might be waiting in the chatroom to get some learnings, or just leaving the chatroom on before bed to help them get into sleep.

Bonus  -  Clubhouse's threats & opportunities

It would be difficult for Clubhouse to create a business model based on value delivered through chatroom content with its current design, as the value created is too sporadic for selling. Clubhouse needs a way to evaluate the quality of chatroom content, and a way to guarantee the delivery of it if it wants to make a content-driven business model.

With its current design, Clubhouse users can’t collect value created in a chatroom, or “save conversations”. This challenge brought by the technology makes retaining users difficult as whatever value users receive from the chatroom gets lost once they exit.

The lack of an in-app motivation system for the audience to continue to join chatrooms will be a problem in the future. Joining a chatroom is completely driven by human curiosity and the recommendation engine at the moment, which isn’t necessarily a competitive advantage for Clubhouse.

Chatroom hosts might be interested in metrics such as “number of chatrooms hosted”, or “rating from the audience”. The more chatrooms the hosts host, the more credible they are, the better their reputation is, the more followers and influence they have in Clubhouse, the less like they are leave the product.

There is no control on the quality of the new joiners or the quality of chatroom conversations at the moment. Whatever business model Clubhouse ends up choosing should support the build of a high-quality Clubhouse network and high-quality conversations.

Can building a reputation and expanding the network attract good content generators to Clubhouse to benefit the rest of the audience? Are the human nature of curiosity and the desire to build connections enough to keep people coming back to the app?

I am sure the Clubhouse team has the answer in the data they decided to collect. I can’t wait to find out.

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By Peter Ramsey

4 key takeaways

1. homepage curation, 2. the misnomer about 'aha moments', 3. a ux crutch for their search, 4. a broken follow hook, finding conversations on clubhouse.

Although most founders believe that their app will see a ‘hockey stick’ growth trajectory, it very rarely happens. Even rarer whilst competing with some of the largest, most influential tech companies in the world; Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat.

In other words: the Clubhouse story is the perfect example of how exponential growth turns UX molehills into mountains.

You see, Clubhouse—the audio-chat social network—has gone from a few hundred thousand users, to around 10 million within just a few months.

But, scaling that quickly introduces new complexities.

Whilst early-adopters are typically forgiving with UX issues, the millions of people being invited to the app each month will be far less tolerant.

So let’s look at the experience of finding new content on Clubhouse.

Why Clubhouse’s homepage is confusing.

What people get wrong about ‘aha moments’.

How UX can be used as a crutch.

Be aware of broken ‘hooks’.

Please rotate your device to view this slideshow

That’s all for the slideshow, but there’s more content and key takeaways below.

Content feeds are notoriously difficult to get right. Which posts should you see? How should you order them? How do you filter out the noise?

On Clubhouse, once you’ve scrolled past all the available rooms in your feed, you’re prompted to follow more people, to see more rooms .

In other words, they’re describing how they decide what content you see.

i.e., your homepage is a curated list of rooms, based on people you follow.

Except there’s a problem: I don’t follow half the people who already appear in my feed.

To be clear, the issue here is the ambiguity about how the feed is curated .

How does this work? Am I seeing these random rooms because I showed an interest in a particular topic whilst signing up? If so, how can I purge those interests ?

Over the long-term—when the initial curiosity has subsided—people invest less attention in a tool with unpredictable outcomes.

If the Clubhouse homepage is going to be an oasis of interesting content, people need a basic understanding of where the water comes from.

And so, instead of the vague instruction to “follow more people”, they should take the time to actually explain which levers control the content that you see, and how to operate them .

In the early days of Twitter, the team noticed something in their data: when people follow at least 30 others, they’re far more likely to stick around .

This is often described as an 🎉 Aha! Moment —the moment that the utility of a product really clicks for the user.

Or simply: if Twitter can get a new user to follow 30 people, then it reduces the chances that they’ll get bored and delete the app.

This story has become start-up folklore, and I’ve worked with many companies who take this message too literally, forgetting the nuance of what they really found:

It’s not enough to just follow 30 random people. You need to follow 30 people who you genuinely care about.

Clubhouse have clearly adopted a similar methodology, by pre-selecting 50 people for you to follow whilst signing up.

Have you noticed that some people have accumulated millions of followers really quickly? It’s because the same people are almost always recommended—I tried creating accounts with polar opposite interests, and the same people were pre-selected almost every time.

And at no point does it explain that following those 50 people will directly impact the content that is available to you, or that if your homepage gets uninteresting (as I mentioned earlier), you’ll need to unfollow these people individually.

But they should, and it could look like this:

Right now, Clubhouse is designed for explosive growth—they just want to maximise the number of connections made.

But at some point they will likely need to shift to sustainable and longer-term value growth. This will mean encouraging fewer, but more meaningful connections.

Look at Twitter below: they explain how their timeline works, and don’t pre-select people to follow—you have to opt-in to every single one.

Following the right people on Clubhouse is necessary to find interesting conversations, so it’s important to know that you’re following real people—e.g., the real Elon Musk.

Over time it’ll be necessary to verify identities, like the other social networks do, but it’s an unfeasible task for the small team that run Clubhouse currently.

Yet, they’ve built an app that is as simple as their rivals.

But therein lies a problem: established social networks can be so simple purely because they do so much behind the scenes.

And whilst a verification system is probably the best solution, it’s also very expensive. Instead, Clubhouse could see some of the reward, with just a few subtle UX changes:

1: Over time you’d expect the real people to accumulate significantly more followers than the fake accounts. By exposing their follower count on the search page you could increase the confidence that people have about their authenticity.

2: Say there were 5 identical profiles, all with the same name, profile picture and a similar follower count, how would you know who’s real? Well, by showing their unique usernames (e.g., @elonmusk), people could filter out the most obvious imposters.

It’s no secret that social media companies want you to be addicted to their apps. They’re designed to be infinity pools of content—always available to give you another quick shot of dopamine.

One of the most common tools used to create these habits can be described as a ‘hook’—essentially a pattern of action and reward that is addictive.

And one of the key components of a hook is an investment , in this instance, the user investing time into following people , expecting more great content in the future.

But there’s an issue: the reward for that investment is neither guaranteed, nor instant. And I don’t just mean that the reward is variable , it can be entirely non-existent.

Ask yourself this: would you follow a Twitter account that’d never tweeted? Possibly, but you probably wouldn’t follow 100 of them.

See, on Twitter, at the moment where you’re deciding if you should follow someone, you can see their content . In other words: the value is obvious and immediate —their tweets are visible in your feed right away.

This gives you some confidence that they’ll tweet again in the future, and therefore your investment in following them will be rewarded.

But on Clubhouse you could follow hundreds of people who you never interact with at all. In fact, you don’t even know if they’ve ever joined a room.

Given these circumstances, which are inherent by design, Clubhouse should be using a thoughtful user experience to synthetically complete this hook as much as possible.

1: Reframe the reward — you cannot make it instant (unless they coincidentally join a conversation immediately), but you can remind the user that the value is in not missing future conversations they join.

2: Give them confidence that this person will be active — by showing scheduled events that they’re attending, and previous conversations that they’ve been a part of, you can make people more confident that they’ll join a Clubhouse room in the future. This will help the user anticipate a reward .

To be clear, I really like Clubhouse, and use it on an almost daily basis. And whilst the mystery behind how conversations appear in my feed may be exciting at first, I’m already finding myself tired of it.

Their minimalist design is simple—and yes, you can do almost anything in a few clicks—but it’s not intuitive.

I know exactly how to control the content I see in my Twitter feed, but I still have no idea how to stop seeing random Clubhouse rooms in other languages.

And if following people who you care about is the primary driver behind building a great selection of rooms, then:

1: Why follow 50 random people at the start?

2: It needs to be easier to find the right people.

3: It needs to be rewarding to both follow the right people, and purge the wrong ones.

That was an easy way to consume 50 hours of UX research, right?

What will you dive into next?

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All of the UX analysis on Built for Mars is original, and was researched and written by me, Peter Ramsey.

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Waterfront Clubhouse By Davide Macullo Architects

CLUBHOUSE FOR LAN HAI QUANZHOU WATERCITY New beginnings, Cell like structures representative of the birth of a new city, The cells of a new organism.

Project Description Urban/Landscape Considerations

The proposed urban design of Lan Hai Quanzhou Watercity is on a grand scale with the overall masterplan objectives being a rich, varied and ecologically aware sustainable city; a city connected with its waterways and open green spaces. In harmony with these ambitions, our proposal for the city’s Clubhouse aims to create a scheme with a civic pride that emphasizes these city’s qualities and that is representative of the city in microcosm.

We have set the Clubhouse immersed in a natural parkland and developed a design that sets the perception of the natural landscape as prime. The seducent geometry of the built form of the Clubhouse finds its natural continuity and its sense of place in the shaping of this new parkland and in this way, we intend the project not as a building or a system but as an organism that works with distinct elements that feed each other. An important principle of the design is to create both a sense of community and a sense of intimacy with a series of elegant, inviting and intriguing spaces.

The project comprises a series elliptically domed forms. Their natural organic forms have a calm presence in the landscape and will be a striking contrast with the urbanity of the city. While the volumes differ in scale and height, each is derived from the same elliptical plan and section; all from one cell.

The main building is made up of five elliptical volumes, along with the rotunda pool and the connecting spaces. Spread out along with park are a further two elliptical pavilions and two open air round pavilions.

Social ambitions: An urban condenser.

The fluidity of the economic and social lives of the city merge and exchange of the social and economic life of the city becoming blurred become a centre of public life holding the activities of public life; restaurants, bars, café, entertainment and spa where visitors come to relax, enjoy a meal, try a new wine and also do business.

Spatial ambitions: Commanding views Accessibility, one floor Warmth of the timber volumes, timber flooring, The engagement with the landscape is an integral part of the experience of the scheme Circulation, movement, flows Private, semi private Open views to waterways, lush green park Sense of luxury immersed in Nature Respect for the environment Didactic pathways and routes to allow the visitor engage with their environment Human scale vaulted spaces thematic gardens, botanical zones, differing vegetation raised land to create small hills, reducing traffic noise pollution and separating the parking area from the green park. Quality of light and shade in these spaces Varying heights, light quality Diffuse light Brise soleil of the timber cladding The internal circulation is organised so that the sight lines lead to a courtyard, garden or outside the building.

Architecture is an ethical matter before being an aesthetical one.

Our engagement towards the sustainability of architecture is to solve matters related to architecture itself (orientation, insulation factor, excavated volumes) to create microclimate areas, long-term temperature range of the shell of the building using efficient ventilated double walls, control of natural light and ventilation, use of new technologies for heating/cooling, recycling of sources of energy such as waste water and exhaust air, eco friendly mechanical systems.

The preference of natural and local materials becomes more and more an ethical engagement for ‘grey energy saving’ and the psychological well-being of the users.

DAVIDE MACULLO

Davide Macullo (b. Giornico, CH, 1965) lives and works in Lugano, Switzerland. Studied art, architecture and interior design. For 20 years (1990-2010) he was project architect in the atelier of Mario Botta with responsibility for over 200 international projects worldwide. He opened his own atelier in 2000.

The ethos of the studio is one of ‘drawing from context’ and the various contributions promote a dialogue between the specificity of the project and the universality of the contexts. His work has been published and awarded both at home and abroad.

Selected realized projects include the WAP ART foundation mixed use gallery and apartment in Gangnam Seoul, South Korea, the Assuta Hospital in Ashdod, Israel, 5* Hotel and SPA facilities in Greece, the headquarter Jansen AG in Oberriet, Switzerland, Private Museum in Jeju South Korea, Sino-Swiss centre in Tianjing China, several hoses and housing in Switzerland and abroad, master planning, furniture design and advisory for contemporary art for clients.

Current projects include the new Hotel Health and Wellness Palace Chenot in Weggis, Switzerland and Marbella, Spain, houses and residential buildings in Switzerland, a beachfront villa in Heraklion, Greece, the Crescent Chenot SPA in Baku, Azerbaijan.  The work of the studio includes graphic design, branding consulting and custom designed furniture, now in production and spans to the creation of contemporary art collections for clients.

In Rossa Calanca Valley in the Grison Canton, Davide has started an urbanistic program to promote the intervention in situ of international artists to influence daily life through contemporary art. The first building realized in collaboration with Daniel Buren will be followed by other ten artists.

Rethinking The Future (RTF) is a Global Platform for Architecture and Design. RTF through more than 100 countries around the world provides an interactive platform of highest standard acknowledging the projects among creative and influential industry professionals.

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Hospitality

Mahindra world city clubhouse, new chennai.

Mahindra World City Club designed to enhance the communal fabric of Mahindra World City. It harnesses the pioneering ideals of

Indo Centric Reciprocity and Holistically Sustainable Design Thinking.

Responding to its geography, the building is composed of an organic freeform nestled between the hillside and lakeside. The architectural program leverages its location and proximity to the lake, and wraps into its location.  A freeform was adopted not only as a response to the geography but also to reflect the playfulness and relaxation that the environment will provide.

The curved planning is strategized to focus views within and outside the site. Keeping with the theme of one-with nature, the aqua blue shingles shimmers like the lake’s waters through the roofs’ clearstories, or heighten the visual experience by its shadow play and reflections under the roof overhangs, as if the Club is “floating in space”.

The Inspiration

The inspiration for the space comes from the form of the majestic peacock, which is the national bird of India. The design weaves in and out of the form of a fan, symbolized by a dancing peacock to achieve a carefully constructed connection to the natural environment.

Commitment to Sustainability

Swales are a feature that sit as part of the main lawns and offers an efficient ground water recharge system during the monsoon months.

Rain chains along the exterior corridors are proven and cost effective measures to convey rain water run–offs.

‘Fish scale’ aqua bands that are part of the façade is an architectural method of conveying rainwater to the ground.

Light is reflected from the ceilings by the tiles which create a blue reflection on the underside of the roof overlaps.

The day lighting in most spaces within the club have been maximized based on optimal orientation and site placement of the built form vis-a-vis the open landscape areas.

Materiality

The material palette employs a range of earthy architectural as well as rapidly renewable materials which ties the architecture very well into the natural environment it is set within.

Sporting Facilities

This building was awarded a Gold LEED Certification in 2016. It is now part of an exclusive group of buildings that match up to global standards of sustainability.

Project Overview

After speaking with both power users and novices on Clubhouse, the hottest new app on the social media scene, I uncovered some specific pain points with wayfinding and discoverability,

I embarked on a full redesign where I reimagined Clubhouse from the ground up with users and business goals in mind.

My comprehensive, systems-thinking approach in this project was featured in Prototype and Case Study Club.

User Research, UX/UI Design,

Prototyping, Usability Testing

Solo project

Disclaimer: I do not work for Clubhouse, and the views in this case study are strictly my own. As a budding designer, I acknowledge that my vision for this project may be overly ambitious and at times reliant on assumptions of business goals. In a perfect world, I'd be working alongside the Clubhouse team with direct access to these resources to guide my work. Until then, this case study is meant to be an exploratory learning experience on a product I deeply admire.

Project Details

It's difficult to understate the excitement around Clubhouse, the audio chat app where members can move around virtual rooms discussing topics ranging from culture to politics. Beyond its success with investors, Clubhouse has amassed a fiercely loyal user base, whose creativity has spanned from a 24-hour continuous room dedicated to new user onboarding to a live production of The Lion King. As an early beta user on the invite-only platform, I had the unique perspective of following the product's updates (and exponential success) in real-time, and sought to challenge myself with my most ambitious project yet: redesigning Silicon Valley's most exciting app in recent memory. No pressure. The high-level goals of this project were: ‍ • Improving discoverability within Clubhouse, allowing users to more easily find new rooms, people, and clubs to engage with • Creating a more seamless Hallway experience, where users can filter find the most relevant rooms to them

A Blue Ocean Strategy

Business Model: A Blue Ocean Strategy A survey of the current charitable donation landscape revealed there was considerable room for innovation. I found that charitable organization platforms fall into three main categories: • Siloed: each individual organization has its own web or mobile platform • Congregated: a large (read: overwhelming) resource of many organizations with high-level filter and search functionality • Crowdfunded: most often used as a buoy for systemic state failures Moreover, of the few micro-donation platforms on the market, none were focused on mutual aid, nor were exceptionally effective at facilitating discoverability of organizations or conveying the impact donations on the platform were having. By leveraging the power and impact of mutual aid organizations, the innovation and ease of micro-financing, and the simplicity of a service-fee-based revenue model, Be the Change is poised to be an empowering life-raft in a blue ocean of possibility in the charitable donation space.

Why focus on Mutual Aid?

After brainstorming with my mentor, I intentionally decided to focus on Mutual Aid Funds for this platform. In systems of mutual aid, communities take on the responsibility for caring for one another, rather than forcing individuals to fend for themselves, or for government assistance, which has unfortunately proved to be an unsustainable lifeline in desperate times of need. Rather than centralized organizations where one person is giving to another (effectively creating yet another dependent relationship negotiating access to material resources), mutual aid creates a symbiotic relationship, where all people offer material goods or assistance to one another. Mutual aid organizing is volunteer-run, transparent, and driven by the needs articulated by community members - all values my research found donors to charity highly regard. Put simply, allies want to make a meaningful impact where it's needed most, and mutual aid organizations are a noble and mighty vehicle to drive such impact. Be the Change is the marriage of these harmonious truths.

Simplifying a complex information hierarchy

One of the main considerations I had to take into account was the hierarchy of the main components users can interact within the app: • People (other users of the app) ‍ • Rooms (a virtual meeting place for audio conversations), and ‍ • Clubs (interest-based groups rooms can be hosted under) Beyond this, I had to consider how each of these components were connected, both interpersonally and through time: currently, a Clubhouse user's Hallway (home screen) shows live rooms connected to the people and clubs they follow (which I'll refer to throughout this case study as "in-network"). This makes it difficult for users to easily keep track of upcoming rooms in their network, as well as join new, out-of-network rooms. This became a major dichotomy throughout my work: I needed to find a balance between making each of these individual parts of Clubhouse easily discoverable while maintaining - and simplifying- the web that weaves them together.

A UX RESEARCHER’S DREAM

Another unique aspect of this project was the direct access beta users have to the Clubhouse founders every Sunday during Clubhouse Townhall, an open forum where they share the week's latest product updates, their upcoming roadmap, business goals, and top priorities, as well as user-submitted Q&As. Between Clubhouse Townhalls, recap rooms, and both official and community-run new member onboarding rooms, I spent on average 5 hours a week for 6 weeks gaining as many business insights and goals as I possibly could from my limited vantage point.

From these discussions, the overarching goals of the Clubhouse team are: • Making Clubhouse accessible for everyone: Paul always made it clear that the team's top priority was to scale Clubhouse as quickly as possible while not sacrificing quality • Putting creators first: another point Paul never understated was the team's prioritization of the platform's creators, building tools that would allow for creator monetization • Improving discoverability and suggested content: at the time of this project, Clubhouse was actively building out their topics directory and algorithms that would make finding relevant rooms progressively easier.

User Interviews

I spoke with Clubhouse users - both power users and more casual community members - to uncover friction points they currently had with the app's discovery experience. These interviews showed: • Keep it lightweight: most users preferred room discovery to be a spontaneous experience, not necessarily wanting to schedule upcoming rooms in their personal calendars • Cluttered Hallway: most users were confused by how the hallway was currently curated, and who of the people they followed were in any given room present • Hallway as a source of discovery: despite the cluttered hallway experience, most users still relied on the hallway to find new rooms, despite there being an existing (but not yet robust) "Explore" tab • Friends first: when deciding which rooms to join in the hallway, users unanimously wanted to see which of their friends were in any given room

Streamlining the discovery to hallway pipeline

I developed a simple yet powerful UI that makes wayfinding within your hallway and rooms easier,  and bringing rooms found through the discover page into your hallway a breeze. In order for this solution to feel cohesive and not siloed, I needed to implement a near-full redesign Clubhouse, broken up into 5 main experiences.

The Hallway

Users wanted their hallway experience to feel more intentional and within their control. To achieve this, I established a top-level hierarchy of: • Ongoing vs. upcoming, to allow users to not only see active rooms but get a quick overview of scheduled rooms within their network • Filters by topics of interest, selected by the user during onboarding, and • Sort rooms in your hallway by people vs clubs you follow

An additional UI decision was to only present people you follow within the rooms in your hallway. This would alleviate the current issue of ambiguity surrounding the names users currently see in the room cards in their hallways.

Room Preview

Currently in Clubhouse, clicking on a room in a hallway immediately drops you into that room's conversation.

Since identifying friends in any given room was a high decision factor for users joining a room, I wanted to design a way for users to see who they know inside before committing to join.

Currently, discovery in Clubhouse is siphoned: users go to the Explore tab to discover people and clubs by categories and keywords, and to the calendar tab to discover both active and upcoming rooms across all of Clubhouse.

Most users actually didn't use these tabs to achieve their primary goal of discovery, instead adopting workarounds such as: • discovering clubs through user profiles, • discovering people through rooms, and • discovering rooms primarily through their hallway, limiting the scope of content they were being exposed to.

While I designed UI solutions to make these workarounds more seamless, I wanted the discover page to be the go-to destination to accommodate for all these use cases, allowing users to search for people, clubs, and rooms by Clubhouse's growing topics directory, in addition to keywords. I also integrated an additional sort functionality to further facilitate discovery.

Users also wanted an easy, lightweight solution to discover and access out-of-network rooms. The ability to send a room from the discover feed to your hallway without committing to following that room's moderators, corresponding club, or scheduling in your personal calendar was the biggest challenge of this project, involving many iterations in order to feel intuitive.

Active Users

A close cousin to the hallway, your active users screen is where all your Clubhouse people and clubs that are currently online live. 83% of users interviewed mentioned scanning this screen to quickly identify what rooms their friends are in.

I added a much-requested search bar to further facilitate friend finding, as well as a sort drop-down menu to reach an even more important distinction: who's actively participating in a room vs. just listening in.

User and Club Profiles

87% of users discover suitable clubs to follow via user profiles directly. There exists a further hierarchy within clubs: followers (who receive notifications and see club-branded rooms in their hallway), and members (who, in addition to the above, can also start club-branded rooms themselves). In Clubhouse's current design, the clubs a user follows vs. clubs a user is a member of are in disparate locations: in the user's following list and at the bottom of their user profile, respectively. This was confusing to users wanting scan all the clubs associated with a particular person.

By making clubs associated with a user a consolidated metric, users visiting that profile can more easily see what clubs that person belongs to, and immediately follow without visiting a new screen. ‍ On the club level, being able to access metadata such as previously held rooms, upcoming rooms, and club admins can help a user get a more effective overview of the club.

A case for dark UI

In bringing all the pieces of this experience together, it became clear that adding too many visual elements would disrupt the visual hierarchy needed to move through the app with ease. Additionally, the typical user experience on Clubhouse is already so immersive and emotive, often spanning all hours of the night - I wanted to take advantage of this use case and implement an elegant UI that emphasized Clubhouse's few content types harmoniously.

How effective is findability and discoverability throughout the app?

After conducting my usability tests, I created an affinity map with insights, behaviors, and findings during the tests. Most users moved through the app with little to no missteps, but for many participants, there was one main point of friction that disrupted a key pillar of this redesign: • It was still unclear how to access a room you saved from the Discovery page to your Hallway.

Key screens

Lessons learned, and where we go from here

Going into this project, I knew this would be an ambitious challenge for a young designer. What I didn't know was just how intricate and all-encompassing that challenge would be. I learned that working on a highly publicized and highly beloved product comes with a lot of external pressure and internal emotions to do right by (seemingly) everyone: power users with fierce attachment to existing structures, new users who can't fully experience the nuance of an audio app as a static prototype, and the small but mighty Clubhouse team, who are actively iterating their product on a weekly basis, potentially launching imaginative solutions themselves for the same challenges I'm working on, or others I haven't even imagined yet. Against a constant stream of public conversation over an exciting product that felt almost ethereal, I'll humbly admit that there were times where this pressure got the best of me and I felt like a total imposture who bit off way more than she could ever chew. The biggest lessons this project taught me were the delicate balance between perseverance when faced with complex challenges, grace in the wake of perceived failure, and when to be okay with "good enough" (for this iteration, of course). In the end, I'm extremely proud of what I was able to accomplish with this project at this stage in my design journey, and often reminded myself of my favorite mantra that led me to product design in the first place: “All I wanted was a job like a book so good I'd be finishing it for the rest of my life.” Product design is that job for me, and I'm proud to say that while this project (and all my others) will never be fully finished, I breathed as much life into it as much as I could - I hope you enjoyed it!

MORE CASE STUDIES

• Case Study: Clubhouse, Sharanam Housing, Noida

Project Details:

• Project: Clubhouse for Sharanam Housing, GreatValue
• Location: Great Value Sharanam, Noida
• Client: S.A. Associates & Contracts Pvt Ltd
• Completion Date: Jan 2019
• Architect: Basics Architects
• Green Wall Consultant: Ecogreen Landscape Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.
• Materials used for creating the Greenery: ELT GlowGreen String System
• Total Green area: 77 Sq.Mt.

Project Overview:

The Architectural & Interior Design of the Clubhouse serves as a central anchor for the housing development for the residents. The visual impressions generate an interesting dialogue as well as provides sense of luxury to its users.

The evolution started with the strategic treatment of the west façade which needed protection from the harsh evening sun as well as provide an unhindered view of the pool. Screens were designed based on these two parameters using exterior grade wooden louvers and vertical greens. They were then alternated to create dynamism and movement in the facade. The vertical gardens add to the drama and softens the building elevations in contrast to the hard surfaces of the deck. The rhythmic interplay of the biophilic and wooden screens breaks the monotony of the large facade of the building.

Project Gallery:

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• Case Study: Novotel, Kolkata
• Case Study: Symphony Tech Park, Nanded city

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• Research article
• Open access
• Published: 01 October 2015

The contribution of case study design to supporting research on Clubhouse psychosocial rehabilitation

• Toby Raeburn 1 ,
• Virginia Schmied 1 ,
• Catherine Hungerford 2 &
• Michelle Cleary 1  

BMC Research Notes volume  8 , Article number:  521 ( 2015 ) Cite this article

4529 Accesses

2 Citations

Metrics details

Psychosocial Clubhouses provide recovery-focused psychosocial rehabilitation to people with serious mental illness at over 300 sites in more than 30 countries worldwide. To deliver the services involved, Clubhouses employ a complex mix of theory, programs and relationships, with this complexity presenting a number of challenges to those undertaking Clubhouse research. This paper provides an overview of the usefulness of case study designs for Clubhouse researchers; and suggests ways in which the evaluation of Clubhouse models can be facilitated.

The paper begins by providing a brief explanation of the Clubhouse model of psychosocial rehabilitation, and the need for ongoing evaluation of the services delivered. This explanation is followed by an introduction to case study design, with consideration given to the way in which case studies have been used in past Clubhouse research. It is posited that case study design provides a methodological framework that supports the analysis of either quantitative, qualitative or a mixture of both types of data to investigate complex phenomena in their everyday contexts, and thereby support the development of theory. As such, case study approaches to research are well suited to the Clubhouse environment. The paper concludes with recommendations for future Clubhouse researchers who choose to employ a case study design.

Conclusions

While the quality of case study research that explores Clubhouses has been variable in the past, if applied in a diligent manner, case study design has a valuable contribution to make in future Clubhouse research.

Established towards the end of the 1940′s, the Clubhouse model is one of the world’s oldest approaches to psychosocial rehabilitation [ 1 ]. Popular worldwide, there are currently over 300 Clubhouses operating in more than 30 countries [ 2 ]. People who attend Clubhouses typically have a history of serious mental illness and face a number of challenges, including those related to their physical health, social welfare and employment [ 3 ]. In response, Clubhouses provide a wide range of social, health, educational and employment support programs [ 2 ]. To encourage a sense of empowerment and belonging, participants in these programs are referred to as ‘members’ rather than ‘patients’ or ‘consumers’ [ 4 ].

Clubhouse members follow an activity schedule referred to as the ‘work ordered day’ [ 5 ], where they work alongside paid staff, often assuming lead roles and taking responsibility for all aspects involved in running the Clubhouse. By contributing in these proactive ways, members embrace opportunities to build confidence, friendships and skills, while also being encouraged to pursue educational and employment goals in the wider society [ 6 ]. Building on these activities, Clubhouse programs referred to as Transitional Employment Programs (TEP) are then tailored to support members who decide to seek work in the competitive job market [ 6 ].

Clubhouses have been at the forefront of advocacy for consumer centred, recovery-oriented practice [ 7 , 8 ]. Despite this, researching the complex nature of these services has proved challenging [ 9 , 10 ]. Clubhouse research is further complicated by the highly personalised and context-dependent ways that people experience mental health recovery [ 11 ]. Reflection on such challenges has led to long consideration of the research design that best supports the exploration and explanation of the way in which Clubhouses work to support recovery—that is, the ‘recovery orientation’ of the Clubhouse model [ 12 ]. One research method with the potential to provide a rigorous framework for exploring phenomena within organisations such as the Clubhouse is case study design [ 13 , 14 ].

Case study design typically uses multiple perspectives to facilitate the examination of a particular phenomenon in its natural context [ 15 , 16 ]. While this may sound similar to the goal of many qualitative research approaches, case study design is different because it can be flexibly adapted as a framework that incorporates either qualitative, quantitative or a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research approaches [ 13 ]. Case study design is also unconstrained by a particular theoretical approach, meaning it can be pragmatically informed by or used to build or critique any theory related to the phenomena in question [ 17 ].

According to Tight [ 18 ], publications on the topic of case study from the past decade have been dominated by the work of two leading theorists, Yin [ 16 ] and Stake [ 19 ]. Yin [ 16 ] divides case studies into two broad groups. First, those that focus on an individual case, involving detailed exploration of either a person or an organisation. These are referred to as a ‘single case study’. Second, those that involve investigation of a group of cases for comparison and contrast are referred to as ‘multiple case studies’. Yin then makes a further division, categorising each case study as either exploratory, descriptive or explanatory.

Exploratory case studies are commonly pilot projects that seek to reveal what phenomena or theory exists within a field of interest. For example, a researcher interested in how services assist people with mental illness to achieve recovery, may seek to discover if there are any guiding recovery principals used by mental health services. Such a study may uncover phenomena and/or theory that can then lead to further investigation.

In contrast, descriptive case studies begin with a theory about a phenomena, and then seek to chronicle how the phenomena is displayed through the lens of those theoretical assumptions. For example, a descriptive study may set out to elucidate how certain recovery principles are reflected in the practices of a Clubhouse. A risk with this type of case study is that the researcher may find that the theory brought to the project is not applicable which, in turn, may lead to the need for further exploratory work.

Finally, explanatory case studies seek to interpret why a particular phenomenon or theory has been revealed in the data. This approach is cited as being particularly useful in a multiple case study design, because pattern-matching can be used. For example, a study may seek to explain why work seems to be important to the rehabilitation of people with mental illness at three different Clubhouses located across a variety of cultural contexts [ 16 ].

For Stake [ 19 ], case study design is focused on the exploration of a case and refining or revealing related concepts. Stake [ 19 ] divides case studies into intrinsic, instrumental or collective designs. Intrinsic design is used when researchers have a particular interest in improving their understanding of a phenomenon. This method is described as being primarily aimed at exploring rather than understanding theoretical constructs. In contrast, instrumental design refers to those case studies that seek to elucidate phenomena and test or strengthen theory. With this approach, the case and its context are studied in depth to facilitate deep understanding of a concept. Finally, collective case studies include any study involving more than one case, similar to Yin’s [ 16 ] description of ‘multiple case design’.

Consideration of the explanations provided by Yin [ 16 ] and Stake [ 19 ] suggest that case study may be described as a flexible research design that may utilize either qualitative, quantitative or a mixture of both types of data, to illuminate, elucidate or interpret phenomena in their everyday context and support the development of theory. This definition is important in this paper because it provides a framework for considering case study design in relation to Clubhouse research. For example, while several studies have described people’s subjective experience of recovery in psychosocial Clubhouses [ 11 ], there has been limited research exploring the way Clubhouses implement recovery-oriented practices. In this paper we review how case study research has contributed to the field of Clubhouse psychosocial rehabilitation.

Initially, this paper was conceived as an integrative literature review that examined the published case studies that have contributed to Clubhouse research. An electronic literature search was conducted seeking to identify full text peer reviewed journal articles written in English and published between 1960 and January 2015. The papers were required to refer to themselves as a ‘case study’ or derivative, and to have a focus on a Clubhouse or Fountain House. The search term ‘Fountain House’ was included because, as the name of the original Clubhouse, this term is popular in Clubhouse related literature.

The search terms, “case stud*” AND “clubhouse” OR “fountain house” were combined across three databases, leading to initial identification of 41 papers from PsycINFO, 20 from CINAHL and 16 from Proquest Social Science Journals. Reference lists were checked for other relevant papers, then following article screening and removal of duplicates, five papers were identified as relevant to the review [ 20 – 24 ]. All based in North America, the five articles were all published more than a decade ago, with one published as early as 1960.

The quality of each paper was initially assessed by the Chief Investigator (TR), using the Critical Skills Appraisal Program (CASP) [ 25 ]. CASP posits there are three broad issues that should be considered when appraising qualitative research, these are;

Are study results valid?

What are the results?

Will the results help locally? [ 25 ]

A ten question, three point scale was used to assess for validity, results and relevance. CASP ratings and notes were reviewed by all authors. The assessment was problematic however, as the majority of papers identified had been published in an era when diligent approaches to case study research and reporting (such as ethics approval) were often not applied. The consensus view amongst the authors was that this small sample of case studies could not bear the scrutiny of modern analytical techniques as part of an integrative literature review. Despite this, the results did provide useful information regarding the use of case study design in Clubhouse research, including the advantages and disadvantages. In turn, this prompts a variety of considerations for researchers who may consider using case study design in Clubhouse settings in future, with these considerations outlined in the results and discussion section presented below.

Results and discussion

Advantages and disadvantages of case study design in clubhouse research.

In common with qualitative research approaches such as ethnography, an emphasis on studying phenomena in its natural context means case study design incorporates the perspectives of participants who may come from vulnerable and voiceless groups in society [ 26 ]. For this reason, case studies have often been used to provide a framework to critique oppression and question social norms [ 27 ]. This suggestion was exemplified in the earliest evidence of a published Clubhouse case study, a paper by Goertzel et al. [ 22 ] published in 1960 that described the original Clubhouse in New York City during its early development. Using multiple data sources, the paper provided a rich description of the theoretical orientation, history, facilities, staff, volunteers, membership and programs available [ 22 ]. The research is important because it was written in an era when society held stigmatizing attitudes towards people with serious mental illness, who often spent their lives in custodial psychiatric institutions [ 28 , 29 ]. The paper by Goertzel et al. [ 22 ] conveyed ideas ahead of its time regarding the importance of involving people with a lived experience of mental illness in the development and delivery of mental health services. This case study, then, provides evidence of the early role that Clubhouses played in advocating for recovery-oriented models of mental health care.

Another advantage of case study design is the way in which it can be flexibly adapted to incorporate a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods, as promoted by researchers such as Creswell [ 26 , 30 ]. An example of a mixed methods case study was conducted by Boll [ 20 ], who undertook a case study of a Clubhouse in New Jersey to explore the phenomena of empowerment among Clubhouse members involved in a service evaluation. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, including survey questionnaires, participant observation, and individual interviews, the study found that researching Clubhouse members within the regular Clubhouse environment led to benefits such as enhanced engagement with new members and improved program quality [ 20 ].

A final advantage of undertaking case study research relates to the way in which it can support the testing of connections between theory and phenomena [ 31 ]. This characteristic was demonstrated in a Clubhouse case study conducted by Cowell et al. [ 24 ]. The study explored the concept of ‘function cost’, a theory designed to explain the financial cost to services that utilize co-production, where consumers are involved in both delivery and receipt of services. The boundaries in the study were difficult to ascertain because Clubhouse members were involved in the provision of tasks normally delivered by paid staff in hospital-based services. The researchers addressed this dilemma pragmatically by using two standardised research scales to collect separate financial data about costs associated with paid staff and voluntary labour invested in activities. Results from the study suggested that the concept of ‘function cost’ may provide a way to explain the financial costs of Clubhouse programs utilising co-production practices [ 24 ].

As is evident from the above examples drawn from Clubhouse research, there is no standardised way to apply case study design. Instead, this flexible approach offers researchers the opportunity to select from a variety of methods and data collection techniques to ensure a ‘best fit’ for the case in question. As with any style of research however, case study design also has some disadvantages.

One of the most commonly cited disadvantages of case studies is that findings can lack generalizability [ 15 , 16 ]. This suggestion, along with arguments that case studies lack scientific credibility because replication is difficult, has led to research regulators such as Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) [ 32 ] ranking case study as the lowest form of credible research design. Following scientific convention, the NHMRC [ 32 ] has ranked the quality of the designs of research, with some designs posited as producing more rigorous evidence than other research designs. For example when evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention, a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) is regarded as providing the most reliable evidence [ 33 ].

The NHMRC [ 32 ] suggests that the processes integral to RCTs minimize the risk of confounding factors and highlight that internal validity is generally stronger in randomized control trials. However external validity can be stronger in multiple case study designs, and can be weak in randomized control trials. Such weaknesses in RCT design have been exposed in a number of systematic reviews and secondary analyses. For example, Hunt, Siegfried, Morley, Sitharthan and Cleary [ 34 ] completed a Cochrane review of psychosocial interventions for people with serious mental illness examining 32 RCTs. Contrary to the view that RCTs provide a rigorous, dependable research design, the authors reported substantial difficulties with skewed data, risk of bias, poor trial methods, small sample sizes, low event rates and wide confidence intervals [ 34 ]. In another example related to Clubhouse employment programs, Johnsen et al. [ 35 ] conducted a secondary analysis of a multisite RCT and found that a limited definition of ‘competitive employment’ and variability in ‘control’ conditions, across sites, led to skewed findings. Johnsen et al. [ 35 , 36 ] together with other researchers, have gone on to observe that these kinds of variation in definition and control conditions in RCTs have led to substantial inconsistencies in research of employment services for people with serious mental illness.

Responding to criticism of case study design, theorists such as Yin [ 16 ] have suggested that generalisation of findings from case studies should focus on assessing the efficacy of theoretical constructs, rather than on the transferability of statistics. As mentioned previously, such a focus on theoretical concepts was exemplified in a case study by Cowell et al. [ 24 ], which explored the usefulness of the ‘function cost’ concept. Stake [ 19 ] has also argued that case study findings can be transferable, but from a different point of view. He suggests that readers can normally relate to the findings of case studies, which facilitate a kind of generalised understanding of phenomena [ 19 ]. For example, Jacobs used a case study design to provide an illuminating description of the challenges associated with improving access to psychiatry for members at a Clubhouse [ 23 ].

In contrast to his strong advocacy for the efficacy of case study design, one disadvantage observed by Yin [ 37 ] is that case study researchers can lack discipline, sometimes allowing detailed description and illustrative quotes to dominate findings. According to Yin, this is often at the expense of detailed accounts of research design procedures such as ethics, data collection and analytic procedures. An interesting technical point consistent across the five papers identified in this review was the lack of clarity regarding ethics and consent [ 20 – 24 ]. For example, Asmussen et al. [ 21 ] completed an interesting case study of a Clubhouse outreach program for homeless people, but failed to include any reference to ethical considerations.

In an effort to promote quality case study research, theorists such as Feagin [ 38 ], Yin [ 16 ] and Stake [ 39 ] have sought to develop protocols and structures for applying case studies. The following section will outline some considerations for effective application of case study design in future Clubhouse research.

Considerations for conducting case studies in Clubhouse settings

Assuming that a research question has been identified and that the researchers’ choice of case study design is driven by a desire to explore a phenomenon in depth in its everyday context, the next logical step is to identify whether the case best fits a single or multiple case design [ 16 ]. Single-case design may be a suitable choice if the case displays particular uniqueness—for example, a study into the unique cultural experience of needing to ‘save face’ experienced by members of a Hong Kong Clubhouse [ 40 ]; or the development of an innovative program integrating a psychiatry clinic into a Clubhouse [ 41 ]. A single case approach may also be useful for a study that has limited time and access to resources, such as a student undertaking higher degree studies that involve a research project. It is important at the outset that the researcher is clear about how findings will be analysed, and compared to or tested against a theoretical paradigm [ 19 ].

Alternatively, multiple-case design may work well in situations where there are several similar cases that can provide pathways for replication and comparison [ 39 ]. Replicating a case study in this way would then present the opportunity for pattern-matching, a technique that links several pieces of information from the same case to a theoretical proposition, thereby enhancing the rigour of findings and generalizability of theory [ 42 ]. For example, research providing theoretical observations about the Clubhouse’s supported employment programs might be strengthened by using a multiple case study design that includes Clubhouses of different sizes across a variety of cultures. This could then potentially enable generalisation of findings to the Clubhouse model as a whole.

Following the identification of whether a single or multiple case study is best suited to a research question, Yin [ 16 ] contends that a structured approach to design should be taken to ensure quality and exploratory power in case study research. He suggests that case study design should include:

An overview of the case study project citing objectives, issues and background.

Written field procedures describing research location and access to data.

Identification of research questions to be focused on during data collection.

A reporting guide outlining a general format for the report.

By employing such points as a guide, then, researchers will support consistency across case study research undertaken in a Clubhouse context.

Common data sources include but are not limited to, documentation, archival records, interviews, direct observation, participant observation and physical objects [ 16 ]. While no individual source should be considered better than another, the rationale for using several sources of data is the triangulation of evidence. Triangulation provides checks and balances for the reliability of data collection [ 43 ]. For example, data drawn from participant observation and interviews could be used to corroborate the meaning and application of data revealed through review of a Clubhouse’s documentation.

Conducting research in any service for people living with mental illness requires special sensitivity [ 44 ]. To encourage empowerment and guard against any potential harm to participants the Clubhouse model has a strong commitment to the co-production of research with members regularly encouraged to ask questions and share points of view [ 45 ]. With this in mind, a collaborative approach should be planned, actioned and reflected upon when conducting any Clubhouse case study.

A further consideration is promoting quality mental health research. People with serious mental illness often experience stigma and marginalization, and so it is important that research does not perpetuate this [ 44 ]. Developing a strong evidence base is crucial however, and within fields of mental health research there is robust debate regarding the merits and weaknesses of the different research paradigms [ 44 ]. Regardless of what approach is taken, consumers must be positioned at the centre of any mental health research—and genuine consultation with stakeholders is essential, including respectful processes, as well as ethical behaviours and practices, to ensure that research contributes to the nature, quality and the validity of the data gained [ 46 ].

Evaluation of case study designs may be conducted in a number of ways. As mentioned previously, the CASP [ 25 ] provides a ten point tool for systematic consideration of study design, results, validity and relevance. Alternatively, Popay’s [ 47 ] method of appraisal places a high value on studies that validate the expertise of consumers of healthcare and the theoretical generalizability of findings. Using this appraisal method, the research is rated as ‘thin’ if there is little consideration of consumer insights, limited explanation, and low relevance for generalization. On the other hand, studies are considered ‘thick’ if they lend weight to consumer descriptions, including detailed description of phenomena; and show potential for generalizability [ 48 ]. Much of the data found in older Clubhouse research, struggles to find relevance when tools like CASP [ 25 ] and Popay’s [ 47 ] approach are applied. While this does not diminish the value of early research, as the Clubhouse model continues to evolve, appraisal tools may provide substantial benefit for evaluating and improving the quality of modern Clubhouse case studies.

Psychosocial Clubhouses serve some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in society. The Clubhouse model has become an internationally regarded provider of consumer-centred recovery-focused psychosocial rehabilitation [ 7 , 11 , 49 ]. With these considerations in mind, there is high need for research designs capable of exploring and describing how Clubhouses implement recovery practices.

This paper has identified case study design as a flexible research design that may utilize either qualitative, quantitative or a mixture of both types of data, to illuminate, elucidate or interpret phenomena in their everyday context and support the development of theory. As health science continues to evolve, case study design can provide a flexible framework for exploring the complex challenges presented by multidimensional mental health services like Clubhouses. Case study design enables consumers to play a central role in the development, implementation, analysis and synthesis of research. It also supports the conduct of genuine consultation with stakeholders, including respectful processes, ethical behaviours and practices to ensure the quality and validity of data gained.

Abbreviations

Critical Skills Appraisal Program

Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council

randomised controlled trial

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Raeburn, T., Schmied, V., Hungerford, C. et al. The contribution of case study design to supporting research on Clubhouse psychosocial rehabilitation. BMC Res Notes 8 , 521 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-015-1521-1

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