Lasham
Gliding Club

Lasham Gliding Society (LGS) is the UK’s largest gliding society and internationally significant. The newly refurbished and extended Clubhouse at Lasham Airfield is the primary destination for the society’s members, team and visitors to gather to enjoy socialising, training and working together.

LGS’s former clubhouse at Lasham Airfield, a dated and low-quality 1960s single storey building, was significantly damaged in a fire in September 2021. The closure of the former clubhouse was largely disruptive, but also presented the society with a unique opportunity to build back more modern, higher-quality facilities, partly funded through insurance.

Snug was commissioned to design this new facility. The newly refurbished and extended clubhouse is a light, open and inclusive environment, designed through 4 key moves:

1. Legibility upon arrival has been improved by replacing the west lobby with a new defined north entrance & dormer.

1. The internal layout has been rationalised, defined and expressed by the existing 6.1m structural grid.

1. A ‘floating plane’ canopy spans beyond the width of building, providing significant functional and aesthetic improvements.

1. A cafe & bar extension inhabits the canopy, improving aspect to the airfield and connection with the external terrace.

The south canopy rises gently to the south and extends beyond the building in the east and west directions. The slim, elevated plane visually suspends above a glazed extension to the main cafe area and reflects the elegance and aerodynamics of gliding.

The former clubhouse had low windows with limited visual connection to the runway. The new clubhouse opens up aspect to the runway to the south. Building users can now enjoy fantastic views of gliders taking flight from the runway, over a coffee or lunch. This is one of the joys of the new clubhouse.