Project details

Employer

Maro Developments Limited (to Planning RIBA Stage 3)
Brooks & Wood Limited (Warehouse Construction)
Clip N Climb Ipswich Limited (fitting out)

Project

Erection of a new Warehouse Building
Fitting out as an Indoor Climbing Centre

Capital Value

Warehouse £1.5m
Fitting out £1.3m

Contract

JCT Design & Build 2016

Contractor

Brooks & Wood Limited

Completion

June 2019

Project Partners

Cost Consultants: Castons Surveyors
Project Management: Castons Surveyors
Planning Supervisor/CDM: CCAS
Structural Engineer: Hayden Evans
M&E Engineers: JSH Consulting Engineers

Summary

Clip N Climb is an international franchise which operates ‘fun climbing centres’ aimed at young people aged from 5 years to late teens providing family leisure activity as well as an introduction to climbing as a sport.

The brand usually operates from existing warehouses but as none was available in the Ipswich area the franchisee commissioned a new building which not only provides an ideal facility for climbing activities but also satisfies all the institutional funding requirements for warehousing.

The building is fitted out as a Climbing Hall with colourful specialist climbing apparatus and safety harnesses clipped onto inertia reels. These give a soft landing if a climber slips and falls (hence ‘Clip N Climb’). As well as the Climbing Hall there are training facilities, a gaming arcade, and a Paddy & Scott’s coffee/bistro.

The Clip N Climb centre opened in July 2019 and has proved to be a great success with the public. Local schools and other organisations also enjoy the facilities and are given concessionary rates.

Clip N Climb operates over 60 centres in the United Kingdom and the Ipswich centre is the largest in Europe.

We were initially appointed by the developers of Ransomes Europark, Maro Developments Limited, to obtain planning permission for the warehouse as a climbing centre. We then developed the design for the fitting-out as a direct appointment with Clip N Climb Ipswich Limited.

In practice this complicated route for delivery worked well with overall project management provided by Castons Surveyors