Steel up for Olympic-level climbing centre

Oldham town centre is the location for a new Olympic-level climbing centre, being built by The Stoller Charitable Trust.

Climbing is one of the world’s fastest growing sports and it will debut at the next Olympic Games.

The steel-framed 1,850m² centre in Oldham is being constructed on a sloping site and its design has incorporated the gradient to form a structure with three levels.

As well as the entrance, the upper ground level will accommodate bouldering, a soft play area, two ‘ValoClimb’ walls that use interactive gaming technology, together with changing rooms and a café, overlooking the activity zones. The clip ‘n’ climb, which will be the tallest and biggest in the North of England, is located on the mid-level mezzanine, while the main climbing walls – used for speed climbing and lead climbing – are on the lower ground level taking advantage
of the structure’s full 18m height.

Leach Structural Steelwork has erected 170t of structural steelwork for the project, which is due to open in August.