REPURPOSED INDUSTRIAL BUILDING SET TO REACH NEW HEIGHTS

A large former industrial building on a Norwich industrial estate is set to become a climbing centre – part of an increasing trend of such buildings being repurposed for leisure use.

Norfolk-based property services firm Arnolds Keys has brokered a deal which will see the Highball Climbing Centre move from its current north Norwich base into a refurbished 28,500 sq ft building on the Whiffler Road Industrial Estate, close to the High Altitude Trampoline Park, for which Arnolds Keys also brokered the lease.

“This is a very significant deal which reinforces a trend which we have seen for leisure businesses to repurpose former industrial buildings,” said Guy Gowing, senior partner at Arnolds Keys, which has let the building on behalf of its owner, a London-based property company.

“With an interior height of up to 6.8 metres, we recognised the potential of this building beyond its former industrial use, and worked proactively to find an occupier which would make the most of its potential.

“This is the second such deal which we have completed on the Whiffler Road Industrial Estate, and more widely across Norwich we are seeing leisure and experiential businesses moving into premises which have formerly been used for industrial and indeed retail purposes – as we have seen in Castle Quarter, for example.

“Buildings such as these allow growing businesses such as Highball Climbing Centre to expand significantly, bringing new jobs and larger leisure facilities for the local community.”

Mike Surtees, managing director of Highball Climbing Centre, added, “We are thrilled to finally have the keys to Unit 7, 5 Whiffler Road and have already started work on site.

“We had been looking for a new building for over five years and this new location ticked all the boxes in terms of size, location, transport links, and parking.  We are currently based on Fifers Lane, but after almost 13 years of trading, our existing facilities were becoming tired and the industry has moved on so much since 2012.

“We are going to miss the OG Highball, but we're excited to be able to take what we've learned over the last decade and build a bigger and more modern indoor climbing centre for the people of Norwich and Norfolk."