{"id":180969,"date":"2025-06-13T11:36:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T11:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/180969\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T11:36:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T11:36:14","slug":"empty-bristol-city-centre-wilko-will-be-transformed-into-huge-new-attraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/180969\/","title":{"rendered":"Empty Bristol city centre Wilko will be transformed into huge new attraction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The &#8216;state-of-the-art&#8217; venue will also have a caf\u00e9<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Wilko-In-Union-Street-Bristol.jpg\" alt=\"The Wilko store on Union Street, Bristol before its closure\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>The Wilko store on Union Street, Bristol before its closure(Image: Google Maps)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The former Wilko store in Bristol city centre is set to be transformed into a huge indoor climbing centre. The 25,000 sq ft unit on Union Street has been empty since the retailer closed its doors in October 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">It has now been let to The Climbing Hangar to be &#8220;repurposed into a state-of-the-art indoor climbing facility&#8221; with bouldering facilities, coaching and a caf\u00e9\/social space for events.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">On its website, the firm has announced a &#8220;next-level bouldering gym&#8221; coming soon to Bristol, saying: &#8220;Climbers in Briz have a lot to get excited about.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">It said the new venue would have two floors of bouldering with more than 300 climbs across different grades of difficulty. There will also be a 50 degree Kilter Board, 40 degree Tension Board, strength training gym and caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The first Climbing Hangar opened in a warehouse in Liverpool in 2011. It now has ten sites across the UK including in Exeter, Plymouth, Sheffield and Swansea.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_LH_BL_130625TheClimbingHangar.jpg\" alt=\"The Climbing Hangar is set to open inside the former Wilko store on Union Street, Bristol city centre\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>The Climbing Hangar is set to open inside the former Wilko store on Union Street, Bristol city centre(Image: Hartnell Taylor Cook)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The Bristol deal was brokered by commercial property consultancy Hartnell Taylor Cook on behalf of landlord AEW.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Richard Saunders, partner at Hartnell Taylor Cook, said: &#8220;We are delighted to have secured The Climbing Hangar for this significant city centre site.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;This deal reflects the ongoing shift in large retail spaces towards experience-led occupiers and The Climbing Hangar will be a fantastic addition to Bristol, bringing fresh energy and activity to the area.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The new indoor climbing venue is scheduled to open in late summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The &#8216;state-of-the-art&#8217; venue will also have a caf\u00e9The Wilko store on Union Street, Bristol before its closure(Image: Google&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,799,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-180969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-centre","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114675855146582626","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}