Bloc’UP Roquevaire
Roquevaire, France
Specs: BlocUP Roquevaire opened on June 12th in Roquevaire, France, and is a family-owned business. Founded by Thiebald Thomas and his father, Pascal Thomas, Bloc’UP developed out of Thiebald’s passion for climbing, which first started at age four. Thiebald said his academically “winding route” paved a path to launching the facility. “I did a first year of economics and management at university, then moved across to sports studies, and finally ended up at business school, which is where I am now,” he said. But even as a child, Thiebald knew he wanted to work in climbing, and launching Bloc’Up brought all those pieces together.
According to Thiebald, bouldering has grown a lot in France over the past few years, which he said contributed to “more demand around here than there was space” for climbing gyms. Specifically, he said the Huveaune Valley, which houses the Roquevaire commune, “didn’t have a bouldering gym, so people were driving to Aubagne or Marseille” to boulder indoors, between 15 and 30 minutes away. The building was also available at the right time for the Thomases, which was a coincidence, Thiebald noted, because “the landlord was the same one who owned the gym I was working in, and my father knew him separately through his own work. He was developing these units and looking for tenants, so he invited us over to have a look.”
Thiebald said he “had a fairly precise idea of what I wanted a gym to feel like—less intimidating, more of a local club than a fitness center.” The chosen site is a new build and was still under construction when Bloc’UP took it on, which allowed the team to design the gym as desired. “Everything is new, and coming in at that stage meant we could have the shell adapted to what we needed rather than working around what was already there,” he added.
The bigger idea behind the facility was to “bring back the sensations you get on real rock,” he added, “which is why part of our walls is built as rock imitation, so you’re [mimicking] texture and friction.” While the rock-realistic concept has a long history in the industry, Thiebald described seeing how it will play out at Bloc’UP as “still something of an experiment” that the team is testing, as they “[learn] from how people climb on it.” In addition to the imitation-rock zone, there is a variety of classic terrain throughout the space, totaling 300 square meters (3,229 square feet) of bouldering surface altogether on walls reaching 4.5 meters (14.8 feet). Other offerings inside the 330-square-meter (3,552-square-foot) facility are a calisthenics station and upstairs training area, and the team plans to install an outdoor bouldering area.
Walls: EP Climbing
Flooring: EP Climbing
CRM Software: Activiteez
Website: www.bloc-up.com
Instagram: @BlocUP_
In Their Words: “Allow more time than you think for the paperwork. In France, the admin side, classification, fire safety [and] accessibility took us longer than the build itself, and it’s completely invisible to customers. And if you can, work in a gym before opening one. Three years on the floor taught me things about how a gym actually runs that no business plan would have. That said, if you want to do it, go for it. Whatever the risks. It’s an incredible human adventure, and I’ve been lucky enough to get to do it at twenty-three years old. However, it turns out I’ll have enjoyed myself doing it, and honestly that’s the main thing.” – Thiebald Thomas, Founder and Manager of Bloc’UP Roquevaire
