Brooklyn Boulders is expanding its climbing gym operations to Somerville, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. With this addition BKB seeks to redefine climbing gyms with an unusual blend of climbing, retail and community spaces all under one roof.
The gym sits 7 min. from the subway and boasts 25,000 sq feet of climbing built by Vertical Solutions. The gym also has yoga and flex studio, and dry saunas. But what Lance Pinn, manager of Somerville says the “best amenities are the wall design and layout of the facility itself. The place looks like Frank Gehry made it!
Head Setter Phil Schaal will lead 5 full time setters through their paces as they turn over routes and problems every 6 weeks. But what really will separate BKB from the Boston competition is, “the little things; the time we take, the commitment to excellence, the attention to detail, and the desire to innovate. BKB realizes that we only exist by the grace of the communities that we hope to inspire with the facilities we design to service their inherent climbing needs. ” Said Lance Pinn.
Climberism reports:
The climbing gym standard is rising, and jumping on the revamped-gym bandwagon is Brooklyn Boulders. The premiere bouldering facility of New York is opening up at monstrous 38,000 square foot second location in Somerville, Massachusetts in early summer, which begs the question “So what? It’s just another climbing gym.”
Au contraire my dear friends, au contraire.
Try: climbing gym with the amenities of a yoga studio, a sauna, several multifunctional spaces for local artists and food vendors, as well as space for outdoor gear retailers to set up shop, with the gym rotating brands every three months. This coupled with the fact that you’ll be able to watch T-Swift and Ondra’s new video in high speed while you’re warmed by a fire in the glass encased climber’s lounge is sure to attract a lot of rock nerds in the Cambridge area.
Outside Magazine reports:
The space, a former forgery that boasts a monstrous 38,000-square-foot floor plan, is strategically located close to Cambridge, Boston’s hotbed of entrepreneurialism and start-up culture. It is precisely this energy that the new gym is hoping to capture and turn into a collaboration between artists, community groups and start-ups, with unique amenities including meeting rooms on top of the gym’s showpiece 22’ by 140’ bouldering wall.
Boston Magazine reports:
“We are not holding back on anything—the bouldering is going to be absolutely world class. [This facility] has been designed by climbers, for climbers,” says Balboni of the new location. “We all took a pretty active and in-depth role when it came to the design of these walls, with an eye for making sure they stay interesting for years and years to come. When doing something like this, you want to make sure you are designing something so people are having fun in 20 years down the line.”
View BKB Somerville’s promo video:
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