Denargo Market Rhino
Denver, Colorado
Specs: In June 2025, the Denargo Market project unveiled Rhingo the Rhino, an interactive, climbable sculpture constructed in a revitalized, 17-acre section of Denver’s River North Art District. The downtown destination, which the Denargo Market website states “is renowned for its creative culture, food, and nightlife scene,” will offer four acres of public space, blending “office, retail, hospitality, and mixed-income residential with new connections to the river and the city.” While the Rhino is open for climbing, the rest of the marketplace is a work in progress and expected to be completed in the next decade.
The Denargo Market project was led by developers Golub & Company and FORMATIV, with additional infrastructure and public realm design help from Sasaki, Martin & Martin, Junoworks and Eldorado Climbing (Eldo). Over two years ago, Colorado-based Eldo received an RFP from Sasaki, the international architecture and design firm that devised the concept of the Rhino. “[Sasaki] thought it would be a cool way to activate the Denargo Market Project,” combining urban, wild and industrial elements, explained Kevin Volz, CEO of Eldo Walls. “Art meets climbing in a public space. It’s awesome.”
Constructing the Rhino required frequent communication and collaboration between Eldo and Junoworks, a Commerce City, Colorado-based metal fabricator. Eldo specified steel placement and safety requirements for climbing panel installation, while Junoworks brought the requisite ideas and experience needed for constructing non-climbable art installations. A total of 22,000 pounds of steel went into completing the 30-foot sculpture. According to the Denargo Market website, Rhingo features built-in play elements and integrated lighting, and it’s surrounded by birdhouses. Cushioned by pour-in-place rubber, the Rhino features 1,500 square feet of Eldo climbing panels, which max out at 16 feet 10 inches. To withstand the Colorado elements, the team at Eldo used weather-resistant materials for the panels, installed stainless steel t-nuts, and coated the walls with a UV-protective layer to prevent sun bleaching.
The Eldo routesetters set routes on the rhino up to the maximum t-nut height of 11 feet 6 inches. The boulders were set mainly for beginners, with about 80% to 85% of the problems falling in the V0-V4 range. On the completely horizontal belly of the rhino, there are several routes graded V6 and V7. “This is going to be a playground, it’s going to be a park. So, we wanted to make sure that it was accessible to anybody who showed up, [including] non-climbers, but also if climbers are going to show up, we want to have some interest there as well,” explained Volz. Some bouldering problems have larger feet, for example, so visitors can climb in street shoes. “Could you climb it in sandals? Yeah, probably. [It’s] not recommended, but yes, there are some routes for that,” he shared. The boulders are ungraded, untagged and monochrome, and they were set with Rock Candy, Trango and So iLL holds. The holds were coated with a UV-protective layer as well, which was designed to prevent fading without affecting the texture. Volz said Eldo is expecting to reset the wall around two to four times a year, but the specifics are still being discussed with the city park.
Walls: Eldorado Climbing
Flooring: Contractor
Website: denargomarket.com/the-rhino/
Instagram: @DenargoMarket
In Their Words: “We can activate the space year-round and make it a cool place to hang out, [with] food trucks, music, events, and basically not have it just be these new apartment buildings. All these people are going to be living here. And they have a place to play that’s right here and hang out. So, I think that’s the lasting impact, is you have this iconic structure that you can play on, something that can provide entertainment for the community for years.” – Kevin Volz, CEO of Eldorado Climbing
