ROX Climbing Gym at Lake Nona Performance Club
Orlando, Florida
Specs: ROX Climbing Gym is the indoor climbing portion of the Lake Nona Performance Club in Orlando, Florida. “Lake Nona is an active community that is continuing to grow,” Molly Smeltzer, the Director of Operations at the club, stated. “The market and the location were perfect…Lake Nona Performance Club’s mission is to provide health and wellness to anyone at any level, and when determining the comprehensive programs, we knew that including a climbing wall would expand fitness offerings to families, college students, beginner and advanced climbers.”
The club opened in August 2021, and the design of the entire facility—including the climbing space—was led by Denver-based OLC Designs. OLC has worked on climbing facilities in the past—such as Übergrippen Denver—and for the climbing area’s design the company collaborated with Jerad Wells, Director of International Sales & Business Development at Eldorado Climbing, another Colorado brand.
According to Hervey Lavoie, Senior Principal of OLC, one aspect the design team focused on was making the climbing walls stand out to passersby. “We couldn’t hide it away in the back corridors of a club; it needed to showcase itself to people outside the building as well as people in the building,” Lavoie said. Also important was designing the climbing area to be a separate, standalone climbing gym within the club—something less common for recreation centers in the U.S., where there may be only a small wall or single tower. “Contrary to a lot of our other projects over the years, this climbing facility needed to be more than just a cool looking thing in the lobby that nobody used. It needed to be positioned so it could be utilized by a large population of users, and that it could be developed/designed to have sustainable appeal to that market,” said Lavoie. “We knew that we needed to have a substantial area for [the climbing walls], that it had to be more than just a single spire,” he added.
The completed ROX Climbing Gym covers 7,500 square feet of floor space and comprises the bulk of a two-story lobby in a three-story building, with 13’6” boulders, 42-foot lead walls, top rope climbing, and auto belays. Lavoie said the wall was designed to be a “vertical canvas of a variety of holds designed to challenge the climber and…be used by the full range of climbers, from beginners to experts.” Club members can access the climbing via a climbing wall add-on, or individuals can purchase climbing-only memberships. Classes at the gym cover belaying, bouldering and lead climbing, as well as advanced movement and technique. ROX also hosts youth training programs, college student nights, competitions, and bouldering leagues.
Architect: OLC Designs
Walls: Eldorado Climbing
Flooring: Eldorado Climbing
CRM Software: RGP and Club Automation
Website: lakenonaperformanceclub.com/program/rox-climbing-gym/
Instagram: @RoxClimbingGym
In Their Words: “Define who your target audience will be and plan accordingly. If you’re focused on members of the recreation center only, come up with how climbing integrates with the rest of the center. This will inform how large of a space you may need. If you are planning on attracting people outside of the recreation center, plan to make yourself available for them by looking at climbing wall trends in open hours, rates, possible separate entrances, room for specific training for climbers, and a separate birthday/special event/team training area.” – Molly Smeltzer, Director of Operations at Lake Nona Performance Club
Naomi is a personal trainer and a routesetter who has also worked at climbing gyms as a youth team coach. After starting college at Colorado State University in 2017, she wanted to make new friends and found climbing, fell in love, and now climbing dictates most of what she does. Naomi earned a bachelor’s degree in Ecosystem Science & Sustainability, and when not climbing she enjoys baking, gardening and crafting.
