ICP Home > Climbing Walls > Schools & Colleges

ICP Climbing Walls For Schools

As a company that wants to see climbing promoted across all ages and abilities, we are really keen to get kids into indoor climbing. It’s fun and safe, plus a great way to burn off excess energy and compete amongst friends. School climbing walls are becoming a popular option for education campuses, not only because of increased affordability as construction techniques improve, but also due to more customization possibilities. For years we have been involved with building and designing walls for primary, middle and secondary schools, colleges, universities and school campgrounds.

5 Things to Consider When Building a School Climbing Wall

1. Wall Location

One of the biggest considerations is where will the wall go? In a corner or along a wall, front and centre or somewhere discrete? All climbing walls need 2 metres of space in all directions for adequate safety matting. How will the wall impact other areas and activities? If it is a shared space (like beside ball sports), netting can be implemented.

2. Building Wall & Roof Strength

Is the structure strong enough to support a climbing wall? Occasionally we need to strengthen walls with extra steel framing and anchor points. Roofs sometimes need extra steel beams to handle the increased weight. Occasionally neither the roof or walls are useable for supporting extra structures so the climbing wall has to be free-standing – which means connected to the floor only.

3. Useable Space

How the wall will be used goes a long way to determining what type of wall is required. How many routes to the top (holds are expertly placed by Route Setters). While some colleges want modern auto-belays, some schools prefer the manual belay system to help with team building exercises. For areas low on space and supervision, a traversing or bouldering wall maybe the way to go. If matting is required, we make the safest climbing mats in the industry plus design and integrate them to work with walkways and common areas.

4. Flooring Modifications

Parts of the sub floor will need to be worked on and anchored into. It is surprising how often this gets overlooked. For example, when building a school climbing wall on the bespoke timber floor next to the basketball court, it will result in parts of the beautiful flooring needing to be modified.

5. Timeframes

Planning and approvals through school committees can sometimes take months or even longer. Timelines need to be well thought out and realistic. We work with you to present accurate timeframes and project milestones to keep the project moving while keeping all parties informed of progress.

Notes For Existing School Walls

As Australian Standards for climbing walls are updated frequently, schools with older climbing walls need to be aware that they could potentially no longer be Standards compliant. Matting needs be at least 2 metres away from the the walls furthest points and the area needs to be free from fall hazards. Existing school walls that have any modifications done will then need to comply with the current set of Australian Standards.