Climbing Gym Floor Planning Tool
Sketch your building, mark your climbing walls, and your matting quickly and easily. The first step in planning your climbing gym, free to use, no sign-up required.
Plan Your Climbing Gym and Budget From the Start
You dont realise just how much of your floor plan will get eaten up by climbing walls and matting, which is why we created this simple free tool.
It will give you a rough first draft of the building youre looking at, completely free. You can draw your outline, mark walls, and see a calculation of how much climbing wall and matting allocation you can realistically have. It's a better first step than guessing.
Once you've got a property you're happy with, get a second set of eyes before spending anything. Chompers offers a free consultation where we learn about your goals, your space, and your requirements and we'll let you know your next best steps.
Climbing Gym Floor Plan Planner
Sketch your building's footprint, mark which walls will hold climbing terrain, drop in any freestanding climbing structures, and see matting laid out automatically underneath.
Tip: press Esc at any time to cancel whatever you're currently in the middle of drawing (an in-progress climbing span, island, or calibration).
How to use it: optionally start by uploading a reference photo or scanned plan above — use Calibrate scale to click two points you know the real distance between and enter that distance, and Move image to reposition it, then trace over it with the tools below (it's a rough visual guide only; photos taken at an angle won't be pixel-accurate). Start in Draw Floor Plan mode and click each corner of your building's footprint, then click near your starting point to finish the outline. Switch to Draw Climbing Walls and click a start point on a wall, then click an end point — on that same wall, or on a different wall to wrap the span around a corner and cover any walls in between — to mark that span as climbing terrain (it doesn't have to be the whole wall) — click an existing orange span again to remove it. Use Add Island Structure to draw a climbing structure (clicks outside your building outline are ignored once it's closed): click each corner, then either close it near your starting point as a standalone freestanding island (matting on its outside face only, not inside the structure), or click on a perimeter wall to finish it as a peninsula attached to that wall — this only works if you also started the shape on a wall, and means that wall doesn't need a separate climbing-wall marking where the peninsula meets it. Click the small × at an island's centre to delete it. Use Add Door to click a point along a perimeter wall and mark an entrance — it's shown as a break in the wall with a door-swing arc; click an existing door marker again to remove it. Matting is drawn automatically along every climbing wall span and island edge using the fall-zone depth selected above, wrapped around each corner and end point so it reads as one continuous mat rather than separate overlapping pieces — overlapping coverage is not double-counted, matting never extends outside the building footprint, and matting never renders inside an island's own footprint. This tool is for early-stage estimating only — mat coverage is approximated on a grid, so double-check visually, and always confirm final dimensions, coverage, door placement, and code compliance with your equipment supplier, architect, and local building authority.
How it works
Draw your floor plan
Sketch your building's outline to scale.
Draw Climbing Walls
Mark which walls or parts of walls will have climbing walls.
Add Island Structures
Drop in freestanding islands or wall-attached peninsulas.
See the matting allocation
Fall-zone matting calculates automatically as you draw.
Your Floor Plan is Step One
Having an idea for your climbing space feeds directly into the next steps of planning.
- What's your start up cost look like
- Staffing structure
- Break even and ROI snapshot
- How many holds you need and route setting logistics
- Itemised list of the full build with list of required labourers and consultants
You're welcome to continue using our resources, or you can skip straight to talking with us where we will walk you through all of this in our free consultations.
What This Tool Won't Tell You
- It's intended for early stage estimations only.
- It doesn't replace professionally designed mocks or spaces.
- Exact climbing wall numbers and matting layout coverage are only available after a finalised design.
- If you traced over a reference photo, use it only as a rough visual guide.
That's exactly what a free consultation with our team can help with — talk to us if you need any help.
Planning a climbing gym: FAQ
How much floor space do I need for a climbing gym?
It depends heavily on your concept. Small bouldering-focused gyms can work in roughly 300–700m², while larger mixed facilities need considerably more. Every concept is different, so a free consultation is the fastest way to get a real answer for your specific space.
How much matting do I need for a climbing wall?
Matting depends on your fall-zone depth (commonly 2m or 2.5m) wrapped around every climbing wall and corner. It adds up fast, which is exactly why this tool calculates it automatically as you draw. Our design service can confirm exact matting and compliance requirements once you're ready.
What's the first step in planning a climbing gym?
A rough floor plan. So you know whether a space could even work before you commit to it. After that, most people book a free consultation with us before going further. It costs nothing to talk it through.
Can I use this tool if I don't have my building yet?
Yes. It's a good way to test whether a prospective space could work before you sign a lease. If you're still deciding between a few spaces, that's exactly the kind of thing our free consultation can help with.
Is a floor plan enough to get a construction quote?
Not on its own. A real quote needs structural engineering input and properly measured drawings. That gap is exactly what our free consultation and design service cover.
How do I turn this into an actual business plan?
This floor plan tool is the first of several free planning tools that feed into a compiled draft business plan. Climbing holds, costs, staffing, and ROI all included. Once you've got your numbers, a free chat with us can sanity-check the plan before you commit to anything.
READY TO BUILD YOUR NEXT CLIMBING PROJECT?
Talk to us! No matter what stage you're at