• Swindon & Wiltshire Property
• Thursday February 6 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Indoor skate park to open in former Debenhams building in Bristol

An indoor skate park is to open in the former Debenhams building in Bristol – with law firm Thrings helping to seal the deal.

The project to create the skate park is being led by Bristol-based not-for-profit Campus Skateboarding.

Having worked closely with the team at law firm Thrings to secure a short-term lease for the space, Campus have now been granted licensing and permissions for the new venue and it set to open in March.

The team is now working hard to transform the lower ground floor of the building into “a dynamic one-of-a-kind urban destination for visitors of all ages.”

The focus of the whole space will be a skate-able area which will be more of a skate plaza than a skatepark. The design will make the most of the size of the space and the smoothness of the floor and mimic some of the obstacles that skaters love to skate in the street.

The intention is also for the space able to host other alternative sports and activities such as bike polo and roller derby and be suitable for competitive and casual users alike. This will be accompanied by a bar managed and led by the same team that only just over a year ago opened The Dame on Dean Lane in Bedminster.

Acting for Campus, Robert Barnes and Annabel Rowland from Thrings’ commercial property team provided legal support, including negotiating and settling the terms of their occupation.

Tim Nokes, director of Campus Skateboarding, said: “Breathing new life into this historic site that many Bristolians will know well is a very exciting prospect as we look to create an amazing new venue that caters to a wide range of interests while fostering a sense of inclusivity and creativity.

“We are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to share the experience with everyone very soon.

“We are truly grateful to Thrings for their involvement in this project and want to thank them for the work they have put in behind the scenes to get this over the line.”

Robert Barnes, head of Thrings’ Bristol commercial property team, added: “Bristol is an amazingly diverse city with venues like this very much a cornerstone of that culture. We are delighted to have been able to support Tim and the Campus team in bringing this vision to fruition and look forward to seeing it become an immediate success when it opens.”

James Woodward, director of Hartnell Taylor Cook, who represented the landlord, said: “When we were asked to try and come up with a temporary use for a closed department store the options for standard retailers were limited, so we needed to think outside the box.

“The rise of leisure in city centres got us thinking about how we could use the big open space and we quickly landed on a skate park concept.

“We thought it might be a difficult sell, but Campus have such a strong reputation for their brilliant skate facilities, and the temporary parks that they set up at festivals, schools and other central locations that the idea quickly gained traction.

“They became the party we were most excited to approach and were delighted when it was a project we were able to push forward.  Their mix of skate and other sports, along with supporting food and drink options will be truly unique for such a central location and a project with which we were proud to be involved.”

In the long-term, the circa 1957 Broadmead department store – which has been vacant since 2021 when Debenhams went into administration – will be demolished to make way for 514 apartments.

Pictured: Campus Skateboarding director Tim Nokes with Robert Barnes and Annabel Rowland from Thrings