Castle Climbing Club
Seattle, Washington
Specs: Castle Climbing Club, an adult-focused bouldering gym founded by “a crew of adventure-loving friends,” General Manager Harrison Neel said, opened on January 1st, 2026, in West Seattle. According to Neel, the original vision for Castle extended beyond climbing and centered around creating a “third space for the community” that would involve wellness, education and creativity. Specifically, the founders hoped to combine fitness with social connections and opportunities for primarily adults to learn new skills and hobbies, and the gym’s programming and atmosphere was largely designed with that clientele in mind. For example, Castle has pole-fitness classes, billiards tables and a co-ed sauna and hosts films and events all geared toward adults. Youth climbers and families are still welcome at the gym though and are encouraged to visit Castle until 8pm, when the gym switches to more of that “adult vibe,” said Neel.
The site where Castle is located comes with a rich history, filled with stories of Pacific Northwest punk rock bands. According to Neel, the 27,000-square-foot building dates back to the early 1980s and was originally constructed for wine storage due to its climate-friendly architecture and proximity to Seattle’s port. Before becoming Castle, the building housed art studios, including woodworking businesses and Neel’s glassblowing studio. The building also previously housed NAF Studios, “a music production company that did a lot of the sound and production for big grunge bands that came out of Seattle in the 90s,” Neel detailed. “So Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana…they all had rehearsal spaces in the building, and it was their hub when they weren’t on tour.”
In addition to being a spot where members of those bands “would hang out and record a lot of music,” Neel said “the owner of NAF Studios would throw rave parties almost every weekend as well,” and Soundgarden even held an impromptu concert on the gym’s roof. “There are all these little tidbits of history from that grunge movement that was centered around here in Seattle,” he said. “This was the place where all those guys hung out. A lot of it culminated right here.”
With time, the building transitioned into one large community-oriented space, rather than separate rentals. After the woodworking business moved out about a year ago, Neel said, “It opened up this opportunity for another project that could potentially fill the entire building, which is really what we wanted to be able to do. Rather than managing a bunch of small businesses,” he added, “we wanted a business that would be able to support the entire property.” The team then designed a gym that was focused on “serious climbing, recovery, and adult community,” states the website, which lists some “youth access guidelines” for younger gym goers…