Iran offers some of the world’s most epic rock climbing, but only a small handful of hard core international rock climbers have tested their courage and skill on its beautiful rock faces. Meanwhile, the less intrepid among us might settle for this awesome climbing gym designed for the Irianian village of Polur by New Wave Architecture. The starting point for those setting off to scale Mount Damavand, Polur is a small village located in Iran’s rocky Mazandaran Province. The climbing gym is not yet built but look below for what’s in store. 
As rock climbing becomes increasingly popular in Iran (in October, 2012, the International Festival of Climbing took place in Bistotun, Kermanshah Province), New Wave Architecture designed a mammoth rock climbing gym that resembles nearby Mt. Damavand – the country’s tallest mountain at 18,406 ft.
It is a beautiful rock climbing gym by any standards, but an especially magnificent structure for Iran, which is renowned for its ancient architecture, but which has floundered in the last several decades due to messy internal and external politics. 
At 4,400 square meters, the gym has a “fragmented mass” that resembles giant boulders; giant, angular windows evoke crevices in the rocks and allow daylight to penetrate deep into the building.
Related: Iran’s water woes more worrying than war
They also provide climbers a visual connection with the landscape – as if to motivate them to scale the country’s highest peak visible from inside. “Boulder-like walls … were inspired by the geological process of the large-scale movements of the earth‘s crust and its tectonic forces, programs include a dynamic climbing hall, temporary accommodation zone, fitness gym and maintenance areas,” according to Arch Daily. 
The building is clad in white fiber cement panels that provide visual continuity with the snowy landscape and offer climbers the opportunity to practice their moves on the outside of the building as well. The main structural system is comprised of steel moment resisting frames and tubular trusses transmit the floor loads to vertical elements.
Many climbing gyms offer a cool place to practice moves, train, or hang out during the day, but it’s less well popular to actually be able to stay there. We love that aspect of this project. Of course, there’s no mention of environmental factors, but anyone who loves and respects mountains would surely want to protect the land around them as well?
:: Arch Daily
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
