An abandoned warehouse, with its expansive indoor space, presents a unique opportunity for creative and wacky adventures. With a little outside-the-box thinking and an unlimited budget, you can turn this inside-the-box space into a world-famous destination. Here are the top five crazy things you can do with an abandoned warehouse.
5. Paintball Arena
A paintball arena is an obvious use for a vast indoor space. Players can participate in real-life games of “Modern Warfare” inside your converted warehouse. You can subdivide the space into several different courses, or leave it all connected for a truly gargantuan paintball field. Construct plywood bunkers, drag in derelict cars, or drape camouflage netting over strategic parts of the field. You can even build towers inside high-ceilinged warehouses, either to give referees a panoramic viewpoint or to give players a strategic objective to hold. Players will love the fast-paced games your indoor arena will provide as they dart from cover to cover, inexorably advancing upon their pinned opponents. Host tournaments to become the center of your town’s paintball scene.
4. Ninja Training Grounds
Alternately, you can turn your abandoned warehouse into a ninja training ground. Make sure the lighting is dim to give your pupils a chance to practice their stealth. Install rope courses near the ceiling to teach your budding ninjas balance and acrobatics; advanced students can practice skulking among the rafters. You can build out several rooms within the warehouse to teach specific skills, such as shuriken throwing and martial arts. A wide open space can become a testing ground for hopeful ninjas after you prepare appropriate obstacles and objectives.
3. Indoor Winter Wonderland
With the addition of high-powered air conditioners and snow-making machines, you can turn your abandoned warehouse into a year-round winter wonderland. You can pile up snow for an indoor bunny hill or carve out a half-pipe for snowboarding. Gather your friends together in a large open space for snowball fight in August. In your indoor winter wonderland, ice sculptures don’t have to be temporary tributes to the masters of the chainsaw and chisel. Instead, include a permanent ice sculpture exhibit to showcase the talents of master ice sculptors. You can also learn how to build an igloo. Alternately, you can build on a grander scale and construct an elaborate snow fort within your abandoned warehouse.
2. Indoor Garden
With enough time, you could turn your abandoned warehouse into an indoor garden. Bring in loads of rich dirt and start landscaping. You can construct gentle hills or simply keep the ground level. Consider rerouting the plumbing to one wall to install a waterfall, and then dig out a small stream leading to a pond. Cut out some skylights from the roof, or install halogen lights to grow grass and other plants. You could even stock the pond with fish and go fishing inside of your abandoned warehouse.
1. Indoor Coral Reef
For a truly unique idea, convert the entire abandoned warehouse into an indoor coral reef. Dig out the floor and cover it with white sand, then start aquascaping using boulders, derelict vehicles, or anything else that looks promising. Install skylights or high-intensity lighting. After doing that, fill your warehouse with water and start stocking it with corals, fish, shrimp, crabs, octopuses or even sharks. You won’t need to book a vacation to the Caribbean to go snorkeling when you can drive across town to your formerly abandoned warehouse and take a dive in your own indoor coral reef.
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About the author: Frank is a developer of warehouse management systems, designed to improve efficiency.