Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New Aberdeen axe throwing venue and escape rooms planned for empty Windmill Brae offices

A new Aberdeen axe throwing venue could soon be operating on Windmill Brae. Picture by Darrelll Benns
A new Aberdeen axe throwing venue could soon be operating on Windmill Brae. Picture by Darrelll Benns

An empty office building in Aberdeen city centre could be turned into a new escape room and axe throwing venue.

Escape and Game of Throwing launched in 2014 as the first venture of its kind in Scotland, and has since opened more than 200 branches around the world.

The company is now eyeing up the ground floor of 4 Windmill Brae, a popular area with late night revellers.

Windmill Brae here heading towards Bridge Street. The proposed venue is on the left.

Windmill Brae has ‘untapped character’

Under the plans, there would be three escape rooms and eight axe throwing lanes in space that has been empty for three years.

Papers sent to Aberdeen City Council by Marwick Planning describe the “untapped historic character” in areas such as Windmill Brae.

The consultants cite the council’s own city centre masterplan, which says the lane could “form a key part of connecting the city centre”.

Scroll back and forth to see the proposed changes:

Aberdeen axe throwing is a growing trend

Marwick explains the axe-throwing lanes would be built in line with World Axe Throwing League rules.

It would be the third premises in Aberdeen where people can unwind by hurling hatchets towards targets.

Axe throwing is on offer at the recently relaunched Beach Bar, and Hatchet Harry’s on South College Street.

Have a look around the empty Windmill Brae property here:

How does axe throwing work?

The planning papers explain that each lane will be enclosed in mesh, with a timber target board.

Marwick adds: “Axes which miss or bounce off the target harmlessly collide with the steel mesh enclosure or fall to a sand pit below the target.”

Sessions will vary in length, and be tailored to new players with a safety briefing and guidance on how to chuck the chopper.

And instructors will be on hand throughout.

Our reporter Craig Munro tried his hand at axe throwing at Hatchet Harry’s:

Aberdeen axe throwers could practise hobby all day

There are other Game of Throwing branches at Hull, Chelmsford, Newcastle and Plymouth – among many others.

This site would be its third Scottish location, with places in Stirling and Edinburgh already.

If approved, the Windmill Brae venue would be open from noon to 10pm from Monday to Thursday, 10am to 10pm on Friday and Saturday and from 10am to 8pm on Sunday.

This image from Google Maps show the Windmill Brae building earmarked for transformation.

Do you think Aberdeen needs a third axe throwing venue? Let us know in our comments section below


No plans to booze before tossing tomahawks

Last summer, Aberdeen City Council approved plans for axe-throwing lanes at the Beach Bar only after being assured customers would be breathalysed before taking part. 

There are no plans to sell alcohol at the Aberdeen axe-throwing venue on Windmill Brae.

You can see the plans here.

Conversation