Drive Lounge revs up Castle Quarter’s leisure offering

Motorsports gaming concept Drive Lounge is set to open its first location within a city centre scheme at Castle Quarter in Norwich.

The virtual driving experience operator has taken a 1,606 sq ft unit on the ground floor of the scheme on a six-month trial licence.

As well as offering multi-format racing simulators, the operator will also provide drinks and snacks to gamers in-between drives.

Drive Lounge – which opened its first location in Manchester earlier this year – is a new virtual motorsports concept which looks to combine racing simulation technology with a vibrant bar environment to create a space to socialise and have fun.

The arrival of Drive Lounge is an indicator of the change in offer at Castle Quarter, which has repositioned its tenant mix towards social, leisure, and lifestyle operators whilst retaining a retail core. This has seen the arrival of new brands to the destination including Boom Battle Bar, Putt Putt Noodle, and Escape Hunt.

This shift in strategy saw Castle Quarter’s visitor numbers surge by 9% in 2023 compared to the previous year, seven times the increase in Norwich as a whole (+1.2%) and over twice the rates of the East of England region (+3.5%) and the UK (+3.1%). Footfall, dwell time and car park usage also increased in every month in 2023 year-on-year, and at least 75% of occupiers saw higher trading figures compared to 2022.

Will Ashdown, asset manager at RivingtonHark, said: “Gaming experiences such as Drive Lounge are at the cutting edge of the competitive socialising and leisure sectors, and as such it is fantastic to see its arrival at Castle Quarter, further expanding the range of entertainment options it has to offers. That this is Drive Lounge’s first in-centre operation highlights the success of the repositioning we have undertaken, putting a greater emphasis on the social, leisure and lifestyle options that offer a new role for city centre destinations.”

Roche and Jamieson Mills are the retained agents on Castle Quarter.