Joinedupdesign for myplace
Joinedupdesign for myplace actively involves young people in the design of their youth centres.
In a process developed from the joinedupdesignforschools model, young people, aged 9 to 23, are given the role of clients, and some of the UK’s top architects, designers and creative advisers are appointed to work for them. Client teams identify what they want for their new youth centres over a series of workshops, inspirational visits and meetings with their professional creative teams.
Planning and Preparation: Clients from schools in Doncaster create a mood board to help communicate what they want for their new youth centre
The Conversation: The client team from Newcastle-upon-Tyne talk to Keith Priest of Fletcher Priest Architects in his London studio
The Conversation: The client team from Brent exchange ideas for their new youth centre with Alex Mowat of Urban Salon (now Mowat & Company)
The Concepts: A member of the Brent client team studies a model created by Urban Salon (now Mowat & Company) that helps explain their design concept
The Concepts: Marks Barfield Architects provide the Birmingham client team with a floor-by-floor breakdown of their proposed design for the new centre
The Concepts: The Hastings client team view a scale model by CTM Architects and Jonathan Dunn Architects
The process shows common aspirations among young people nationwide, from distinctive youth centre architecture that they can feel proud of and inspired by, to the importance of communicating a positive image to their local community. The creative teams generate concepts in response to their clients’ design briefs, before the young clients present the final concept to bid teams and stakeholders.
This process creates a new model for youth engagement, ensuring that each new centre fulfils the needs of the local community, whilst giving young people insights into the working world and the opportunity to develop important life skills, such as communication and negotiation.
“If you’re developing a youth centre, I can’t conceive of a situation where it’s just going to be designed by adults. The people who are going to drive this machine are going to be young people”.
“The trust they put in us made us feel responsible and like we’d done something good. I’m very proud of what we’ve come up with. Very proud”.
“This kind of engagement benefits the young people enormously. It expands their agenda, raises their expectations, exposes them to new aspects of life, and having their views taken seriously is hugely beneficial”.
“The centre is for the community, not just for us. We made a decision to open it up to the community ourselves”.
Client teams gain a sense of ownership in their centres and pride in their towns. Team members continue to play an integral role, becoming ambassadors for their completed youth centres, and providing a natural link between the projects and the wider community.
The model has delivered world-class youth facilities around the UK, in partnership with the young people who will use them. Joinedupdesign for myplace was developed in response to the Aiming High for Young People strategy from the Department of Children, Schools and Families (now the Department for Education).
Final Presentation: The Newham client team deliver their final presentation to the bid team at East Ham Town Hall
Final Presentation: A member of the Wakefield client team presents the design concept to the project’s stakeholders and local councillors
Final Presentation: A member of the Hornsey client team introduces their final presentation to Islington Council’s bid team
Celebration: Torbay client team members hold up Feilden Clegg Bradley Studio’s architectural model following their final presentation
Celebration: Clients from Newham are presented with certificates at the celebration event at Central Hall Westminster
Celebration: The client and creative teams celebrate their involvement in the programme at Central Hall Westminster
publication
Joinedupdesign for myplace
From 2009-10, joinedupdesign for myplace worked with 160 young people across 15 national projects, joining them up with professional creative teams. This publication documents the process and the individual projects.
