With prospects bleak, what can the design and programming of youth spaces do to engage and

inspire the under-25s? Here are a number of inspirational individuals and schemes working hard to
harness their talents, enthusiasm and skills.

There is a crisis affecting the youth of today, brought on by sustained global economic recession: not
only are there fewer jobs available for school leavers, but higher education has become increasingly
unaffordable; and for those kicking their heels at home, there is precious little to do thanks to
widespread cuts in youth services.
According to a news article in The Guardian newspaper in February, 20 per cent of under-25s in the
UK are without a job (actual figures vary between 140,000 and a million, depending on who's
supplying the statistics). Across Europe, an estimated 14 million of the under-25s are 'not in
employment, education or training' (aka NEETS).
Three Norwegian students went to Senegal to build a youth centre, naturally ventilated and using
local materials
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a 2014 Prince's Trust survey revealed that levels of depression among the
under-25s are at an all-time high, thanks to this lack of opportunities for meaningful engagement with
the workplace or with wider society.

In a recent broadcast for TEDx in Athens, Sam Conniff, the co-founder of innovative youth-driven
marketing agency Livity, declared: 'We are systematically wasting one of the most powerful, one of
the most important, one of the most precious natural resources at our disposal, because every single
day we systemise the failure and deny the opportunity that we have within all of our young people.'

Conniff has certainly played his part to try and redress this situation, along with his fellow Livity
founder and director Michelle Clothier, since starting their business 13 years ago. Both of them were
working in marketing -specifically in youth-targeted marketing - and they saw an opportunity to
connect youth brands more directly to the voices and insights of their target audience while
simultaneously bringing training, mentoring and skills-development to these young participants; not
to mention employment. Livity now employs around 50 young people at its base in Brixton.

Three Norwegian students went to Senegal to build a youth centre, naturally ventilated and using
local materials
Clothier, who spends a great deal of time listening to young people, says: 'This generation, the
millennials, and the new generation coming through, do feel they are at a disadvantage. [Thanks to]
the global circumstances in which they've grown up they have been positioned in potentially quite a
negative way that is going to make their own progression possibly more challenging, but it might also
stimulate them to be the generation that has to come up with some very different solutions. They
won't care about having a voice and a vote in the traditional organisations and institutions. They will
create their own. We could be on the brink of a really exciting new generation. It's our job as older
members of the community to find ways to facilitate them and empower them and set them up to be
the best they can possibly be.'
An additional solution Livity has helped to create in this landscape of shrinking opportunities is
space. In the run up to the 2012 Olympics, with 'legacy' being a matter of huge importance to the
politicians and pundits, Clothier and Conniff came up with a way to utilise the underused space that
proliferates in urban centres around the UK so that young people can have somewhere to support
their activities, whether putting on a play or starting a reading group.
'Somewhere To' is a nationwide resource, digitally and physically connecting young people with a
massive variety of spaces and places for almost any purpose - from an old town hall for a 'pop-up
department store', to Tate Modern's Turbine Hall for some BMX stunt riders (see case study). Two
years into four years' worth of Big Lottery funding, its remit has evolved to support young
entrepreneurs by finding spaces to use on short or long-term leases as a base to get their
businesses off the ground.

The New Generation Youth and Community Centre by RCKa in Sydenham, where facilities include a
games room

Luckily, thanks to the investment of the Labour Government's MyPlace scheme, Somewhere To,
isn't the only option young people have to find inspirational spaces outside of their homes or the
local shopping mall. Though the scheme has now been discontinued, more than £240m was
invested in the construction of more than 63 facilities, with the last few projects showing ever greater
ingenuity in making every penny count, and ever greater engagement with target users.
Garnering a huge amount of both architectural and community praise - as well as a Civic Trust
Award 2014 - is The New Generation Youth Centre in Sydenham, southeast London, the first
building to be completed by young practice RCKa. With £3.5m MyPlace core funding, Lewisham was
able to commission a really inspirational facility to replace the borough's last remaining youth centre
- a dilapidated and long-closed school hall on the same site as the proposed new centre, next to
Sydenham Wells Park. Consultation with some 30 groups including local youth theatres, Millwall
Football Club's outreach programme, church groups, the Centrepoint homeless charity and a
steering group of young locals, substantially informed the look and feel of the Centre, says lead
architect Dieter Kleiner.

Kleiner and his fellow directors at RCKa formed the practice in 2010 with the specific intention of
creating buildings that really supported their occupants' aspirations and activities - partly inspired, it
turns out, by Kleiner's experience of working on Norwich's stunning Open Youth Venue (a former
bank turned into a youth centre, which featured in FX's last youth-focused feature, December 2011),
while at Hudson Architects. That was Kleiner's first experience of a more hands-on, participatory
design process, working closely with the centre's young target audience.
'It was a pleasure working with these young people [and seeing] how sharp and engaged and
intelligent and forthright they are about what they wanted - sexual health advice, that kind of thing,'
he says. 'They weren't shy in coming forward with what they needed. It was great seeing how many
positive things can come out of having [the stakeholders] on board. It can be slightly more
challenging and the goalposts have to shift a bit more. You have to work a bit harder as an architect
and be a bit more nimble but when you get to where you want to, there's so much more buy in.'

With TNG, it was the young future users' advocacy of large, interlocking spaces that helped
persuade the local council to approve the innovative interior layout. Inspired by the stage designs of
Adolphe Appia, the spatial configuration renders activities visible from all parts of the building - 'like a
theatre for life to unfold on', says Kleiner. 'People from the local authority could see at the meetings
how engaged the young people were with these flexible spaces - double and triple-height spaces
cost more so often you don't get them. But they change the nature of the building completely.'

Now around 200 young people a night visit the facility, thanks in part to this consultation enhanced
local awareness and engagement. A series of public tours after the building opened were 'amazing',
says Kleiner. 'It was like I had briefed people to say the stuff they said. They said it's such a
democratic space.' He is delighted that they have taken such ownership of the scheme that when
interviewed for a local newspaper, the young people claimed to have designed it themselves. 'We
didn't ask them to say that. But if they feel that they've designed it, we couldn't ask for any more.'
A recording studio is among the facilities provided at Birmingham's the Lighthouse youth facility, by
Associated Architects

Despite the vacuum left by the closure of the MyPlace scheme and the lack of local authority
fundings, there are, happily, still new projects in the pipeline. In Norwich, for example, a wealthy
local philanthropist has hired RCKa to convert a car showroom into a 6,500 sq m youth facility,
keeping the car workshops for training and apprenticeships, and adding a boxing gym, among other
facilities.

Who will be left to run the youth centres that still exist is the really key question, if local authorities
decide to further shrink their provision? But here, Kleiner is upbeat that design can make the
difference. He says: 'Arguably the way things are moving, you are going to have to encourage local
people to get involved and you'll do that by enthusing people - not demanding it. That's the potential
for these buildings. They can inspire and connect people. Architecturally one of the things that was
important to us was to attract people who otherwise wouldn't want to go in the building.'

It's a strong argument: if the quality of the spaces is good, then more commercial revenue can be
generated by hiring areas out, and more people will be attracted to provide services - for young
people, or for the whole community - in them.
Case Study
Project Niafoureng
Senegal
Client Friends of Niafourang
Designers Assad Ansar, Andreas Brunvoli, Tore H Grimstad
Area 250 sq m
Cost Not available
Completed 2011

In 2011 Assad Ansar, Andreas Brunvoli and Tore H Grimstad travelled to Senegal to build a youth
centre. The three students at Norges Teknisknuturvitenskapelige Universitet in Trondheim, Norway,
had approached non-profit organisation Friends of Niafourang in the hope that they might have a
chance to design and build a sustainable youth centre for this community, which suffers from a lack
of infrastructure and investment as well as massive unemployment, leading many young people to
leave the area in search of work.

Friends of Niafoureng's mission is to improve conditions for these young adults. But the students
also saw an opportunity to provide skills and training during the 10 weeks of dedicated planning and
hard labour it took to complete the project. With a computer room/library and a large multipurpose
space for seminars, performances and village meetings, the form of the 250 sq m structure did not
need to be complex. But it did need to be sustainable - only local materials could be used, and no
electricity. Compressed sand from a nearby ditch was used to make bricks - hand-pressed in a local
machine and stacked with a little cement. A neighouring village was able to weld the steel brackets
that hold a corrugated aluminium roof in place, raised slightly for ventilation, and extended to create
a second floor, reached by external ladder.
Case Study
The New Generation Youth and Community Centre
Sydenham
Client Lewisham Council/MyPlace
Architecture and interiors RCKa
Cost £3.5m
Completed Summer 2013
Structural engineer Atelier One
Acoustician Ion Acoustics
The translucent polycarbonate skin of The New Generation Youth and Community Centre (TNG)
reveals a building pulsing with opportunities for young people in the London borough of Lewisham.
With climbing wall, training kitchen and cafe, multiuse games area, recording studios, health clinic,
dance and performance spaces, teaching and conference rooms and an IT suite, TNG provides a
multitude of welcome distractions, healthy activities and opportunities to help young people gain
skills and expand their horizons.
RCKa, a young practice determined to create 'buildings that support people', undertook lengthy
consultations with stakeholder groups, the most influential being a steering group of young people
from the area whose desire for a spatially exciting and connective interior was instrumental in driving
the innovative solution.
A series of single, double and triple-height spaces with multiuse connecting areas and generously
wide staircases maximises legibility and visibility throughout the building.
This porous interior also increases the penetration of daylight through large and loosely configured
windows, as well as views out on to a games area, a 'winter garden' and park beyond. Interior walls
and ceiling are clad in lightly whitewashed engineered timber, left exposed apart from an acoustically
lined performance space.
Case Study
Somewhere To
Somewhere To is not one physical space, but a portal to a massive database of underutilised
buildings that are offered to young people aged 16 to 25 for occasional or longer-term use,
Thanks to this online resource set up and run by youth marketing agency Livity. Founders and
directors Sam Conniff and Michelle Clothier saw this as an opportunity to connect young people to
the businesses, organisations and community around them, while also giving young people places
and spaces to use, whether for a reading group, a writing group, for rehearsing music, shooting
videos or movies, for gallery space or performances.

Says Clothier: 'We act as the space broker, find a space and put that space holder together with that
young person. The wonderful thing is that the transaction becomes mutually beneficial. A
phenomenal percentage of the businesses we connect with say they have a really positive
experience and would be happy to do that again. The benefits go two-way.'

Through Somewhere To, a group of stunt-riding BMX bikers were able to stage a performance in
Tate Modern's Turbine Hall. Another group was actually given access to No 10 Downing Street to
film a promotional video for the scheme involving boxers beneath the chandeliers and parkours
ricocheting off the walls.
Funded initially as an Olympic Legacy project, the scheme won Big Lottery funding in 2012, to
establish itself over four years. From that point forward, it is meant to be a self-sustaining business.
A recent evolution is the provision of short and long-term space for start-up businesses, to give the
next generation of young entrepreneurs a vital business base.
Livity's Somewhere To team has built up a network of 18 regional organisations, from architecture
practices to traditional youth organisations.
'They act as delivery partners,' says Clothier. 'They know their area, they understand where the kids
are and where the interesting spaces are and how to reach out to the community.'

Case Study
Stadsmissionen
Sweden

Client Stadsmissionen
Designers Codesign
Area 500 sq m
Cost £400,000
Completed Autumn 2013

Despite the enduring stigma around the idea of visiting a sexual or mental health clinic, few could
deny the appeal of this Stadsmissionen youth health centre, created by Swedish practice Codesign.
For a sexual health clinic and a mental health clinic (with separate entrance for young men and their
male-only therapists) the brief from Stockholm charity Stadsmissionen was to create a welcoming
environment to break down initial resistance of potential teenage clients.
Codesign had just one floor (500 sq m) of a worn old school building from 1888 to work with, and
one which had been thoughtlessly refurbished in the Sixties and again in the Eighties. Through
consultation with the clinical team and volunteers, a main objective was identified of creating a staff
hub in the heart of the floor plan to facilitate knowledge exchange. The hub consists of a central staff
kitchen with large dining table for meetings, plus a big office for volunteers and reception to serve
both entrances.

Filled with secondhand furniture and heavily discounted designer furniture, the therapy rooms feel
funky and modern yet homely. The £400,000 budget covered stripping out the venue, new plumbing
to gynecology rooms, five new toilets, new electrics, new openings in load-bearing walls, new floor
surfaces, fixtures and fittings, plus all furniture.
Case Study
The Lighthouse
Birmingham

Client Birmingham youth service

Architects associated architects
Project Value £5m
Completed 2012
Thanks to my place funding, Birmingham's young citizens of Aston, Lozells and Newtown now have
a state-of-the-art £5m facility. Birmingham-based practice associated architects seized the
opportunity to create an 'iconic landmark within the community', according to architect Rav Kumar.
Extensive consultations among its target audience of 13 to 19-year-olds informed the type and
layout of facilities: a series of informal public spaces, group meeting rooms, it rooms, social areas
and a cafe and advice centre on the ground floor, with sports hall, dance studio, changing facilities,
music rooms, a recording studio and business units on the two upper floors.
Semi-transparent coloured cladding allows the sports hall to be entirely naturally lit during the day,
with LeD lighting in the evening casting a blue glow out on to the community and reinforcing its
'beacon' status, next to a major route into Birmingham city centre.
The external expression of the building seeks to articulate the internal private and public areas, with
the ground floor's public spaces, social areas and advice centre visible through full-height security
glazing. it was a regional finalist in the Civic trust awards 2013.
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India’s youth are civically engaged, but they face
challenges in other critical areas of wellbeing.

India’s overall rank in youth wellbeing falls in the bottom tier of

countries in the Index. However, due to its strong democratic
institutions and robust electoral processes at the national and
state levels, the country does well in the citizen participation
domain. India’s young people experience challenges in health,
education, economic opportunity, information and communication
technology, and gender equality.
India ranks 23rd in the economic opportunity domain. In 2014, the
unemployment rate among India’s youth was 10 percent,
significantly lower than the Index average of 17 percent for the
same year. Early-stage entrepreneurial activity is at 11 percent,
but global competitiveness has been following a downward trend
(currently ranking 12th for this indicator). At 27 percent, India’s
share of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET)
is significantly higher than the Index average (16 percent).

India has witnessed dramatic transformations in youth literacy,

which went from 54 percent in 1981 to almost 90 percent in 2015.
The percentage of youth completing lower secondary education
also has risen significantly, from 43 percent in the early 1980s to
81 percent in 2013. However, relative to other Index countries,
India places in the bottom third of the rankings for these education
indicators.
Gender equality remains a challenge in India. Thirty-six percent of
women report a fear of walking alone at night, and, at 27 percent,
the female youth marriage rate is one of the highest in the Index.
By contrast, India’s rate of adolescent fertility has decreased from
109 per 1,000 women in 1982 to 23 per 1,000 in 2015.

The Global Millennial Viewpoints Survey

India’s youth are optimistic about their economic future despite

the objective data. Sixty-six percent of Indian youth surveyed
believe that their future standard of living will be better than that of
their parents.

A little less than half of young Indians surveyed believe that their
government is serving them; 45 percent say their government
does not care about their wants and needs. This figure is
significantly lower than the Index average of 68 percent.
In contrast to what the objective data says about gender equality
in India, 92 percent of Indian youth surveyed agree that women
should have all the same rights as men. This response is on par
with the Index average of 89 percent.
About the Youth Hub
• Located at Emirates Towers, the Youth Hub aims to inspire young Emiratis.

• Designed by youths under 30 years.It is the brainchild of the Emirates Youth

Council, under the supervision of Shamma Suhail Faris Al Mazroui, Minister
of State for Youth

• It offers an environment conducive to young people.

• It serves as an incubator to inspire and nurture youth creativity and

innovation

• It comprises areas designated for young media professionals, entrepreneurs,

young researchers and programmers.

• It houses offices and meeting halls for young people and spaces for young
entrepreneurs.

• It includes a library to enrich young people’s knowledge and a laboratory to

develop solutions and host brainstorming sessions.

• It houses a youth cafe and a theatre for youth events.

• It has a dedicated exhibition area for youths to showcase their achievements

• It houses areas designated to foster youths’ skills and boost their knowledge.

• It allows young entrepreneurs a space to showcase their projects

The centre comprises areas designated for young media professionals,
entrepreneurs, young researchers and programmers. It houses offices and
meeting halls for young people, spaces for young entrepreneurs a library to
enrich their knowledge, a laboratory to develop solutions and host
brainstorming sessions, a youth cafe and a theatre for youth events.

While opening the new centre, Shaikh Mohammad said, “My brother Shaikh
Mohammad Bin Zayed and I are very pleased to open the youth centre. We are
here to send message to the nation’s youths that they have a big responsibility
lying ahead. We also meant to communicate a message to all officials that they
need to pay special attention to young people and give them a role in
shouldering part of the nation’s responsibilities.”

Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed issued
directions to expand the model of the newly-opened youth centre across the
country where young Emiratis be offered an environment that stimulates their
creativity and innovation, helps them design their future and foster their skills
and talents.

“We want youth centres to serve as mediums and platforms that inspire young
Emiratis to be more creative and better serve their nation. Youth centres
should offer creative spaces for youths that help them shape their own future
and contribute greatly to their nation’s future,” the Vice-President said.

Speaking through a closed-circuit television to the Emirates Youth Council in

the US, Shaikh Mohammad told them: “You are the ambassadors of your
country and on a national mission to return to home with the best education,
science, practices and research, in order to better serve your nation and take it
to greater heights and advanced ranks.”

Also speaking via the CCTV, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed expressed his
pride in Emirati students studying abroad as they carry out their national duty
in their quest to fulfil the ambitions of their people and their nation’s future.

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“All our youths have the responsibility to serve their nation, but our young
citizens, who study abroad, have a double responsibility. This is because they
represent their country-with its ethics, identity, values and sublimity, and it is
their duty to be the best envoys of their country,” Shaikh Mohammad Bin
Zayed said,

He added: “The centre is yet another addition and serves as an incubator for
young people to foster their skills and talents. Investing in their potential is a
key pillar for the development of our country.”

“Since its foundation, the UAE has advanced greatly thanks to its people’s
solidarity. It has become an exceptional model by laying the foundations for a
supportive environment that empowers young people to work, excel and
innovate”, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed said.

He wished all Emiratis the best and success in serving their nation and
strengthening the march of giving to raise the nation’s profile and stature.