When the existing youth centre in Sydenham was closed down, its absence was keenly felt, leaving young people feeling disenfranchised and with no positive outlet or support outside school. Gang violence rose and the building became a magnet for anti-social behaviour. The young people we set out to serve were left feeling undervalued, unsupported and sceptical of promises that weren’t being delivered. We knew that we had to regain their trust, and harness their input to create a new building that met their needs and demonstrated that they were valued.
Working alongside Lewisham Council and its partners, we saw our role as much more than project architects: we used experience of working on the OPEN youth venue in Norwich to identify and broker capital funding from the UK Government’s Myspace programme – drawing together a wide range of organisations including Lewisham College, Centrepoint, the Football Association and local theatre, church and community groups to develop a brief and built support.
Most importantly, we sought input from young people themselves as the building’s future users. Through a well-structured and inclusive design process we overcame their scepticism and demonstrated that they had a meaningful role to play in satisfying a funding brief for a ‘wordlclass’ building.
