This Youth Zone responds to a brief that calls for a vibrant, multi-functional space to support the young people of Toxteth – equipping them with the tools, experiences, and opportunities needed to succeed in life. The project places education, socialisation, and personal development at its heart, promoting ownership, safety, and aspiration from a young age. Alongside academic and life-skill-based spaces, the building provides creative studios, performance areas, and sports facilities to encourage health, curiosity, and self-expression.
Rooted in its Toxteth context, the building steps in scale to respect the height of surrounding terraced streets while opening up to the south to form a series of accessible rooftop terraces. The architecture is shaped by octagonal geometries – a motif drawn from the bay-windowed Georgian terraces of Berkley Street and echoed in the domed forms of the adjacent Greek Orthodox Church and it’s stained glass window patterns.
A central brick spine wall runs through the scheme, dividing the programme into sports, social, and educational/creative zones, while guiding users intuitively through the space. This wall houses the vertical circulation cores, which act as symbolic beacons – landmarks within the building that represent upward movement and growth.
The structure is a hybrid system of glulam columns and beams paired with steel spans and trusses in larger spaces. CLT floors are left exposed internally, providing warmth and texture, while a robust brick façade grounds the building within its urban context. The materiality and structure express clarity, rhythm, and permanence – reinforcing the building’s role as a supportive, lasting presence in the lives of the young people it serves.
Gallery
Two exterior renders and two elevations showing the youth zone’s materiality and the interaction between the building and it’s immediate context, click to enlarge
