Princes Trust, Community HUB, Liverpool

This project created a new community hub in the heart of Liverpool for Fairbridge charity, now part of the Prince’s Trust. The Prince's Trust helps change young lives. It gives practical and financial support, developing key workplace skills such as confidence and motivation. It works with 13-to-30-year-olds who have struggled at school, have been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law. The Prince of Wales’s charity has helped more than 650,000 young people since 1976 and supports 100 more each day. Last year, more than three in four young people supported by The Trust moved into work, education or training.  

K2 Architects were appointed to refurbish over 5000sqft of former retail space at Rapid Hardware into a state of the art community hub, with a series of flexible, multifunctional spaces that would allow the team to work with significantly more young people.

A considerable amount of consultation and workshops, including site visits to other newly established centres in Newcastle and Manchester, allowed for an emerging brief that was both ambitious, inspirational and innovative to create a 21st century youth centre. The finished spaces were both fluid and dynamic, avoiding any hierarchy or sterile teaching rooms so that each floor plate had diversity with both staff and young people interaction. The brief included IT teaching zones, multifunctional community rooms, a dance studio, kitchen and eating spaces were young people and staff could gather together, open plan offices and quiet zones for 1 to 1 workshops. K2 Architect’s acted as design team leader, delivering the full architectural services, the centre opens in April 2012 and we are proud to have been part of the team delivering this fantastic project