Cowley Teenage Space provides a social and recreational facility for young people on the Cowley housing estate. As well as a five-a-side football and basketball pitch the scheme includes a covered 'inactivity zone' for spectators and a loose arrangement of large concrete blocks with both "inside" and "outside" spaces for occupying, playing on and flirting around. We also installed a ramped mound for bicycles as well as new entrance ways and signage.
All of the ideas for the scheme emerged during the experimental consultation project that we conducted with local young people.
The new space at Cowley has helped to dramatically improve relationships within the community, a new football team has been formed, and complaints against teenagers have fallen.
This highly successful project is the subject of a CABE case study. and is featured as a case study in Play England's Design For Play Guidelines.