Illustration of a building named 'Bronte' with large yellow letters on the rooftop, people walking and socializing outside, bicycles, and a man pushing a stroller.

The Bronte Youth & Community Centre

A sustainable future for a youth and community centre

The Bronte is an inner-city youth centre who have continuously fought for their place on Liverpool’s map. Acting as the voice and defender of an intergenerational community, the centre was originally established to address the needs of the surrounding tenement housing residents and tackle local issues of disenfranchised youth.

The Bronte Youth and Community Centre was founded in the early 1960s in the wake of the 1960 Albermarle Report into youth service. Situated next to dense housing development, St Andrews Gardens, a need for youth provisions in the area was recognised and The Bronte thrived as a community hub. Since then, as high-density social housing has been reduced in the area, and catchment size has significantly decreased, as has the number of regular users of the youth club provision. Alongside this, funding cuts have put increasing strain on third sector organisations to continue offering services whilst remaining financially sustainable.

A building under construction surrounded by scaffolding with parked cars on the street in front.
Architectural floor plan drawings for a building named The Bronte, with sections highlighted in yellow and orange; includes circles with text describing different user groups and proposed future plans.

The Bronte on site

“The young people have co-produced the design and identity for the project ”

The Bronte has survived on the passion of its staff, management, and volunteer-based board as it has become increasingly ringfenced by the surrounding universities.

Harrison Stringfellow have been working with The Bronte and its surrounding community since 2017 to turn their vision of restoring this community and heritage asset into a reality. Through a range of consultations with staff and users, and an evaluation of how the existing space is used, we developed an approach for The Bronte that not only addresses the physical structure of building and facilities, but provides an overall strategy for how the centre can expand its offer and become more resilient. We helped to write the funding bid which resulted in a successful £3.4m grant from the Youth Investment Fund.

The Bronte is a two-storey brick-built, mixed-use building that is currently undergoing a deep retrofit. This includes making fabric upgrades as well as utilising low-carbon and renewable technologies like air source heat pumps, MHVR and solar panels

Our Passive House designer developed the sustainability strategy alongside award winning consultant Max Fordham to develop a scheme anticipated to achieve the “UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard” (according to UKGBC, pilot version NZEB Standard). Externally, a bio-diverse garden will create a green oasis in the city centre where children can learn to grow food, play and explore. 

An aerial view of a community center with various outdoor activities, parking lot, playground, and a nearby MUGA.
Children working at a craft table with scissors, paper, and colorful supplies at an indoor activity center.
Isometric illustration of a community center with labeled areas for new activities, new spaces, same fun, and a new bronze, showing various people engaging in different activities.

Ground Floor

Illustration of a sports and recreational facility with various areas includingpeople playing hockey, a gym with courts and people playing table tennis, and several rooms labeled 'WC', 'BREAK OUT', and 'MORE STORAGE' with people sitting, working, or walking.

First Floor

Engagement has been carried out through activation, with events and workshops used to collaboratively produce a strategy for the future of the building. Involving the building’s user-group from the outset has increased the community’s feeling of building ownership and agency within the design process. 

The young people who use the youth services have co-produced the design and identity for the project as well as the programme of activities, facilitated by HSA and bringing in various creative partners. This has included designing a new font as part of the centre’s new brand identity, alongside creative agency Dutch Scot. 

We have also worked with photographers and writers to help tell the stories and document the journey of the refurbishment, drawing on social narratives and hidden stories that preserve the identity of the neighbourhood and are crucial for a sustainable future. 

By developing partnerships and facilitating discussions with stakeholders surrounding the site such as LJMU, Liverpool City Council, Riverside Homes and ward councillors, HSA have been a crucial partner and critical friend to the Bronte. Throughout the longstanding relationship, HSA have assisted with pushing forward the collective neighbourhood vision into an actuality. 

Young girls seated at tables, engaging in a creative project involving colorful craft materials and posters during a classroom activity.
Group of children and a teacher writing on a glass window during a class or activity in a school setting.
Children participating in a classroom activity at a table with colorful paper, scissors, glue sticks, and markers, while two girls work on a wall covered with lettered sticky notes arranged in patterns.
A woman and a girl look at a colorful wall decorated with numerous pink, purple, yellow, blue, green, and orange paper notes with handwritten messages, names, and symbols.
Group of people gathered around display boards discussing architectural plans at an indoor event.

“HSA have been so much more than our Architects over the last few years, their passion for social change and sustainability as well as their fight to get this project off the ground is something we will be forever grateful for!”

Bronte Board Member

Two young girls with braided hair looking at drawings and writings on a bulletin board, which features children's artwork and printed papers, along with photographs attached below the board.
Poster showing a message to support children in Liverpool, encouraging donations to The Bronze youth and community center with a call to donate £5 via text to 70255.
Aerial view of a neighborhood showing a construction site, a fenced-in grassy sports field, and surrounding residential houses and streets.

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