Forest Road Youth Hub designs. Photo: Matthew Lloyd Architects LLP

Plans for a new £2.5 million youth centre in Dalston, set to open in spring 2012, were approved earlier this week.The Forest Road Youth Hub, which will form the centrepiece of Hackney’s new youth services provision, was developed after consultations with youth workers and young people who will use it.

The contract to build the new youth centre has been awarded to Matthew Lloyd Architects who have worked on several other major projects in East London including St Mary of Eton church in Hackney Wick and William Tyndale School in Islington.

The new centre will replace an old single-storey facility on the site, and will provide much improved facilities.

The building will include a large main hall, IT suite, group rooms, a “chill-out” area and offices for Hackney Youth Services staff. There will also be two landscaped courtyard gardens, which can be used for outside functions.

The location of the new build will also be set further back to line up with an adjacent grade two listed Victorian church hall, and to create a larger pavement with bicycle storage space.

The new centre is part of the government’s Myplace programme, through which Hackney Council have received £5m to invest in youth centres.

Hackney Council are undertaking a final consultation on the building’s exterior, and local residents can share their views with the council here.