New Futures Youth Centre in Banbury designed with the youth for the youth

The young crowd in Banbury can look forward to a stylish new hang out as the £3m New Futures Centre takes shape in place of the 1960s style building which housed the Banbury Youth Centre. Complete with a performance hall, art room with pottery kiln, music room and fitness area to a chique café and all-weather football and basketball courts, the new youth centre will be a refreshing change after the outdated building with limited facilities and space constraint. The New Futures building is of a futuristic design with low carbon technology, solar panels and eco friendly fittings for minimized running costs.

FlexiDry fast drying screed was used for 600 sqm of flooring for the new building, offering a strong and durable substrate for the final floor finish. FlexiDry is among the most preferred names in sustainable construction owing to the high quality and longevity the screeds yields while being 100% recyclable and causing minimum wastage. Compared to other quick drying screeds, the wastage is minimal with FlexiDry as the liquid screed additive makes it possible to make up sufficient amounts of screed at the work site easily, as per requirement.

With nearly 50 local teenagers involved in the design and planning of the new building and its activities, the new youth centre which is described as ‘designed with the young people for the young people’ by Anthony Sayles of the integrated youth support service - is expected to provide just the kind of space that young people would want.

With the growing regard for responsible construction and sustainability, new buildings like the New Futures Centre ensure sustainability and energy efficiency go hand in hand with modern amenities. Right from the building envelope and energy sources to the flooring, every component has a vital part to play in realizing maximum energy efficiency. The high quality sub floors provided by FlexiDry fast drying floor screeds is highly valued in the construction industry for the energy efficiency it yield when used over under floor heating. Unlike other anhydrite screeds, FlexiDry provides an even, conducting surface that helps to reduce the energy requirement at the source, while minimizing the heat lost in dissipation.

As eco-friendly becomes the new norm, buildings like the New Futures Centre stand testimonial to the changing mindset of the youth, proclaiming going green is cool! 

Photo shows the New Futures Centre from Oxford City Council (pdf)  Photo credit Oxford City Council

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