Designing a Third Space: Centering Youth Voice in the Built Environment. Prism Design Lab at the 2026 NOMA Annual Conference

We were excited to present our work at the 2026 NOMA Annual Conference in Miami, themed “The Leading Edge.” Our session, Designing a Third Space: Centering Youth Voice in the Built Environment, asked a question we think architecture should take seriously: where do young people go to simply exist?

We opened with an exercise that we lead many of our workshops with - we asked the audience to sketch on a post it note in response to the question, 'What does Belonging feel like to you?'

After giving some context about Prism, we centered on discussing Youth Design Durham!, whose first cohort ran in 2023-24. Young people defined what they need in a third space, a place that is outside home, work, and school. Then we gave them a platform to explore design and architecture through the program.

Many young people today feel pressure about where they are supposed to belong, and few places let them just be without that pressure. A space they helped shape can be that place. We argued that this is a design problem as much as a social one and that it deserves a place in the conversation in the field of architecture.

What stayed with us was the audience’s responses to this topic. It reassured us that youth belonging and the spaces that support it are worth discussing in architecture.

The work continues. This fall, a new cohort at Student U is designing an indoor lounge and an outdoor garden space at the W.G. Pearson Center, and they will present their ideas to the community in early December.

Thank you to NOMA for the platform and to our speakers, Heather Ferrell, Germane James, Chelsea Davies, and Ololade Alaran, for carrying the work to Miami.