Low Design Office collaborated with UTEC to design a new youth center in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts—a multicultural safe haven created by teens, for teens.

In designing the new center, LowDO partnered directly with UTEC youth through an inclusive design process. Together we explored green building strategies, organizational needs, and spatial priorities through design charrettes and field trips. Teens tested their ideas against real architectural precedents, shaping a vision that was both aspirational and deeply grounded in their lived experience.

UTEC’s model is as dynamic as the young people it serves. It combines community-building in a safe and welcoming drop-in environment, grassroots organizing that empowers youth to lead, and bold street outreach that meets teens where they are. From board representation to paid staff positions, young people are woven into every level of decision-making. Many of UTEC’s staff “street workers”—often former gang members—serve as mentors and trusted bridges between the center and the wider city.

Programming reflects the diverse voices of its community: from political advocacy and peace activism, to a culinary and farm program, to leadership initiatives for young women and LGBTQ+ teens. Creativity and culture thrive here through classes in graffiti art, capoeira, step, voice, hip-hop, and sports. UTEC is expanded its impact by launching an alternative high school in partnership with Lowell Public Schools and adult education programs.

As Lowell works to define its identity beyond its industrial past, this generation is forging its place in the city’s future. Today, the youth center welcomes more than 1,500 teens each year to engage in 20+ weekly programs—offering not just space, but voice, agency, and belonging

2006

Lowell, Massachusetts