{"id":425869,"date":"2026-02-14T19:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T19:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/425869\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T19:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T19:48:17","slug":"john-puttick-associates-transforms-warehouses-into-youth-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/425869\/","title":{"rendered":"John Puttick Associates transforms warehouses into youth centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK studio John Puttick Associates<\/a> has refurbished a group of disused Victorian warehouses<\/a> in Grimsby to create the Horizon Youth Zone, adding a sawtooth-roofed sports court<\/a> that nods to the site’s industrial past.<\/p>\n

Forming part of the wider regeneration of Grimsby’s town centre, the Horizon Youth Zone provides 2,995 square metres of arts, performance and sports space for young people in the area.<\/p>\n

\"WarehousesJohn Puttick Associates has created Horizon Youth Zone in Grimsby<\/p>\n

The disused Grade II-listed structures overlooking the River Freshney date back to 1821. Originally designed as granary warehouses, they were converted into a maltings and later a sawmill, before closing in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Building on what John Puttick Associates<\/a> called the “strong civic presence” of these warehouses, their brick-and-timber frames have been carefully restored and expanded with a zinc-clad sports hall topped by an industrial-style sawtooth roof.<\/p>\n

\"HorizonThe youth centre has transformed a series of Victorian warehouses<\/p>\n

“The Victorian warehouses directly face the River Freshney and form an important piece of Grimsby’s townscape,” founder John Puttick told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“The project involves a complex mix of restoration and rebuilding to reimagine the industrial heritage as an exciting destination for young people,” he added.<\/p>\n

\"SportsA sports court with a sawtooth roof has been added<\/p>\n

A refurbished footbridge across the river strengthens the site’s connection to the city and leads directly into the largest warehouse building, which has been opened up to create a dramatic, triple-height entrance framed by black steelwork.<\/p>\n

From this orienting space, an L-shaped plan sees the sports court to the north and a mixture of more compartmentalised performance, art and craft, meeting and mentoring spaces to the west.<\/p>\n

\"HorizonOriginal brickwork is exposed throughout<\/p>\n

Two smaller floors above the reception area include offices, a recording studio and a music room, accessed via corridors that overlook the triple-height atrium through fully glazed walls.<\/p>\n

The poor condition of large parts of the site required John Puttick Associates to reconstruct the site’s southern river wall and replace several roofs with glued-laminated timber (glulam) trusses, left visible overhead in the interiors.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

Rede Architects and Moguang Studio turn abandoned factory into youth activity centre\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Wherever possible, existing masonry was reused, while in areas that required new construction, a matching shade of brick was used.<\/p>\n

This brickwork is complemented by the zinc-clad sports court, as well as a smaller climbing wall housed within a mesh-wrapped cube.<\/p>\n

\"Triple-heightThere is a triple-height atrium<\/p>\n

Inside the communal and sports spaces, areas of brickwork have been left exposed, while in the centre’s other spaces white walls are paired with a bright palette of blues, greens and purples.<\/p>\n

“We wanted the new additions to be contemporary, announcing the new activities of the site, but also responsive to the industrial heritage,” Puttick said.<\/p>\n

“New-build elements \u2013 the sports hall and performance space \u2013 are contemporary in character but chime with the industrial context, creating a rich mix of forms and materials.”<\/p>\n

\"HorizonThe project celebrates the site’s industrial past<\/p>\n

Externally, the L-shaped form of the warehouses hugs an outdoor recreational space and sports pitch, overlooked by large windows in the performance space and kitchen.<\/p>\n

John Puttick Associates is a London-based architectural studio founded in 2014. Previous projects by the studio include the extension of a Grade II-listed church in East Sussex<\/a> and the refurbishment of the brutalist Preston Bus Station<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Gareth Gardner<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UK studio John Puttick Associates has refurbished a group of disused Victorian warehouses in Grimsby to create the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[13233,6225,6485,6486,85350,1120,309,96,156272,43538,35079,40339,40340,56,54,55,43910,156273],"class_list":{"0":"post-425869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-adaptive-reuse","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-community-centres","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-john-puttick-associates","17":"tag-public-and-leisure","18":"tag-renovations","19":"tag-sectionall","20":"tag-sectionarchitecture","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom","23":"tag-unitedkingdom","24":"tag-warehouses","25":"tag-youth-centres"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}