Chabad Youth NSW – Future Centre Design Competition

About the Competition

We’re inviting all members of our community—youth, parents, educators, professionals, and anyone passionate about the future—to help design the ideal Chabad Youth Centre for Sydney.

This is your chance to dream big, unleash your creativity, and contribute meaningful ideas to shape the future of Jewish youth experiences in our city.

 

Why Participate?

Your creativity today can help build a vibrant and dynamic space that fosters positive Jewish identity, community connection, and personal growth for generations to come.

We can’t wait to see your ideas come to life!

Who Can Participate?

Everyone in the community is welcome, including:

  • Primary and high school students

  • University students

  • Parents and families

  • Teachers, educators, and youth workers

  • Professionals in architecture, planning, design, psychology, and related fields

  • Community members passionate about youth and communal development

 

Want to Get More Involved?

We’re also looking for volunteers, advisors, and committee members to help guide the long-term development of this vision.
If interested, please indicate this clearly in your submission.

 

What Can You Submit?

Participants can enter one or more of the following categories:

Category 1: Centre Design Concept

  • Design a full concept for a future youth centre.

  • Submit drawings, sketches, floorplans, or written descriptions.

  • Include ideas for activity areas such as:

    • Gym

    • Study spaces

    • MasterChef-style teaching kitchen

    • Social/emotional support rooms

    • Game rooms, swimming pool, storage, parking, and more

  • Be ambitious but practical—consider realistic space and budget limits.

Category 2: Programs & Activities

  • Propose creative workshops, programs, and services to help youth develop life skills and confidence.

  • Include ideas for social, emotional, educational, or spiritual support programs that could be integrated into the centre.

Category 3: Revenue & Sustainability Ideas

  • Suggest practical ways for the centre to generate income while serving the community, such as:

    • Childcare or babysitting services

    • Café or retail store

    • Event and party hire

    • Other creative community-friendly services

How to Enter

Submit your entry via:

Each entry should include:

  • Full name

  • Contact details (phone and/or email)

  • Entry category (you may enter more than one)

  • A written description and/or sketches, drawings, or presentations

  • (Optional) Indicate if you'd like to volunteer or be considered for advisory roles

 

Key Dates

  • Competition Opens: 31 March 2025

  • Submission Deadline: 15 May 2025 

  • Winners Announced: Lag Boamer - May 2025

Prizes & Recognition

Every meaningful entry will receive a Certificate and the Five winning entries will receive a $100 Westfield gift voucher and public recognition.


Winning ideas may also help shape the future direction of our youth centre and programs.

 

Judging Panel & Criteria

All entries will be reviewed by a panel of experienced professionals and community representatives.

Each submission will be scored out of 100 points, across five key criteria:

  1. Creativity & Innovation – 20 points

  2. Practicality & Feasibility – 20 points

  3. Community Benefit & Impact – 20 points

  4. Presentation & Clarity – 20 points

  5. Sustainability & Revenue Potential – 20 points

Participant age will be considered—especially for presentation and clarity.

  • Younger participants (e.g., primary school age) will be assessed generously for creativity and effort.

  • Older participants (teens, adults, professionals) should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of feasibility and impact.

 

Click here to register for the competition

 

Q&A with Uriel Ohel

 


1.  Beside involving the community members to be part of developing institutions that support them, is the purpose of the competition to gather a brief of their visions, wants and needs for such institution to pass to an architectural or development company for designing and building, or to actually use any valid submission as the model or prototype to actualise?

Answer:
At this stage, our goal is to gather as much insight and inspiration as possible. We do have our own ideas and aspirations to develop a new youth centre in the coming years, but we believe the process must begin with listening to the community.

Before we can finalise a formal structure, we need to understand what kinds of services and programs the community wants this centre to offer. Once we have a clearer picture, we’ll move into design and feasibility. If any submitted concept is especially strong or visionary, it may indeed help shape the final design or be adopted as a foundational prototype.

If you—or anyone else—has professional expertise (such as in architecture, planning, or education) and is open to sharing thoughts or guidance, that would be incredibly valuable.

2.  Is the CYN future centre going to be at the current site at Llandaff Street, Bondi Junction or at another possibly larger plot of land?

Answer:
Ideally, we are looking for a new, larger, and more central location, which would better serve the community’s current and future needs.

3.  What is the land area (in m²) to consider for such project?

Answer:
We’ve intentionally not set any limits on space or budget at this stage, in order to encourage creative and ambitious thinking. Once we collect a wide range of ideas, we’ll begin to assess what’s feasible, even if it means stretching imagination and resources to achieve something truly impactful.

4.  What are the youth ages to consider for the activity rooms, chill-out zones, and inspiring workshops?

Answer:
We work with children and teens aged 4 to 18, across different programs.

  • Our day camps cater to younger children
  • Overnight camps serve older age groups
  • Workshops are usually for primary school students but we often adapt content for teens as well

We want spaces that can be used flexibly across these age groups.

5.  What kind of support services are you considering?

Answer:
We haven’t locked in any specific framework yet. One concept raised in the past was creating a space for teenage girls needing a “third space”—a safe, welcoming place beyond school and home. This could include access to supportive professionals such as therapists or mentors, along with informal hang-out zones. We're open to similar ideas for different age groups and demographics.

6.  Are you considering separate swimming pools for girls and boys, or just one pool used on alternate days? Would adults be considered for such pools?

Answer:
A single pool with scheduled times for different groups (e.g., boys, girls, adults) would be sufficient. A pool could serve both as a community service (e.g., swimming lessons, recreation) and a revenue-generating feature.

7.  Will the café serve meals or only hot/cold drinks and snacks?

Answer:
The café would ideally be a comfortable meeting space, where parents or teens could grab a coffee, meet friends, or relax while kids are in a program. While the primary focus would be light drinks and snacks, it could also provide simple meals as needed—for example, during teen programs, events, or birthday parties. It may also support programming around wellbeing or food education.

8.  Will the games rooms include electronic gaming along with traditional board games, chess, etc.?

Answer:
Yes—we envision a mix of classic and modern options, depending on what appeals to each age group. In the past, table tennis and pool tables were common; today, many teens enjoy video game consoles, so we’re open to both.

9.  Will there be any outdoor sport venue? If yes, for what kind?

Answer:
We’d love to include outdoor space for sport and recreation. A basketball court may be the most space-efficient option. Soccer is appealing but more space-intensive. If we’re near a public park, that could help reduce the need for large open-air areas.

It’s worth noting that if we include a childcare centre, we’ll need to meet specific outdoor space requirements under government regulation (e.g., 7m² per child) to be eligible for childcare subsidies.

10.  Will the brief include a Torah study hall or shul? If yes, how many, or what capacity?

Answer:
We see value in having a multipurpose space that can serve as a study hall, youth minyan space, and a venue for events and celebrations. It should be flexible and welcoming.

11.  Should we consider a library, mikvah, or function halls for events like Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, lectures, Farbrengens, etc.?

Answer:
A function hall or multipurpose room would definitely be valuable for events, lectures, and communal celebrations. A mikvah, while important, may not be central to this centre’s purpose, and might be better suited as a separate facility nearby.

12.  What is the envisioned ballpark budget for such a centre?

Answer:
This is one of the hardest questions to answer. A proper facility would naturally be costly—and if we focus too early on the price tag, we may limit our vision.

For now, we’re deliberately removing the cost factor so we can dream big. Once we have a clearer understanding of what’s truly needed and valued, we’ll work backwards to assess feasibility and set a realistic, yet aspirational, budget.

We understand this makes it hard to pin down certain decisions (e.g., “do we need space for 50 or 150 people?”), but we believe vision must come before limits. Even if we had $10 million on hand, we wouldn’t want that number to define what’s possible—we want the needs and ideas to shape what we build, and then we’ll work toward making it happen.