Pop-up Boardgame Cafe

Creating community spaces for young people:

How public space design can involve young people in communities

A pop-up boardgame cafe that can be constructed in any vacant lot, providing free access to a social space that young people can easily access.

The structure could be used either by a local council to turn empty land into a community hub or rented out to organizations or businesses that want to draw in more young people (18-28 years old).

This project was completed as part of my Masters degree and the following page and links contain excerpts of my final dissertation.

Structure

The walls can be set up in different configurations to suit the size of the space or the needs of the event e.g. number of people expected.

The walls are connected to each other via four-way support posts which the walls slot onto.

The structure can be set up either inside or outside. When outside spikes that are attached to the bottom of the support posts can be pushed into the group to provide more support against the wind. These spikes can be twisted up inside of the posts either to shorten the length of the spike or move out of the way when inside and not needed. When the structure is set up inside it relies on the shape of the configuration to stay stable and upright.

The structure and furniture inside are all fully collapsible into panels so that it can easily be moved between locations.

The structure comes with tables, benches, planters and lockers that can be arranged to suit the space. The lockers are used to store the boardgames and protect them from the weather. The front panel of the locker is transparent so that people can see the boardgames inside.