DownCity Design is Gifting Student-Designed & Fabricated Seating!

We're excited to share that DCD has opened a new Request for Proposals, with a focus on creating public seating for community organizations. Our teen designers will design and build this outdoor seating project in Spring 2026, to be completed by mid-June. We can provide this service project at no charge to your organization, though contributions to enhance our modest supply budget are welcome! If your organization is looking to make a space more welcoming or inviting, we'd love to see you apply!

Collaborate with DownCity Designers, our free after-school design/build program for teens, to collaboratively design and construct a custom seating solution that makes your space more welcoming and accessible.

Throughout the program, students work closely with community partners to understand site needs, sketch and model design concepts, and refine solutions before fabricating and installing the final project in your space. The collaboration requires roughly 3 hours of staff time from 1-2 members of your organization between February - May 2026, to ensure that the project meets your needs.

Please apply by Tuesday, February 10th.

Through our 2025-26 theme of Gathering Community, DownCity Design will offer free community design education programs in which our teen participants will learn how the design of spaces and systems can help people connect. They will apply their new skills to create service projects for public spaces and community groups that will help people form connections, share ideas, and relax or recreate together. The young designers in our Design/Build Studios can make spaces welcoming and vibrant by creating small-scale wood structures including indoor or outdoor seating, playscapes, bus shelters and more. Our Creative Change Studios can help with graphic design projects like outreach materials, wayfinding signage, murals, and more!

What Can We Design For You?

We are accepting proposals for our 2025-2026 programs. Projects will be designed by students in our year-long design programs.

Do you have a design challenge that our young designers can help solve?

How can we help your non-profit, community organization, or social service agency do your work even better?

Review our project guidelines, and if you have an idea that meets our criteria, we encourage you to submit a proposal for our 2025 summer and 2025-26 academic year programs. Proposals are open for Summer 2025 and Spring 2026 projects.

Our panel of educators, staff, and students will review proposals to choose one or more final project partners to work with during the 2025-26 program cycle.

These projects will be offered to our client organizations as a free service.