A consultancy

Every community deserves a third place.

You'll want Third Place Design Co. in the room when designing youth spaces, so young people actually want to be there.

We work with schools, districts, community centers, nonprofits, churches, bond campaigns, and architects to get those places right.

Start a conversation

The problem

Young people keep avoiding the places built for them.

Every year, schools, community centers, nonprofits, and churches spend billions on new or renovated spaces meant to serve teens. The buildings get designed. The bonds get passed. The ribbons get cut. Then the community wonders why it's not being used.

Most of the conversation in the room is about safety or maintenance. Evacuation routes. Door locks. Camera angles. Cleaning surfaces. Efficiency. Those conversations matter. Another conversation has to happen right next to them:
Will young people actually want to be here?

Every currently empty youth space looked right on the renderings. But something was missed.

The framework

Third places need three things.

The antidotes to chronic absenteeism, rising anxiety, and the loneliness epidemic:

01
Somewhere to go
A space youth want to be in, not one they're assigned to. No hidden agenda. No gatekeeping. No earn-your-fun.
02
Something to do
Programs rooted in curiosity and autonomy, not control. Open skate next to clinics. Open mics next to recording. Real choice, every day.
03
People who care
Mentors who get it because they've lived it. Near-peers and local hires. Adults who show up as humans first, job titles second.

What we design

Spaces that aren't class, aren't sports, aren't lunch. Places students choose.

01
Coffee shops
Student-run counters. A working business with good vibes.
02
Venues
Open mics, showcases, screenings. Rooms that cultivate culture.
03
Creative labs
Print, screen, fab. Tools kids want to learn.
04
Esports lounges
Rigs, schedules, leagues. More than just a couch and a console.
05
Music studios
Tracked, mic'd, and teachable. Built for students to express themselves.
06
Skateparks
Real ones. Designed by students. Built by experts. Ask about The Bay.

Principal

Mike already built a public school inside a third place.

Bay High, a Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) partnership the district Superintendent described as “fun for kids” that still meets “the standards for an LPS diploma,” grew out of The Bay Lincoln, a Nebraska skatepark and third place Vice called a “creative haven.” Mike founded it in 2010 and ran it for 15 years. The Bay Omaha opens in 2027.

His forthcoming field guide, Designing a Third Place, codifies the playbook. Third Place Design Co. is how that work arrives in your community, with your board, your architect, and your campaign team.

Founder: The Bay (Lincoln & Omaha, NE)
Co-Founder & Host: The Harbor™ by Jostens
Certified: Stanford Design Your Life Coach
Certified: Gallup Global Strengths Coach
Alumnus: HEC Paris: Scaling for Success
Honoree: UNL Nebraska Distinguished Entrepreneur Award
Author: Legacy vs. Likes (Jostens Renaissance Education, 2017)
Honoree: Lincoln YPG Young Lincoln Leader Award

Case studies

The thesis, live.

Every first Friday, Mike hosts Culture & Coffee on 93.7 The Ticket in Lincoln. For one day, the studio stops being “just” a studio. A vintage market sets up out front. Student athletes, local business owners, and the people actually making culture in Lincoln share the mic. A pop-up skate experience takes the sidewalk. Coffee, fashion, music, and conversation, all colliding in real life.

It's the model in small scale. Take a space you already have. Add the right people. Make it a third place, on purpose, for four hours.

Mike Smith on the mic during Culture & Coffee at 93.7 The Ticket

The Culture & Coffee crew in-studio at 93.7 The Ticket

Pop-up skate experience at Culture & Coffee, skaters airborne over a Nebraska N ramp

A parking lot + 10 minutes = a third place.

A third place doesn't always need a building. Sometimes it just needs a parking lot, 10 minutes, and a few good coaches. Mobile Skate School trailers are custom-built pop-ups packed with ramps, rails, boards, and helmets. They roll onto a campus and an after-school skate program starts the same afternoon.

The first one was delivered to Benner Kew Elementary in Inglewood, California through a partnership with Pushin' Forward and the Bonnie & Michael Blackman Foundation. More are rolling out.

Ramps, boards, and a Mobile Skate School Trailer set up in the parking lot at Benner Kew Elementary in Inglewood, California

A student skates over a rail between two cones as coaches film and watch at an after-school Mobile Skate School session

Press & partners

Clients & collaborators

Engagements

Building a place where young people go? You'll want us on the team.

Six doorways our clients walk through. Pick one, combine a few, or tell us where you're stuck. We scope every engagement to your community, your build, and your timeline.

01
Program a new build
A new school, community center, or church is going up. The walls are being designed now. We program the youth space inside, on purpose, before the concrete's poured.
02
Work with the building you have
A community center being renovated. An empty mall wing waiting to be filled. An old warehouse, rec-center basement, or parking structure with extra floors. We turn the real estate you already have into a place young people choose to be.
03
Sit on the design team
Architects and interior designers have 'youth space' on their floor plan, but nobody's told them what goes inside. We join the team so programming, operations, and culture get designed with the building, not bolted on after.
04
Win the bond
A youth-space thesis that sharpens your bond package or capital campaign. Clear language for voters, boards, funders, and donors on what the space actually does for the kids you're building it for.
05
Build the program
The building is done. Now it needs a calendar, a team, and a culture. We help you launch the programming, hire the right first staff, and set the tone the space runs on from day one.
06
Scale what's working
A youth space that already runs. You want a second location, a district rollout, or a playbook for your team. Advisory drawn from 15 years of running The Bay.

Start a conversation

Tell us what you're dreaming up.

If you're an educator, nonprofit leader, or architect who's been handed a dotted line on a floor plan and the words “make something cool here,” we can help.