Have your say and vote for the most deserving nominations: click here to vote I View all ten nominations

Set in gritty Southwark is the red-brick Urban Academy’s Design Room. It is part of a larger project run by the Kids Company charity, which was launched in 1996 by Camila Batmanghelidjh to provide practical and emotional support for children in London experiencing psychosocial difficulties.

The Design Room has been open for four years to vulnerable 16 to 24-year-olds. Set up to help them express their creativity, it also helps to re-educate them and give them work experience.

Lorna Lopes, 29, manages it: “Art is a powerful tool for communication and to engage young people’s attention — but this place has always been about learning,” she says. “Many of the people we see did not complete formal education and may be out of work. Although they’re interested in art, they soon realise they need other skills to get ahead too.”

Its nominator is Ruby Wax. “Every criminal comes from a home where they’ve been severely beaten or worse,” she says. “So it starts with the children. Here I’ve seen Camila sort them out, because they start off as sociopaths and she retrains them. The practical skills they teach here — putting together CVs and portfolios, learning about design or fashion — equip young people to find work. It is already an exciting and dynamic space but it urgently needs attention, to make it fit for purpose.”

Up to 300 young people use the Design Room, which is one large room split into “areas” to accommodate various activities. One is a public art section, one area is turned over to their fashion label, Bare Thread, whose creations are sold online and at Spitalfields Market, and another allows time out for reflection.

Kids Company would love a room with a contemporary look that could still be used for a variety of different applications.

Terence Conran: The state of this worries me because if we do the design it needs to be lovingly kept up. Maybe we should do spot visits and check up on them later.

Tara Bernerd: What touched me most about this was its purpose. The area would benefit from a storage system going round the perimeter of the room, with desk spaces in the heart of the room.

To vote for your favourite from the shortlist, visit timesonline.co.uk/yourspace by June 19. The winning nomination will be announced next month.

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of 2009
• The 100 Worst Movies of 2009
• The 100 Best Films of the Decade