Work has started on a new £4.3m youth facility in Bridgwater, Somerset, which is being funded through the government's myplace initiative and will provide a new home for the local YMCA.

Local construction company, Pollards, has been appointed by Bridgwater YMCA to deliver the youth centre, which has been designed by architects Smith Gamblin and is expected to take around 62 weeks to complete. A consultation with user groups helped to determine the facilities to be offered by the new centre, which will include a youth café, a multi-use sports hall with skate ramps and space for youth events and an IFI-accredited fitness suite equipped by Technogym.

A sprung-floor dance studio, a radio station, an under-16s football pitch, a floodlit multi-use games area (MUGA), two Achievement Zones and conference, meeting and office space are also included. It is hoped that the centre will provide a range of activities that will provide a place for young people to go in Bridgwater, while also offering advice and support for those seeking other local activities.

The new facility will be equipped with Biomass boilers to provide heating and hot water, an onsite wind turbine to generate the building's required electricity supply and rain water recycling to reduce water consumption by a third. Martin Hodgson, chief executive of Bridgwater YMCA, said: "We have had great support from our local community, Sedgemoor District Council and local contractors such as Smith Gamblin Architects it really will feel like Bridgwater's building."

Bridgwater YMCA's existing base will remain open while the new facility is built. Image: Smith Gamblin architects