Design Charettes and Preparation

Here is an observation on timing and preparation being so important to a useful charette. Charettes are good.  It is not some fancy concept just because it came from France. But why are they not done more often?  Maybe they are not well appreciated, understood or applied by most designers.  They can be difficult to schedule, requiring many high level stakeholders to be present for hours. And many do not accomplish their goals because design staff and stakeholders were not properly prepared. 

A lead person or group, often the architect, but other times another major stakeholder, should be orchestrating this. Very few people outside of the design professions , and more than a few inside the profession),  have any experience with a true charette.  Experienced leadership has to guide and educate ALL the players on the process, intention and the possible scenarios that may play out for each major issue as they are presented during the charette.  Keep in mind, the purchase of a new building is a rare, once in a generation event for most clients. A charette is even more rare, but so hugely productive once everyone involved is properly prepped for them.

Preparation for a charette. 

Preparation is the key to success, concludes architect Peter Levasseur, in this article he wrote last month.  Making Mistakes in Getting “Everyone Early” on a Green Project

What sort of preparations are needed?  Facts.  Bring out the facts for the facts shall make you free. The relevant facts are the same that always impact design of a building or renovation. 

• For owners, budget and feasibility should be expected items to answer first.                                                                            
• For tenants, occupants and users, it should be issues such as schedule, functions, issues of scale, or changing interiors first.                                                                                                                                                
• For architects and engineers questions of site, location, use, occupancy, schedules, code, climate,  scale, industry standards,  materials properties, and so on.                                                                                                                 

BEFORE the charette, the leaders should coordinate with the charette participants, to assure quality preparations are made and at least raised.  The preparation makes the process easier and the participants more accountable.  The process of preparation can be one of discovering as well as education.  The aim is to teach the owner, user and operator participants that this is their time to brainstorm together. Since the project is in its initial conceptual stage, anything is fair game to add or subtract, and they should be coming in with as much knowledge as possible about their requirements, and be willing to share them with no prejudice.

In any event, a list of any and all possible ”overall” concepts should be made by each party before they come.   (Consider writing a short narrative 100 words or less if this is what is required)  Benchmark as much as possible, to have a beginning point for the charette.  This helps to stimulate the brain and the act of writing seems to clarify thinking. The fact of writing it down helps.  One way to get a complete view of the potential questions is to imagine all the steps that will be required to get to the end of the design and construction of the facility.   Obviously, prior experience with the type and scale of work is helpful here. 

Try to lose any emotional attachment to your concept.   The hopes, disappointments, eurekas, and hours of tedious redesign that usually take weeks will be compressed into a few hours.  Resistance is futile, your design will be assimilated.  Be open to the synergies that occur when many decisions can be made at once and with full buy-in. 

Have a roadmap but do expect some detours.  It is amazing how much can be learned from this. With all the professionals who work in the diverse construction team, it is easy to neglect important features, but in the charette, there is a better understanding between all in the team.   Practice of design in this group setting is to really appreciate teamwork. And it hopefully leads to better integration of all the building parts. 

to be continued