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Task 15: Deliver the Charrette
Deliver charrette team orientation
The charrette team orientation is intended for the charrette team and the charrette sponsors. It is delivered by the charrette manager. To this point in the process, these team members have had varying degrees of exposure to the project, some having only read the charrette brief. The purpose of this meeting is to ensure that the group shares a common knowledge and commitment and has been brought up to speed on the organizational aspects of the charrette. It provides an opportunity to review the brief, fine tune the schedule and address outstanding issues.
A project tour at the end of this orientation is recommended. It is a chance for team members to build a shared vocabulary and understanding of the planning and design issues and opportunities in the context of the project site and the surrounding community.
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Engagement Tools | Charrette Team Orientation |
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Additional Support | NCI Charrette Handbook: 2.1.1 Start-up Team Meeting; 2.1.2 Charrette Team Tour |
Host public kick-off
The purpose of the public kick-off meeting is to allow for participation by the broader stakeholder group and the general public. It is an opportunity to reinforce the vision for the project as a sustainable neighbourhood and for participants to become familiar with the charrette process. It is also an opportunity to build broader excitement by involving local councillors and the media.
The kick-off is typically separated into two parts: an information presentation by members of the charrette team; and a facilitated work session engaging participants in a discussion about their community and the project vision. Involving the broader stakeholder group affords the opportunity to build on the visioning workshop and to gather valuable input and feedback regarding alternative designs. This collaborative atmosphere sets the tone for the remainder of the charrette. Since a smaller representative group participates in the design event, the public kick-off assures the broader group of their ownership in the results.
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Engagement Tools | Public Kick-off |
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Additional Support | NCI Charrette Handbook: 2.1.4 Charrette Public Meeting #1 |
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EHUV Case Study | Charrette Kick-off Presentation |
Develop alternative concepts
Using the charrette brief as a guide, the charrette team backcasts from the project vision to create a number of alternative concepts that build upon the input from the kickoff meeting. This planning and design exercise is carried out with as few boundaries and limitations as possible. The emphasis is on maximizing creativity while moving towards a feasible outcome. The design process involves a series of feedback loops to ensure a continual flow of ideas between smaller focus groups and the full team. With each iteration, progress is reviewed and areas of disconnect are discussed.
While the emphasis at the outset is on discussing material in the charrette brief in relation to the base maps, the flow of information transitions to sketches and doodles that represent initial design moves. Alternative concepts that emerge are reviewed by the key stakeholders and prepared for presentation at the mid-course review. At this point, sketches have sufficient resolution to be able to communicate general intentions and areas of consensus. The NCI Charrette Handbook provides excellent details on conducting this portion of the charrette.
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Engagement Tools | Alternative Concept Development |
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Additional Support | NCI Charrette Handbook: 2.2 Alternative Concepts Development |
Deliver mid-course review
Alternative concepts are presented at an open house for all stakeholders. This is an opportunity to show the participants how their input at the charrette kick-off has been moulded into a number of alternative concepts. The meeting includes a facilitated dialogue among all relevant viewpoints represented, allowing the charrette team to gather information that will assist in synthesizing the concept alternatives into a preferred plan.
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Engagement Tools | Mid-course review |
Conduct preferred plan synthesis
The charrette manager guides the charrette team in a review of the input from the midcourse open house and in devising a plan for moving forward with the preferred plan synthesis. The planning and design emphasis now shifts to consideration of the business case and overall viability. Unless it is discovered that a clearly preferred alternative has emerged, existing options are synthesized, with new ideas being integrated as necessary. The synthesis is aided by applying the sustainable neighbourhood principles and a sustainable living lens to the decisions being made and by using charrette team experts to test for feasibility. This ongoing assessment of the emerging plan allows for adjustments that reduces the time spent pursuing alternatives that are not practicable. During this time, key stakeholder input and review is requested on an as-need basis and they are asked to be available if called upon.
The result is a charrette concept plan that includes all of charrette outputs previously identified. These outputs communicate the fundamental planning and design intentions for the sustainable neighbourhood and might include, for example:
- sections, elevations and perspectives;
- rough infrastructure plans, such as energy flows and transportation flows;
- a land use budget and a budget analysis;
- a preliminary assessment of performance towards targets; and
- clearly articulated strategies and actions for which consensus has been achieved.
The NCI Charrette Handbook provides excellent support for this portion of the charrette.
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Engagement Tools | Preferred plan synthesis |
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Additional Support | NCI Charrette Handbook: 2.3 Preferred Plan Synthesis |
Host charrette plan presentation
This open house is hosted by the charrette team and is ideally held in the charrette design studio. Drawings are posted and the team freely engages with visitors about the details. Informal presentations can be conducted for small groups interested in a specific project area. All of this dialogue provides valuable feedback to the charrette team as they continue on with finalizing project outputs.
This event can also include a formal presentation in which planning and design decisions are organized according to sustainable neighbourhood themes. This is most easily done with a PowerPoint presentation that incorporates a brief review of the project process, the charrette concept plan, and the next steps required to finalize the master concept design and course of action.
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Engagement Tools |
Charrette Plan Presentation |
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Additional Support | NCI Charrette Handbook: 2.3.4 Public Open House |
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EHUV Case Study | Charrette Presentation |
