Charrettes

Applications are now being accepted for consideration for the 2010 Design Charrette Program. They are due March 17, 2010.

If you have you been looking at an area in your town – your downtown perhaps, or a particular intersection or neighborhood – and thinking that you’d really like to “do something with it” – make it more attractive, friendly to citizens and/or visitors, a place to be proud of?   A place where people would love to live, work and play; a place that invites all to gather and connect with each other; a place that reflects the uniqueness of who you are as a community.

But you are thinking that you really don’t know where to start, and you really don’t have the funding to undertake the project.

Our design charrettes bring citizens together with our team of volunteer professionals (architects, engineers, preservationists, planners, real estate people and more, depending on the project) over a Friday and Saturday to explore options for a target area.
After listening and by Saturday afternoon will provide visual suggestions for the project – and even general cost estimates as well as possible sources of funding. 

Past charrettes have involved developing a re-use plan for an old mill in Belmont, evaluating the re-use potential for a commercial building in Franklin, as well as preparation of plans to revitalize the villages and downtown centers of Bradford, Farmington, Weare, Ossipee, Hampton, Winchester, Franconia, Lee, and other small towns.

What is a design charrette and why does

Plan NH do this?

A design charrette is simply a period of intensive work involving both professionals and local citizens as they explore potential solutions to a design issue.  It has been referred to as the graphic equivalent of a brainstorming session. Lots of ideas are brought forth, explored by the group, and a consensus is built as to how best to move forward.

Although there is some front-end organizing, a PLAN NH charrette typically brings a team of a dozen volunteer professionals into a community on a Friday morning.  They will visit the site in question and become familiar with it.  Discussion and designing with the public begins after lunch on Friday and continues through the end of Saturday, when final recommendations are presented to the town.  An actual document summarizing the work and including plans and other drawings will be delivered to the town shortly after the session concludes.

Why does PLAN NH do this?

PLAN NH believes that the quality of our built environment and the social capital people are willing to invest in helping to design that built environment contribute in a significant way to the quality of life in New Hampshire.  Our goal is to assist  communities with worthy projects that would not get started if there were significant expenses associated with deciding what to do, as well as to assist communities that have funding but require a clear and effective  plan to begin the process. An important beginning point is to tap into a community’s resources – people willing to become involved in helping to decide how to proceed with improving their community.

Selection criteria

Two key criteria are that the selected projects will benefit the public at large (as opposed to only an individual, private landowner), and that the projects are of a scale that the design team can make some useful contribution to in a weekend visit.

Examples of projects that would be considered:
· A redevelopment plan for a small downtown center,
· A plan for mixed-use development in a rural village,
· Development of a cohesive town village,
· Adaptive re-use potential (not architectural or physical) of a publicly-owned building in relation to its environment (ie neighborhood)

Or another design issue that a community is struggling to resolve.

Examples of projects that likely would not be considered:
· A complete master plan
· A redevelopment plan for a large urban downtown area
· A recreation plan for an entire community

How will PLAN NH select projects?

PLAN NH members will evaluate each proposal on the degree to which it demonstrates that:
· The project is important to the community
· The project presents interesting design considerations
· The project is of an appropriate scale to be completed in weekend
And most importantly, that the host community has a real interest in moving forward with resulting suggestions.

Costs involved

Three to four times each year,  Plan NH members donate two days of professional design time to a community that has been awarded a Plan NH Design Charrette, and assist it by collaboratively  working through  potential solutions to a defined design problem. The time commitments for each charrettte equates to an average of 16 hours per person, for a team of 10-12 professionals.  That’s approximately $25,000-$30,000 (or more) of donated design time provided by PLAN NH to each community. 

We do request a contribution of $5000 to sustain PLAN NH and to cover out of pocket expenses such as supplies for the design team and layout and printing of the final report. If a project is larger or more complicated and is made by a community with resources available to initiate the design effort, a larger contribution will be requested.  PLAN NH will provide suggestions to the local community on finding sponsors so that this money does not have to come entirely out of the municipal general fund.
The only other municipal responsibilities relate to organization and support of the design effort.  A large assembly area will be needed to do our work and to hold the public listening sessions.   Some communities have found that a Friday night pot luck supper is a good way to stimulate public interest in the project.   Lastly, the community has to appoint a steering committee or contact person to coordinate promotion and participation at the local level

PLAN NH is currently seeking three or four communities to be awarded a design charrette in 2010.  If you think that you might be interested in having us come to your community for a weekend, please read further for more information, complete the attached application, and return to us by March 17, 2010.