Design Charrettes

Charrettes are rapid, intensive, and creative multi-day work sessions in which a team of designers and local stakeholders focus on a particular planning problem and arrive at a collaborative solution.

The Center for Community Design & Preservation (CCDP) has conducted over 100 design charrettes since 1997. The format of individual charrettes remains flexible to satisfy the unique community needs and to respond to the local strengths and opportunities. Charrettes can be used to begin solving a variety of community concerns, such as downtown revitalization, building reuse, affordable housing, corridor planning, parks and recreation, wayfinding, and environmental management.

As part of the College of Environment and Design, our core team comes from the disciplines of Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation and Urban Planning, but we often draw on students from across UGA to create discipline-specific teams as needed. Our charrettes have attracted Geology students to help design a kaolin museum, Education students to re-envision an African American boarding school, and Law students to advocate for community development in underserved neighborhoods.

Map of CCDP Charrettes

Take a look at our interactive Community Design Charrettes ArcGIS StoryMap to learn more about charrette projects completed by the Center of Community Design and Preservation. You can jump to specific cities, browse through charrette information, explore project themes, and more.

View ARCGIS Story Map

Map of CCDP Charrettes

Take a look at our interactive Community Design Charrettes ArcGIS StoryMap to learn more about charrette projects completed by the Center of Community Design and Preservation. You can jump to specific cities, browse through charrette information, explore project themes, and more.

View ARCGIS Story Map

A team works together on the Douglas, GA design charrette project.

How do Charrettes Work?

Often described as “a tornado in reverse”, a facilitated charrette can take scattered issues, ideas and concerns and refine them into a comprehensive, illustrated vision. Charrettes occur in three phases:

Research, Assessment, & Preparation: Identify stakeholders, user groups, and project goals
Design Workshop: A 3-day, public workshop to determine viable solutions for the project. All workshops are open to the public.
Refine the Concepts: generate final deliverables, reports, press releases, and presentations for implementing the project

View the Archive of Past Charrettes

How do Charrettes Work?

Often described as “a tornado in reverse”, a facilitated charrette can take scattered issues, ideas and concerns and refine them into a comprehensive, illustrated vision. Charrettes occur in three phases:

Research, Assessment, & Preparation: Identify stakeholders, user groups, and project goals
Design Workshop: A 3-day, public workshop to determine viable solutions for the project. All workshops are open to the public.
Refine the Concepts: generate final deliverables, reports, press releases, and presentations for implementing the project

View the Archive of Past Charrettes

Recent Charrette Opportunities

Downtown Douglas Design Charrette | Spring 2023

On Friday, February 24th, 2023, the CCDP took a team of 17 CED students down to Douglas, GA, for our spring design charrette. Read more about the charrette experience here!

CCDP is excited to share the results of this collaborative effort, which led to a final presentationof innovative designs that aim to enhance the Downtown and assist in creating a unified vision that addresses a need for revitalization potential, corridor enhancements, and infill housing.

Check out the links below to watch a YouTube presentation of the charrette concepts, and, if you are a resident of or frequent visitor to Douglas, please participate in the survey to provide feedback on the final designs. Survey feedback will help local leaders prioritize revitalization efforts in Downtown Douglas.

View the Final Presentation YouTube Video

Downtown Douglas Design Charrette | Spring 2023

On Friday, February 24th, 2023, the CCDP took a team of 17 CED students down to Douglas, GA, for our spring design charrette. Read more about the charrette experience here!

CCDP is excited to share the results of this collaborative effort, which led to a final presentationof innovative designs that aim to enhance the Downtown and assist in creating a unified vision that addresses a need for revitalization potential, corridor enhancements, and infill housing.

Check out the links below to watch a YouTube presentation of the charrette concepts, and, if you are a resident of or frequent visitor to Douglas, please participate in the survey to provide feedback on the final designs. Survey feedback will help local leaders prioritize revitalization efforts in Downtown Douglas.

View the Final Presentation YouTube Video

Thomaston Facades Charrette | Thomaston GA | Spring 2023

This design assistance helped fill a gap in Thomaston’s revitalization efforts by providing the drawings that owners must submit to be eligible for matching grants. The two-day mini charrette provided an opportunity for Historic Preservation students to learn about a small town’s revitalization successes and challenges, share their preservation knowledge with interested property owners, and learn illustration techniques that improve their professional communication skills. In turn, property owners were provided with a series of hand-rendered illustrations showcasing façade improvements for their building.

View the Final Presentation

Thomaston Facades Charrette | Thomaston GA | Spring 2023

This design assistance helped fill a gap in Thomaston’s revitalization efforts by providing the drawings that owners must submit to be eligible for matching grants. The two-day mini charrette provided an opportunity for Historic Preservation students to learn about a small town’s revitalization successes and challenges, share their preservation knowledge with interested property owners, and learn illustration techniques that improve their professional communication skills. In turn, property owners were provided with a series of hand-rendered illustrations showcasing façade improvements for their building.

View the Final Presentation