Patrick Hansford Associates

We have scheduled our first meeting with the Owner. This meeting is the design charrette. The charrette is the part of our process that separates us from other architects and certainly from residential designers.

A charrette is when an architect or designer develops a design for a project in a condensed period of time. Charrette is a term used extensively in architectural education and is synonymous with “brainstorming”. The term is thought to have originated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris during the 19th century. Charrette is derived from the French word for “cart” or “chariot”. According to architectural legend, students at the Ecole would work furiously to complete their work as a cart was pushed passed their desk. The students had to place their completed project in the cart as it passed or the work would be considered late and not be accepted.

We conduct a charrette with all our residential clients. The task typically takes 2 -3 hours. Everyone is allowed to pick up a pencil and draw their ideas. The purpose of the charrette is to quickly look at different ideas. It works best for additions and renovations. It allows our clients the opportunity to express their ideas and to discuss the pros and cons in an informal setting.

The process reduces our design time by letting our clients participate in the actual design process. They can see very quickly why a particular idea should not be pursued. Any number of things might eliminate an idea. Structural concerns., roof lines, circulation, cost issues, or conflicts with existing site conditions. You might not add on the one side of the house due to the septic system. The clients might want to preserve a view after seeing an idea on paper.

The intent is to look at all possible ideas at the beginning of the project. No one wants to get the project build and wonder why they did not do something else. Typically its your mother-in-law or that know-it-all “friend” who ask why you didn’t do it this way or that way..... Our clients can respond, “We looked your idea and these where the issues that were left unresolved by that approach.”

The drawings produced during the charrette are free-hand and rough to say the least. It is all about getting as many ideas out on the table for review and discussion. Paper is cheaper than studs. We use the base drawings created at the beginning of the project to overlay our design ideas.

Here are what charrette drawings typically look like ..... 

 We try to develop 2, 3, even 4 ideas  during the charrette. We take those rough sketches back to the office and develop them to a level that can be reviewed. These “rough concepts” are drawn to scale and are typically quickly drafted with felt markers.

Here are the three ideas developed for the Farm.

Concept One creates a large walk-in closet for coats and a second closet for toys. The existing fireplace, which needs repaired, is removed. A porch providing shelter for the front entry is created and a formal foyer is defined. Views are opened to the long entrance drive for visual control.

Concept B keeps the existing fireplace as a cost savings idea. Note that much less closet space is provided and visual control of the entrance drive is obscured.

Different master bathroom arrangements were developed. Concept B keeps existing plumbing fixtures in their current location, while Concept A and Concept C (not shown) completely rework the bath area and provide a more contemporary arrangement of fixtures.

These drawings are presented to the client for further review and discussion. Typically one design is selected over the others with modifications. Sometimes we end up with a new design concept melding ideas from the various concepts. Again - the intent is to provide our clients with lots of opportunities to have input during the actual design process and to allow them to make informed decisions.

In this case, obtaining visual control of the entrance drive onto the farm became important, as did providing plenty of closet space for toys and coats. The master bath was designed to allow two work parents the ability to share the bathroom each morning and evening.

Next time - We take the selected Concept - Concept A in this case - and develop the schematic design, including building elevations.